Dear All
Firstly in these tough times when banks and corporations are holding onto their cash, it was refreshing to see a sign outside a Hong Kong church saying “The biggest waste of money is to keep it!” Not that I am saying you should all rush out and spend your money on Thomas Gunn and the saying “Save some money for a rainy day” is equally valid theses days. However despite the recession we will try and find the best ways to help you spend your money, hopefully the investment with us will be a wise one!
Last month saw a very quick sell out of the Flak Accessory Pack and the Grey Blitz truck with the winter variant almost gone now as well. It seems that despite the recession good products will still sell, the knack is to do this every month!
Secondly an apology to anybody who received their flak guns from last months release and found a damaged item in the box. We have raised this issue with our factory and hopefully it’s not going to happen again. Unfortunately delicate pieces like the flak gun do not travel well but we will pursue alternative packing and construction methods until we get it right!
Moving on this month sees the release of our 3rd Anniversary set and rather than make the normal HMG with Lafette stand we have made an artillery piece. Most of you will know from last month’s dispatches we are commemorating the 70th anniversary of Gunther Halm winning his Knights Cross at Ruweisat Ridge in North Africa 1942. In the action Halm and his crew personally accounted for 9 British Valentine tanks destroyed, with another 6 hit and put out of action. Halms artillery piece was hit several times and eventually also put out of action; fortunately for him the remainder of the 21st Panzer Division arrived in the nick of time and put the British force to flight. At the time 19 yr old Gunther Halm was the youngest recipient of the KC and was personally awarded the medal by Rommel himself at a ceremony shortly afterwards.
Any suggestions for the 2013 Anniversary Piece will be warmly welcomed by yours truly, please feel free to drop me an email at your earliest convenience.
SS041 Anniversary Set features a PAK40 cannon, 3 crew members, 2 boxes of ammunition and some spare shells to bring your dio to life.
Please note the A version is the Normandy version and the B version is the DAK Gunther Halm Anniversary set.
The Normandy version features an SS crew in action somewhere in Europe in 1944/45, personally I love the colour scheme of this version and I am sure it will find a place in many collectors’ homes. The DAK version comprises a Wermacht uniformed artillery crew with a sand coloured artillery piece. Available now and priced at $140 it represents great value for money and with numbers limited to 150 of each piece its not going to be for sale for too long.
WH001 SdKfz 252 Tractor Unit is a useful little vehicle for all you German vehicle fans in need of something to resupply your tanks at the frontline. Based on the Demag chassis a total of 400 units were manufactured before production switched over to the SdKfz 250/6 variant. Those tractors still serviceable were then sent to Luftwaffe airfield and other rear combat areas, some units still had these vehicles on their strength as late as winter 1944.
We have equipped our vehicle with an ammunition trailer to increase its load carrying capacity and although no crew figures are provided both top hatches do open and close.
I think theres something here for everyone with 3 versions on offer as follows:
WH001A is suitable for a Normandy or Russian summer scenario and is in the markings of the 9th Panzer Division. Priced at $135 and limited to 150 pieces.
WHOO01B suitable for the Russian winter or Battle of the Bulge, also in the markings of the 9th Panzer Division. Priced at $135 and limited to 150 pieces.
WH001C is an early war grey colour scheme in the markings of 7th Panzer Division. All you need to complete your diorama is Rommel stood next to it drinking coffee and eating a sandwich! Priced at $135 and limited to 110 pieces.
SS040 SdKfz 234/4
Following on from our successful Puma we have launched the last version of the SdKfz 234. The 234/4 had a long barrelled 7.5cm PAK40 fitted, with a total of 89 produced before the war ended. Designed to give anti tank support to other armoured cars, these vehicles performed admirably in their designed role until the bitter end in 1945.
Our version comes with a detachable crew member listening to his radio and detachable road space rods. This will avoid breakages in transit of these delicate parts. When you receive your model you can insert or leave the rods out depending on your preference. Once again available in 2 versions suitable for winter Battle of the Bulge or spring 1945. Both the winter and spring version come in the markings of the 116th ‘Windhund’ Division.
Priced at $159 and available now with 150 of each version available.
That’s it for this month, once again its all WW2 Germans this month but next month we see some new Napoleonic’s and also new WW1 Australian troops!
Kind Regards Vicki Lucas
TGM Marketing Manager
