T-38 Scout Tank Company

Includes five T-38 tanks & one Tank Commander sprue.

The T-38 was a further improvement on the earlier T-37 design which itself was based on the French AMR33 light tank. Cheap the produce, the T-38 was powered by a GAZ (Gorkovsky Avtomobilny Zavod) engine and pushed along in the water via a propeller mounted on the rear of the vehicle. Buoyancy was achieved by the T-38’s large volume hull.

Due to its low silhouette, superb mobility and amphibious nature, the T-38 was intended for use as a reconnaissance vehicle. However, the lack of a radio severely limited its effectiveness when reconnoitring the battlefield. Worst still, its thin armour and single machine-gun meant the T-38 lacked the protection and firepower necessary to fight its way out of any sticky situations it found itself in. This was further reinforced during the Winter War as the confined terrain of Finland meant to T-38 was nothing more than a death-trap for its two-man crew.

It fared no better against the Germans during the opening stages of Operation Barbarossa and unlike Soviet vehicles that fell into German hands, the T-38 was not turned against its former owners. Despite these limitations around 1300 were built before plans were drawn up to replace it with the T-40. This however was short lived as the pressure of wartime production meant only a handful of T-40s were ever built.

Miniatures supplied unpainted and may require assembly.