1:35 Hungarian 39M CSABA

Csaba, an armored car with dual controls

The designer Miklos Straussler was drawing up armored cars in Britain, but he arranged production of his best-known vehicle with the Manfred Weiss works on Csepel near Budapest. The car took its name from the legendary prince Csaba and the Hungarian army adopted it under the designation 39M. A little over a hundred were built, including command conversions, and they served mainly with reconnaissance battalions.

Armament and the layout of the body

The main weapon was a 20 mm anti-tank rifle with a machine gun alongside it, which was enough against lightly protected targets. The layout of the body is more interesting: a second driver's position sat at the rear, so the car could reverse at full speed without turning round on a narrow road. Sloped armor plates gave the machine a shape that sets it apart from its German and British contemporaries. The protection was enough against small-arms fire, but the car was no match for armored vehicles and relied on speed.

A small vehicle on the shelf

The real vehicle was small, so the finished piece takes up something around thirteen centimeters and fits even on a crowded shelf. Assembly and painting are left to the modeler, and the box holds the material, not a finished vehicle. The Hungarian three-color scheme with soft transitions is a rewarding job for an airbrush and at the same time a way to stand out in a collection from the usual German vehicles. The car goes well with figures and a scene from the Eastern Front. It can also be built as an abandoned wreck by the roadside, because that is exactly the fate most of them met. Anyone who collects the equipment of smaller armies will find machines in the Hungarian inventory that are not commonly seen in display cases.