Roden Military 1/72 SdKfz 4/1 Panzerwerfer 42 (Early) Rocket Launcher Kit
The first use of the Sd.Kfz.4/1 Panzerwerfer 42 in battle took place in April 1943 and was a very unpleasant surprise for the Soviet Army. In comparison with the BM-13, the German salvo fire system produced fewer shots in a given period, but its efficiency was much higher. Captured during the Battle of Kursk, the Sd.Kfz. 4/1 Panzerwerfer 42 was immediately taken to Moscow to have its rocket firing systems studied by leading Soviet engineers. This data proved useful in developing a successor to the BM-13, the large caliber system BM-24. Soviet soldiers gave this somewhat ungainly vehicle the nickname "Vanyusha" (by analogy to the BM-13 "Katyusha").
Overall, during 1943-1944 German factories produced about 300 examples of the Sd.Kfz. 4/1 Panzerwerfer 42, and more than 250 Munitionskraftwagen ammunition transporters for the Sd.Kfz.4/1. Compared with several thousand Soviet BM-13 and BM-24 "Stalin Organs", this is a rather small number, and of course the Sd.Kfz.4/1 Panzerwerfer 42 had no major impact on the course of the war, but the many technical innovations of this vehicle allow it its place in the history of rocket weapons of the twentieth century.
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