Jump to content

German WWII Anti-Tank Rifle Solothurn S18/1000 with carriage 1:35


Mike

Recommended Posts

German WWII Anti-Tank Rifle Solothurn S18/1000 with carriage

1:35 CMK by Special Hobby

 

boxtop.jpg

 

After WWI, Germany was forbidden from manufacturing certain arms on German soil, so Rheinmetall used their Swiss company Solothurn to circumvent this.  This 20mm anti-tank rifle was hardly portable, and suffered from high recoil, which made it difficult to use, but was used by the Germans, Italy and China in small quantities, with a wheeled carriage improving its mobility, but making it quite a bulky proposition for its crew.  It had a small bipod at the front, with a monopod supporting the weight of the buttstock, relieving the strain on its operator, and could be set up with either a bulky magazine, or as a belt-fed weapon, with a number of different cartridges used that required changes of the brake to cope with the change in recoil pattern.  Everything about it was large, including the recoil, and it weighed in at over 100lbs without ammunition, so the trolley was a must for anything more than a short walk. 

 

The cartridge is wound out by a handle on the side of the breech, which takes three turns, so a quick rate of fire must have been very tricky, although it could penetrate the armour of a T-34 with a well-placed shot.  It was of the bullpup design, with the trigger forward of the breech to make it more "compact", which at a shade over 69" or 1.7m would appear to have been relative.

 

3140.jpg

 

This set from CMK gives you the option of having one of these unusual weapons in your arsenal, or salted away in a diorama.  It is a resin kit, and comes in a small vacformed shell with the instructions and header card forming the rear.  Inside are twenty three parts in a pale grey resin, some of which are quite delicate, such as the curved legs on each side.  Construction is simple after removing the parts from their pouring blocks and cleaning them up, based upon a T-shaped chassis with the wheels at the two open ends of the T.  A mount is added to the remaining leg of the T, and the weapon is placed on top, with optional optical scope and magazine.  Alternatively, you can build it with its legs down off the carriage by constructing the bipod/tripod legs in the down position.  The trolley can be fitted with a pair of tapering boxes of additional ammo, which fit either side of the weapon on the axle.  As you can see, the casting is excellent, and the attention to detail, coupled with the tiny contact patches between the parts and their pouring blocks should make for a trouble-free build.

 

The pic below has been lifted from CMK's site to show you what the finished rifle looks like without you having to resort to Google:

 

built.jpg

 

It's a shame it didn't come with crew to round out its potential, but nonetheless it makes an interesting and unusual item for your collection, and it won't take you months to complete it, unless it's part of a larger build.

 

Highly recommended.

 

bin.jpg

 

Review sample courtesy of

logo.gif

 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

:lol: yeah.  It kind of appeals to me too for those reasons.  Odd, ugly, and just a bit impractical.  I'm still trying to decide if they could hook it up to a truck, or if they just used to jump on board and fire the gun, relying on the recoil to take them where they wanted to go :shrug:

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Hello Dears,

Oh my God, I would I have tried this one :P:wink: !!

I knew the thing, already see it in a museum, but actually using it, Raaaaah 8

Thank for sharing.

Remember me of the .50, but my over the top experience was the MG 42 Awesome and fully mechanic !!

Sincerely.

Corsaircorp

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...