Bronco CB35216 1/35 Hungarian CV-35M & CV-35 Command Tank [2in1] w/Twin 34/37M Gebauer MG

Hungarian CV-35.M / CV-35 Command Tank ( 2in1) Carro Veloce L3/35 Italian Tankette with Twin 34/37M Gebauer MG
The Fiat-Ansaldo L3/33 Tankette was based on the British Carden-Loyd Mk.VI imported from Britain in 1929.. It was produced in Italy from 1933 and entered service in October 1935. It was Italy's most numerous light tank with about 2,250 being built in several models. The L3/33 weighed just over 3 tons and had armour 6-14mm thick, it was armed with an 8mm Revelli machine gun. Power was provided by a 43 bhp Fiat-SPA CV-3 petrol engine giving a maximum road speed of 42 km/h and a range of 125 kilometers. The Fiat-Ansaldo L3/35 variant was built in 1936, these had bolted rather than riveted armour, and provision for 2 x 8mm machine guns mounted side by side. Hungary purchased 120 of this variant which in service was designated the 35M these being delivered by 1938. The Revelli machine guns had poor reliability and so the indigenous 8mm/56R 34/37M Gebauer tank machine gun was installed. These were fed by 100 round drum magazines giving a greater rate of fire as well as improved reliability. Some of the 35M's were given a raised commanders cupola to improve visibility at the same time the armament was changed. The Hungarian 35M's did not see action in the opening battles of WWII, in Czechoslovakia, Poland and France. But the Hungarian army did see action in the German led invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941. They were also used in the invasion of the Soviet Union later that year. Being essentially a design from the mid-1920's, the 35M's had little military value in modern warfare and were only used as nothing better was available. Some were used on occupation / anti-partisan duties in the Balkans. But most 35M's were destroyed in the Red Army advances of 1943-44 in southern Russia, which saw the annihilation of the Hungarian army.