MGM:s 1/72 Generatorzugwagen M.16 / B-Zug Artillery Tractor

When Skoda started working on their new generation of super-heavy guns, the 24cm M.16, the 38cm M.16 and the 42cm M.16, it was soon obvious that these new artillery pieces needed a new type of transportation, if they ever would be as mobile as their famous predecessor, the 30.5cm M.11. The man that was given the opportunity to design such a transport, was none other than Dr Ferdinand Porsche, who at this time worked for Österreicher Daimler in Wiener Neudtadt. And his solution was quite ingenious. He decide to use a so called gasoline-electric engine. A 6-cylinder 20.32 liter gasoline engine drove a generator, and the generator in it's turn drove two electrical engines, one for each back axle. Note that the generator car did not pull the trailer, as much as gave it power: the same generator also fed eight electrical motors on a four axle trailer - which contained one of the disassembled parts of the gun. 

The whole design was quite complex, perhaps overly so in modern eyes. But it worked. On good road with gentle gradients, one of these B-Zug tractors could pull two trailers, to a maximum speed of 12km/h. This could be increased to 14km/h if the number of trailers were reduced to only one. With one trailer, a gradient of 26º could be negotiated, with two trailers a gradient of only 20º. All in all it was quite a handsome movement capacity, at least compared to all contemporary designs. And it was very reliable, as many systems had back-ups, and as the design was very robust. 

But all this came to a price. As mentioned above, the B-Zug was also a very complex design. Maintainance and even starting was difficult. The fuel filter had to be changed empitied every 2-3 hours, and every 10 km the valve gear had to be lubricated, etc. Still, it was seen as the perhaps most modern tractor of it's day, and they were admired whenever they appeared. 

Notice that most photos to the right, show the B-Zug in German Service in WW2, where it was used to pull the heavy Skoda Guns the Wehrmacht confiscated from the Czech Army.

If you want more info, check out Michal Prásils excellent book "Skoda Heavy Guns"!

Contents of the kit:

Click on the pictures for an enlarged version! 

The kit comes packed in small zip-lock bag typical of MGM. It is done in MGM:s standard light yellow resin. The moulding itself is good, save for some easily cleaned off moulding flash and pour stubs. The kit contains some 35+ parts. 

The level of detail is ok. The shape of the really complex wheels has been captured well. The big problem  is the engine compartment of the main hull part: the cooling grilles on the bonnet are placed very irregularily, and the bonnet itself is rough and uneven in texture. As this will show and even stand out under paint you will have to put down considerable work here. Some might even consider redoing the grills all together. Also the shape of the bonnet is a bit off: here it is cylindriacal, while in reality it was flat-ish on the top. 

As is often the case with softskins, it is a pretty complex kit, with a lot of parts. You don't get any plan, but you do get a paper showing you colour pics of the assembled kit. Not as good as a real plan, I think, but still better than nothing. Still: I find the trend, away from supplying any plans a bit worrying. If you don't have any good references, then you are really out on a limb. To see the kit built, click here. Also, a report on the building of it, can be found here!

The kits of MGM can can be bought through through Smallscale.de, 7th Company or Blitzkrieg Models.

Michael Gohres is again to be complemented for a really original and fun choice of subject for a kit! Pity that parts of the kit are so rough. You will have to work quite a lot to get a fine model.