GPM 1/35
Kubus Armored Car

Background

At the beginning of August 1944, engineer Walerian Bielecki (also known as “Jan”), a sergeant in the Home Army, was ordered to build an armored car in just a 10 day period.

This took place in Warsaw, just after the start of the Uprising against German occupying forces.

He used a Chevrolet truck chassis for the purpose. It was armored by doubled thin sheets of steel and welded together. With the “Wydra” motorized unit, “Kubus” (Little Jacob) took part in the assault on the Warsaw University which was manned by the Germans. After this engagement, “Kubus” saw action several more times, but came to a ignoble end when it was burned during the fall of the Powisle District.

Tech Data:

• Length: 6.09 m
• Width: 2.17 m
• Height: 2.52 m
• Engine: Chevrolet petrol
• Armament: one captured German 7.92 mm MG-34 machine-gun
• Armor: 2 layers of 5 & 6 mm armor with 6 cm of space between them.
• Crew: a driver and up to 8 to 12 soldiers

The Kit

This is the second of two GPM Extra Plan brand vacuform kits that I purchased from a private individual who had a vendor’s table at a IPMS contest I went to in the 90’s. The other kit I bought is reviewed elsewhere on this site. The third kit that this company did a limited run kit of was a Tatra armored rail car. Unfortunately, this fellow had sold that one off before I hit his table.

This is rather a obscure subject as only ONE was ever assembled, out of bits and pieces, in Warsaw to combat the Germans there. It was born out of necessity as the uprising Poles needed more firepower in any way that they could get it.

This kit comes in a generic white end-opening type box. The box art is a sheet that has been glued around this box. It shows the model kit make up.

The kit contains 3 sheets of chalk white vacuformed parts and white metal cast parts.

The first sheet holds the wheels, chassis frame members, MG shield, rear axle half etc.

The second sheet holds the 2 body halves.

The third sheet holds the grill, leaf springs, the other half of the rear axle, floor board head lamp parts and the engine oil pan section.

Finally, there are the white metal parts. These duplicate some of the parts that are also given as vacuform pieces. There are 4 leaf springs, a German MG-34 machine gun, the rear axle and one head light. The box art shows that the modeler who did that model added some rather large conical headed rivets around the front of the vehicle just below the grill. These are not molded into the kit parts and will have to be added by using Grant Line brand ones. The instructions are a 4 page affair with exploded drawings. One page shows the camouflaged layout very well, as well as the box art does too.

I bought some Evergreen Plastic brand U-channel stock and cut it to the same lengths as the chassis frame members. I am going to use those instead of the vacuformed parts in this kit. I think this will be more rigid and a better way to go. I have included a scan of these parts here.

Conclusion

I recommend this kit to armor modelers that like the obscure and want to tackle something other than the usual diet of Allied and German vehicles. Being a one-off vehicle, it is sure to draw some stares from people at contests.