Matador Model's
1/76 Büssing KZW 1800 Heavy Artillery Tractor

The work on the KZW 1800 started already before the war, as a result of a cooperation project between the Truck firm of Büssing and the German High Command, with the aim of constructing a heavy tractor, that could be used to tow the heavier and heavier guns that had started to appear. (Heinrich Büssing had set up his company at Braunschweig in 1903, when he also built his first truck: a 2-tonne payload machine powered by a 2-cylinder gasoline engine and featuring worm drive. That successful design was later built under licence by other companies in Germany, Austria. Hungary and England. Already before the Great War Bussing had progressed to building heavy-duty trucks for loads of between 5 and 11 tonnes, powered by 6-cylinder engines.)

The result of this cooperation was the big KZW 1800 (KZW = Kraftzugwagen). Like the pre-war trucks of the same company, it too was powered by a 6-cylinder Otto 90 Horsepower engine. The tractor was produced during the years of 1916-17. It had a straight frame with a front winch. The big rear wheels had retractable wheel spuds. The gun crew had a special bench seat at the rear of the big cab. Some tractors had a small rear body for ammunition. Others, like the one above, were produced with wheels of equal size.

The need for motor transport had at last been acknowledged by the German Army: at the end of 1915 it was decided that all Fussartillerie, like the 21cm Mörser, and not just the super-heavy guns, should be pulled by motor vehicles. The guns were either pulled just in the standard manner, or using a special method, which menat that the gun was suspended in the air, between the tractor and a special trolley, a so called Lastenvertailergerät (Cargo Distributor Apparatus). On the photo below, a 21 cm Mörser can be seen transported in this manner.

The kit comes packed in a small box, typical of Matador Models. The kit, however, was originally made and sold by B.K. Modelcraft, and is in its way typical of that firm: the parts are made from resin and white metal. (The cab is resin, the rest is made in white metal.) The moulding is quite acceptable. The resin parts are OK, but there is some flash on the white metal parts. re is little or no flash. The kit comes with a simple plan - typical of B.K. Modelcraft, just adequate, but not much more - you will have to do some intelligent guessing when it comes to some parts. The construction of the main wheels looks strange, but pretty unavoidable, in order to avoid extremely complicated castings.

THere are some problems in the construction: the plate beneath the crew bench on the back will interfere with the back wheel, and the same is true with the ballast box. The accuracy is good, as far as I can tell, although the interior of the cab looks a little bare. This model will make an ideal companion to your 21cm Mörser!  

This kit can be bought from Matador using their own site. To see a built model, click here!
 

The kit is very welcome, as there is a distinct lack of German heavy artillery tractors. It also gives you a very good basis for an impressive-looking behemoth of a tractor. Very Great War-ish.