“Wz.34” and “7TP” - the Polish armored car and the light tank

In the twenties of the 20th century Poland had almost no armored vehicles and road transport. A small number of German tanks and cars were mainly taken over as spoils of war or left over from old purchases in France, dating back to World War I. 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 - from Algeria to Cape Town. All those armored vehicles had a semi-tracked chassis, designed by Adolf Kegres 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 "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 Office of the Military Engineering Research Institute (MERI) and the Warsaw Automobile 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 wz.28, the car's chassis was changed - a wheeled chassis was mounted. 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. Wz.34 participated in the September 1939 war with Germany and the USSR. The wz.34 cars were grouped into 20 squadrons, their total number reached 70. In the battles, these cars proved to be outdated and significantly inferior in combat characteristics to the enemy's equipment, although, when properly used and due to the courage of the crews, when ambushed, they caused a lot of light armored vehicles and manpower to the enemy losses.

In 1931 50 new “Vickers-Armstrong” Mark E 6-ton tanks were purchased in Great Britain to upgrade the armored forces of the Polish Army. In Poland a modernized version of this tank, “7TP” - 7-ton Polish, was created at its base. The prototype of the tank, produced in 1934, was handed over for testing and research. Their results were positive and the tank was sent to serial production. The first 22 tanks from the first series (ordered in March 1935) had two turrets. Later ones were produced with a single turret, armed with a 37mm “Bofors” anti-tank gun. By September 1939 it was possible to produce 132-139 tanks, which proved their worth in several battles in September and defeated dozens of German Pz. Kpfw I and II.

Two simple models for beginners and less experienced modelers. They are so simple, that even modelers with little modeling experience can glue them perfectly without any help from more experienced colleagues. Just don't rush. By the way, several other publications from the “WAK” publishing house can perfectly complement this series of 1:32 scale Polish September War 1939 camouflage painted armored vehicles.