This WWII Nashorn is a Roco model with a "few improvements" as Rick Hoskinson puts it. Rick modified his model with a functional gun travel lock, scratchbuilt rear tow hooks, an engine exhaust system, road wheel racks, machine gun mount, range finder mount, radio telephone hand set, gunner's seat, engine deck access plates, ready round of 88mm ammunition and new breech lock handle. He also added elevation and traverse wheels to the gun mount, built an antenna housing, and added an etched brass deck plate to fighting compartment. The tow cable was made from twisted fine copper wire. Rick finished the fighting compartment with lots of details, some personal equipment, and small arms. The model was painted with Modelmasters in a modified "disc" camouflage scheme found on late war vehicles, weathered with pastel chalks, dry pigments, and artists pencils.

If you're interested in more historical information on the prototype, we highly recommend Wikipedia: "Nashorn (German "rhinoceros", pronounced Nahz-horn), initially known as Hornisse (German "hornet"), was a German tank destroyer of World War II. It was developed as an interim solution in 1942 by equipping a light turretless chassis with the Pak 43 heavy anti-tank gun. Though only lightly armoured and displaying a high profile, it could frontally penetrate any Allied tank at long range, and its relatively low cost and superior mobility to heavier vehicles ensured it remained in production until the war's end."

Posted June 15, 2012