Raupenschlepper Ost - RSO / 01 Type 470

Plastic kit from DAS WERK for the assembly of a German military vehicle Raupenschlepper Ost - RSO / 01 Type 470, of WW II in 1/35 scale. Includes sprues with plastic parts, assembly instructions, clear parts, P.E. parts and decals.

Raupenschlepper Ost (German: "Caterpillar Tractor East", more commonly abbreviated to RSO) was a fully tracked, lightweight vehicle used by the Wehrmacht in World War II. It was conceived in response to the poor performance of wheeled and half-tracked vehicles in the mud and snow during the Wehrmacht's first autumn and winter on the Soviet Front. The RSO was a contemporary with somewhat similar Allied full-tracked small artillery tractors in use in other armies, mostly originated from the pre-war light to medium series of Vickers artillery tractors. Two variants of this vehicle were built: the basic cargo carrier, and a self-propelled antitank vehicle armed with a PaK 40 gun. Both shared the same chassis. Initially designed as a prime mover and artillery supply vehicle, it eventually served in a wide variety of roles. Immediately after the vehicle reached the Eastern front, the combat units started using it for general transport duties. It gave outstanding service due to its reliability, its ease of maintenance, and its capability to take over a variety of roles - in every kind of terrain - that other vehicles lacked. The four road wheels per side, all in a single line as part of a "slack-track" system with no return rollers, comprised a much simpler suspension system, much more able to handle the rasputitsa mud season and Russian winter conditions, without mud or snow freezing between the wheels of the complex overlapping/interleaved Schachtellaufwerk suspension systems that German half-track vehicles like the Sd.Kfz. 7 possessed. Soon the orders for the RSO surpassed Steyr's production ability, and more manufacturers joined the vehicle's production in order to meet the ever increased demands.