Wz.28, Wz. 29 and Wz. 34 – the Polish armored cars

In the twenties of the 20th century Poland had almost no armored vehicles and road transport. A small number of tanks and cars were mainly taken over as spoils of war or left over from old purchases in France, whose production reached the times of the First World War. But even then, research work in this area was carried out, and at the same time, good examples were being searched for in the global arsenal of this technique. At that time, their land military equipment was widely advertised by the French, who in 1924 made a huge advertising campaign in Africa - trek from Algiers to Cape Town. All those armored vehicles had a semi-tracked chassis, designed by Adolf Kegress back in 1913, later refined at the “Citroen” factory. The results of this campaign attracted the attention of military designers and led to the decision to use this chassis for new armored vehicles. The Polish commission, which was sent to France to get acquainted with the production and possibilities of this chassis, found out the possibilities of their production in Poland and bought several dozen semi-tracked "Citroen-Kegresse" B - 10 semi-tracked chassis for Polish needs. They were intended for the armored vehicles, that had begun to be constructed. The design work was carried out by the Construction Bureau of the Military Engineering Research Institute (MERI) and the Warsaw Car Workshop. This is how the prototype of an armored car with a French chassis appeared. Their armor plates were produced by the “Baildon” foundry in Katowice, and final assembly took place at the “CWS” plant in Warsaw. Armored cars, made in this way were accepted into the arsenal of the Polish Army in 1928 as "Armored car wz.28". Up to 90 such cars were produced. At the end of the twenties the research work gained a new scale and based on the experience, gained during the operation of the vz.28, the chassis of the car was changed - a wheeled chassis was used. This increased the speed of the machines and simplified service and operation. After modernization of other units and armament, in 1934 it was accepted into the arsenal as "Armored car wz.34". Gradually, a wheeled chassis was installed on all wz.28 cars. At the same time, MERI was working on a heavy armored car project, based on the chassis of the Italian “Ursus A" truck, produced in Poland. This car was much heavier and larger, than previously produced, and was adopted by the Polish Army in 1929 as "Armored car wz.29 Ursus". Wz.29 and wz.34 participated in the September 1939 war with Germany and the USSR. Cars wz.34 were grouped into 20 squadrons, their total number reached 70, one squadron was formed from 7 wz.29 cars. In the battles these vehicles proved to be outdated and significantly inferior in combat characteristics to enemy equipment, although, when used properly and due to the courage of the crews, when attacked from ambushes, they caused significant losses of light armored vehicles and manpower to the enemy.

Well-designed and detailed models of medium complexity, without interior equipment and a simplified chassis, are perfect for even the less experienced modeler, working under the supervision of a more experienced colleague. Two complete models can be made from the publication: wz.29 and wz. 28 or wz.34 optional. Antiquarian publication.