Hobby Master Archive
Ground Power 1/72
Puma
During WWII the German Army used Schwerer Panzerspahwagen or Heavy armored reconnaissance vehicles to scout ahead and determine the enemy strength and report back to the main units. In spite of its size and weight the Puma was very fast and only equipped with 5cm gun to fight Allied reconnaissance units. One unique feature of the Sd. Kfz. 234/2 was the ability of the radio operator who was located in the rear of the vehicle to actually drive the vehicle in reverse in emergency cases.
The Sd.Kfz.234/3 chassis saw little change from the Sd.KFZ.234/2 Puma. What was changed was the superstructure and the top armored plate was removed. With the turret removed it was replaced by armor plates on all 4 sides. A new 7.5cm KwK51 L/24 short barreled main gun was installed in the open topped fighting compartment. 6 Sd.Kfz.234/3 vehicles made up a platoon of the Panzerspahwagen Company to support the SdKfz 234/1s.
The eight-wheeled Sd.Kfz.234/4 was created as a stop gap measure. Designed as an anti-tank destroyer it was in a way similar to the Marder Tank Destroyer because it was poorly armored and had an open top making the crew very vulnerable. This vehicle was able to neutralize almost every enemy tank of that time as long as it wasn’t a head to head engagement. The Sd.Kfz.234/4 was primarily used by reconnaissance companies and provided anti-tank support for other reconnaissance vehicles.
