Grille II 17 cm Cannon 72

A plastic model of the German Grille II self-propelled gun prototype was made in 1:35 scale from the Trumpeter set and enriched with parts from the Voyager Model set.

The project started in 1942. The idea behind the construction of this weapon was to build a vehicle on which various cannons could be mounted.

Initially, the chassis and engine were to be used from the Tiger tank, but later it was decided to use these elements from the Tiger II tank. The armor was 16 to 30 mm (0.63-1.18 in) thick. According to British intelligence, the vehicle was to be operated by the commander, driver and 6 crew members.

The vehicle could only hold a few shells. Because of it, the vehicle would have to be accompanied by another vehicle carrying ammunition.

There were many delays during construction and eventually, probably in the first quarter of 1945, the work on the prototype was abandoned.

On one of the training grounds, among the prototypes of vehicles captured by the US army in 1945, there was a Grille II with a partially assembled chassis, and a 17 cm Cannon 72 gun nearby.

Some technical data:

• Length: 13 m (42.7 ft),
• Width: 3.27 m (10.7 ft),
• Height: 3.15 m (10.3 ft),
• Mass: 59 t (UK-58 tons, USA-65 tons).

Source:

• https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/nazi-germany/grille-1721-artillery-spg/

10 Jan 2020