|
 In June 1917, before the first A7V:s were even completed, the German War Ministry ordered the construction of a new colossal
super-tank, the biggest tank ever designed: the colossal K-Wagen! The K-Wagen was thought as a enormous moving fortress bristling with guns and MG:s, to be used in break-through situations. The weight was some 150 tons, and it would be powered only by two small 200 HP motors! (Later on these two tiny motors were switched for two 650 HP motors.) The enormous weight of the vehicle of course made it impossible to move any longer
distances, so it was to be transported by rail in four parts of some 30 tons
each, only to be put together behind the front line, at the point were it was to be
employed. The K-Wagen was also supposed to have a trench crossing capacity of some 4 meters, and no less than four 77mm
cannons. The design was done by Vollmer.
Almost from the very beginning of the project sceptical voices was heard. The sheer size of the vehicle made it difficult to
produce, as no standard components or techniques could be employed. So it was decided that the tank was to be built by companies with experience from building bridges (!) and the tracks came from power shovel
construction. Soon it was also discovered that the tank was too heavy, so the length was reduced to 13 meters, which at least cut the weight with some 30 tons. The original order was for ten
vehicles.
|
|
Work on both design and construction was understandably slow, but at the end of the war one vehicle was almost completed at the Riebe works in Berlin, while work had started on another one at the same plant. At the Waggonfabrik Wegmann in Kassel an armoured body was near
completion. All these were dismantled on order of the Allies in 1919. The only effect the K-Wagen had on the
war, is that the project took scarce resources from other, more sensible tank designs. The whole idea
was, as Schneider and Strasheim has put it, "completely nonsensical from the start". Had it ever been used in
combat, it would probably had ended in total failure. It's weight would have made it easy for the K-Wagen to bog
down, at the same time that it can only have been used in completely ideal
conditions. The K-Wagens slow speed and bulk would have made it an extremely easy target for allied
artillery.
|
|
of course represents a fictitious vehicle, garnished in late-war camouflage - and straight Balken-crosses - as it could have appeared in 1919, when it was supposed to make it's debut.
(I'm not completely happy with how it came out: it's a bit too garish, too
toy-like...) It is made up from the Kora kit, with some small
modifications. (The cannons are new, and I have also added exit doors to the
sides.) Note also that the front is not corrected; an error in the Kora kit I've noticed first after it had been
completed... (See the review.) Click on the
thumbnails for more views of mu model:
|
