Roco's Puma

Some of my small collection of World War II vehicles are products of Roco Minitanks. These 1/87 (HO) scale plastic minis were at one time easy to find in hobby shops, especially model railroad shops -- which is what most hobby shops are wherever I’ve lived or visited. The photos show  Roco’s No. 122, the German SdKfz 234/2 8-wheeled armored car or “Puma.” Since the Puma mounted a 50mm L/60 KwK 39/1, it was rather a nasty character to encounter on the point.

Generally speaking, these models are just adequate by today’s standards. In their heyday, though, they were much sought after for wargaming, as there was not the selection of models widely available today. It was easy to tart them up with a quick paint job and even superdetail them (model railroad term) with bits and bobs from the parts box, hand-grabs, antennae, etc. Despite objections from some, they could be mixed with 15mm figures and were relatively sturdy.