Our new MG42 team features the usual two man crew in the rabbit-lined, 3⁄4 length anorak peculiar to members of the Waffen SS and widely issued to troops serving on the Eastern Front. In the postwar years militaria collectors have named this the Kharkov parka due to photographic evidence of its use by Waffen SS forces during the Third Battle of Kharkov, although this garment was also in use during the winter of 1944-45 on the Western Front. The German MG42 was designed to use the standard German 7.92 X 57mm Mauser rifle round and to be cheaper and easier to manufacture than the MG34, and used a good number of stamped metal parts replacing the time consuming machined parts of its predecessor. It proved to be highly reliable and easy to operate with a very high cyclic rate of about 1200 rounds per minute compared to around 850 rounds per minute for the earlier MG 34. This made it extremely effective in providing suppressive fire resulting in it being universally feared by Allied troops. Its unique sound was likened to tearing cloth leading to the nickname “Hitler’s buzzsaw.”

1/30 Scale
Matte Finish
2 Figures and Gun Mounted on Base