1/35 Bergehetzer Early

Thunder Model 35102

Excludes all glues, paints and tools necessary to assemble.

Bergerpanzer 38(t) was a recovery vehicle based on Hetzers base, with a lower open-top superstructure, manufactured by the BMM company in Prague.
The plans were approved in September 1944 and called for the production of 170 vehicles until the end of 1944. In fact, just 101 vehicles were built. To meet the production plans, it was decided to convert 64 summer productions Hetzers into armoured recovery vehicles, but it is unknown how many were actually converted.
Production was much slower than planned, and a total of about 180 vehicles were finished by the end of the war.
The Bergepanzer was equipped with a two-ton folding jib crane used to handle engines and other heavy components. Additionally, the recovery vehicle was equipped with a five-ton winch of the Baumgarten company (most of the Early Bergehetzers also had this winch installed to pull other vehicles stuck in mud, using a large pulley).
The winch was driven by the vehicles engine through the transmission system. At the end, a blade was installed at the rear of the hull (only the Late variant), but it is again unclear how many vehicles were equipped with it. There were also some development works to install the blade at the front of the vehicle, as seen in the company blueprints, but probably these plans were never realised.

The early Bergehetzer variant was mostly equipped with an early type of road wheels and idler wheels; it had different towing eyes, the front armour was thinner than the Late variant, its engine cover was an early type without two additional small access hatches, with an early type of exhaust muffler.
The rear support blade was developed later and installed on the Late Bergehetzer variant only.