Rubicon Models 1/56 280058 - Pak 38 / Pak 97/38 AT Gun with Crew

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After the Spanish Civil War, the German authorities started to think that a new anti-tank gun would be needed, even though the 3.7cm PaK 36 had proven to be very successful. They asked Rheinmetall-Borsig to produce a new and more capable AT-gun. They first designed the PaK 37 in 1935, but the German authorities didn't approve it because of its low capabilities. Rheinmetall-Borsig was forced to create a new gun under the designation PaK 38, which fitted a new and longer L/60 barrel and was approved for mass production in 1939.\n\nThe 5cm PaK 38 (L/60) (5cm Panzerabwehrkanone 38 (L/60)) was first used by the German forces in April 1941. When the Germans faced Soviet tanks in 1941 during Operation Barbarossa, the PaK 38 was one of the few early guns capable of penetrating the 45mm (1.8 in) armour of the T-34. The gun was also equipped with Panzergranate 40 APCR shots with a hard tungsten core, in an attempt to penetrate the armour of the heavier KV-1 tank.\n\nAlthough it was replaced bys