Can Do HORNISSE NASHHORN SP-Gun 1/144 DRAGON sPzJgAbt 525 ITALY 1944 RARE WW2

Description

You are bidding on an original
DRAGON CAN DO POCKET ARMY Early Production HORNISSE Self-propelled anti
-Tank
gun
in
dark yellow w dark green
color in
1/144 scale.
This is based on a
Hornisse
serving in Italy in
1944.
It is based on a real tank. You get the
tank
, the
display case
and the
original card
it came on.
The "
Hornisse
" (Hornet) was the early version of what ended up as the "
Nashorn
" (Rhinocerous).
This was the final version of the self-propelled anti tank gun that Germany fielded up to the end of the war. The gun had a limited traverse of about 30* of sideways movement. Aiming was done first by pointing the entire vehicle and then the detail work was done with laying the gun.
They tended to be operated in tank-destroyer units, this particular vehicle being in the heavy panzer-jager battalion 525 (sPzJagAbt 525 - the small "s" stands for heavy) stationed in Italy in 1944.
The big gun was the 88mm L/71, the deadliest anti-tank gun in the entire war.This is the same gun that was used on the King Tiger, but here on a quicker, more agile and lightly armored chassis. But just as deadly. With the open top and thinly walled sides, proof against small-arms and shrapnel at best, it took a brave man to stick with his gun facing the enemy.
Fewer than 500 were built and, ultimately, while they had a decided effect on the battlefield they had no effect on the outcome of the war.
These have become quite rare and hard to find. Just do a search....
These tanks come in excellent, like new condition. See the photos. They  were  first manufactured by Dragon Armor in  ~2005 and are now out of production, as is the entire line.  The tracks are rubber. They do not turn. The gun has a forward traverse of ~30*. You will receive exactly what you see.
This was purchased for use in 144-scale war gaming, never saw combat and was carefully handled and stored. They were purchased new by myself, have had only one owner in a smoke free house. If you have any questions please feel free to ask.
For price comparisons feel free to explore ebay and the internet.
At the end of this description is a little essay on the development of the Dragon Armor/Can Do Pocket Army lines.
Please note.
Now that eBay charges fees for the entire purchase price, including shipping, I considered just offering "free" shipping and folding the S&H into the item price. This, however, would preclude me from offering a combined shipping discount, so I have forsworn doing so. This does leave me at the buyer's mercy in the DSR ratings so if you have a question about my S&H please feel free to contact me regarding it.
Thank you.
This item may not be mailed to Italy. If you are in Italy please contact me prior to bidding.
Caveat Emptor?:   Not really, more 'buyer be aware.' I am a private collector and a personal consumer. I am NOT a retailer. I do not have a stock of "inventory" or buy things wholesale. Everything I sell, whether as New, Used or 'Other' has been bought and paid for at retail and often with taxes and/or shipping as well. I price at close to what I paid and so do not have much of a margin. Everything I sell must be considered as pre-owned and comes as-is. I provide a photo, will gladly provide more and give a full and accurate description of each item including any known defects. I do not have a return policy because I am NOT a business, just a private person, and simply cannot afford to deal with returns. My shipping department is me and three cats who are shiftless and lazy and have the finest union contract on earth with free food, board and 100% medical. Their motto is "knock it under the sofa and fuggedaboutit." I ship everything within 24 hours of receipt of payment (unless received the day before a Sunday or holiday) because that is what I want for myself. I usually ship USPS Priority and always include a tracking/confirmation number; you will invariably receive your item in less than a week, CONUS.
The Can-Do Line of “Pocket Army” Tanks; A Short history:
In 2003 Dragon Ltd came out with two lines of new toy tanks, one in 1/72 scale and the other in 1/144. While the 1/72 scale had been around for a long time the 144 scale was relatively new and untested commercially. Initially the offerings in both lines were were quite similar. Tigers, Panthers, King Tigers, Jagd-Panthers and Jagd-Tigers, Abrams and Bradleys.
As the 1/72 Dragon Armor line continued in this vein, advertising itself as “die-cast” the (the “new” die-cast which had a very significant % of plastic), Can-Do “Pocket Army” (The Can-Do line was advertised as the "pocket army" because their small size allowed you to carry them in your pocket. They're being all plastic meant that if you did so the main gun would snap off, usually at the base. So my recommendation is- don't have an “in your pocket” army.) branched out into Panzer IIs, -IIIs, -IVs, Marders, Hummels and more. It was a relatively cheap way to test the 144 waters in plastic. The waters were relatively deep and the Dragon Armor 1/72 line began expanding exponentially and the less expensive (1/2 - 1/4 and lower retail price) and smaller (1/8 the volume) Can-Do series has seemingly gone out of production. In consequence their prices have increased dramatically.
Other companies attempted to cash-in on the new 144 scale craze including Takara and their very extensive ‘World Tank Museum’ line, 21st Century Toys (out of business) and their and ‘New Millennium Classic Armor’ series (which were poorly done and cheap looking) along with many others (F-Toys, Trumpeter, et al). None of which supply display cases with their vehicles and the prices of the vehicles have sky-rocketed. Just search ebay.
The Can-Do models were different in a special way. Their suspensions were multi-piece, each road-wheel molded separately and the tracks were rubber. WTM and others had single piece molded tracks and wheels. You can actually see light through the road wheels on the Can-Dos. A very complicated production.
The display cases will work with any of the extant WTM et al 144 scale vehicles.
Dragon Armor 1/72: A Recap-
In 2004 Dragon Ltd announced that they would be coming out with a new 1/72 scale die-cast line with extreme detail and each offering would be based upon an actual tank with details and paint-scheme drawn from color photographs taken during the war. At the time die-cast was taken to mean actual all metal except for a few parts.
The first tank produced, #60001, was a Tiger tank based on one Michael Whitmann commanded and the line proceeded forward with more Tigers, King Tigers, Jagd Tigers, JagdPanthers and JagdTigers than you could shake a stick at. They weren’t quite die-cast, Panther’s turrets and Tigers hulls were, but the detail was awesome and the paint jobs really beautiful in a 1/72 scale sort of way.
They basically came out mirroring what Dragon called their 1/144 scale “Can-Do Pocket Army” which was all plastic, incredibly detailed and shared paint schemes with their bigger 1/72 brothers. The two lines paralleled each other for about the next two years.
By around 2007 the Can-Do line came to an end but the larger 1/72 products kept expanding into British, Russian, and American vehicles, armored cars and assault guns, Marders and s-p artillery, mirroring the Can-Dos and then going far beyond them. It was apparent the the profit was in 1/72 scale. As new items were introduced their molds became the basis for new specific, individualized (similar) vehicles. The Can-Do line had paved the way but the Dragon Armor flew higher and farther.
Initially produced with either a metal hull and plastic turret or visa-versa later models had a metal insert in an all plastic hull, to provide “heft” that all plastic couldn’t, and eventually seems to have devolved into what is now an all plastic line. “Die-cast” redefined.
New models keep being produced and older ones accrue in value as they are and always will be, out-of-production. The marvelous detail of all their product and beautiful reproductions continue to carry this line despite prices (inflation adjusted) that rival what the original, real ones cost to produce.