Die Waffenkammer RU024 OT-26 Model 1931 Flamethrower Tank

OT-26 Model 1931 Flamethrower Tank

Very fine resin WW II military vehicle kit, in 1/56 scale (28mm). Needs to be assembled and painted. Crew figure and stowage included.

Master by Jeff Trnka.

The T-26 tank was a Soviet light infantry tank used during many conflicts of the 1930s and in World War II. It was a development of the British Vickers 6-Ton tank and was one of the most successful tank designs of the 1930s until its light armour became vulnerable to newer anti-tank guns. It was produced in greater numbers than any other tank of the period, with more than 11,000 manufactured. During the 1930s, the USSR developed 53 variants of the T-26, including flame-throwing tanks, combat engineer vehicles, remotely controlled tanks, self-propelled guns, artillery tractors, and armoured carriers. Twenty-three of these were series-produced, others were experimental models.

Flame-throwing tanks formed around 12% of the series production of T-26 light tanks. It should be mentioned that the abbreviation ''OT'' (Ognemetniy Tank which stands for Flame-throwing Tank) appeared only in post-war literature; these tanks were originally called ''KhT'' (Khimicheskiy Tank which stands for Chemical Tank), or BKhM (Boevaya Khimicheskaya Mashina; Fighting Chemical Vehicle) in the documents of the 1930s. All chemical (flame-throwing) tanks based on the T-26 chassis (KhT-26, KhT-130, KhT-133) were designated BKhM-3. The vehicles were intended for area chemical contamination, smoke screens and for flame-throwing.

The OT-26 was the first of a series of flamethrower tanks based on the T-26 light tank, developed in 1933. Based on the twin-turreted T-26 model 1931 tank but using a single turret armed with a flamethrower, the second turret was removed. The flame thrower had a short range of 25m which made the OT-26 very vulnerable in combat.