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In 1934, when Germany recreated armoured forces in defiance of the Treaty of Versailles, the need in armoured command vehicle had spring up to complete first two Panzer regiments. The first and only German tank of the time, Pz.Kpfw. I, had room for a radio receiver only, and had to be modified to accommodate a transmitter and its operator. The vehicle received designation Kleine Panzebefehlswagen, or kl.Pz.Bf.Wg I ( Light armoured tracked command vehicle ). An additional FuG-2 ultra short wave receiver and 20 watt receiver-transmitter FuG-6 were installed. The radios had a range of 6 miles for voice and 8 miles for Morse code. 184 were made by Daimler-Benz from the end of 1935 to 1937 (chassis nos. 9406-9430, 10478-15200). There were 2 different types based on Pz.Kpfw. I Ausf B chassis, designated "2 Kl B", and "3 Kl B", and only 6 of the produced vehicles, designated 1 KlA, utilised Ausf A chassis.
These very rare machines are known in two variants. Both had no armament, but later they received MG-13 machine-gun. The first type of 1 KlA, presented by this kit, had a small rectangular fixed turret in place of linear Pz.Kpfw. I Ausf A turret. The second type had no turret, but the superstructure was increased by heightening the sides by 25 cm. Several machines of this later type were issued to "Legion Condor" and saw action during Spanish Civil War ( LEADWARRIOR kit LW35008 ). |
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