From LeeH - The Mouse that Roared - Panzer VIII 'Maus'

I'm aware that I have painted a lot of fantasy figures this Challenge, so I thought I would paint something historical for a change...well sort of. The Panzer VIII was only at the design and trials phase in late 1944 when the Soviets overrun the German testing grounds and of the five ordered, only two hulls and one turret were completed. Had it been completed it would have been the largest tank in service.

At 33 ft long, and 188 metric tons the 'Maus' was absolutely huge, dwarfing all other German and allied tanks. Its main armament was the Krupp-designed 128 mm KwK 44 L/55 gun with a coaxial 75 mm KwK 44 L/36.5 gun. The main gun was powerful enough to destroy all Allied armoured fighting vehicles then in service, some at ranges exceeding 11,500 ft. But like all grandiose vanity projects, it was plagued with practical problems, not least finding an engine powerful enough to drive the tank. At a time when the Wermacht was desperately short of regular tanks, this hugely resource-heavy development project could only have been dreamed up in the minds of a political system that couldn't comprehend defeat, let alone appreciate the practical needs of fighting a war on two fronts.

Of the two hulls built, only one survived the war and was married up with the surviving Turret and taken back to Russian for evaluation. After testing it was taken to the Kubinka Tank Museum for storage, where it remains on display.

(Scoring - 1x15mm Vehicle = 8 Points)