Plastic model of the Hintern tank

The model was built from the Hobby Boss set in 1:35 scale and enriched with the Voyager Model kit containing, among other things, photo-etched parts.

The Hintern was a prototype that took part in a competition (1942) for a new heavy tank for the German army. However, it lost the fight for the contract and never entered production.

Ferdinand Porsche was the tank designer. He prepared the project in two versions. The first was with the turret in the middle of the hull and the second version, with the turret on the rear part. The version, the plastic model of which is shown in the photos, was better armored and much heavier than the first. It was to weight 75.5 tons (UK-74.3 tons, USA-83⅕ tons), and the thickness of its armor was to be between 100 and 170 mm (3.9-6.7 in). Two engines were to accelerate the tank on the road to 30 km/h (18⅗ mph).

The photos of the model show that the tank is covered with a scabrous mass. The Germans were being covered the armors of their armored vehicles with Zimmerit. It was a special coating that was to make it difficult to attach magnetic mines and anti-tank grenades. A positive side effect was that the light was scattered through the rough surface, which provided better camouflage.

Special plastic masses are available in modeling stores that imitate Zimmerit well. In this case, however, it was used a different method. The ATAK Model set was used, containing very thin caps made of resin which were glued to the model.

Sources:

• https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/VK_4502_(P)
• https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimmerit

28 May 2019