TACAM R-2 (RO105)

TACAM R-2 (RO105) includes one TACAM R-2 Tank Destroyer with crew. After the disaster at Stalingrad in November 1942, the inadequacy of the 3.7cm gun which armed the Romanian R-2 tank needed to be addressed. Faced with the fact that the R-2 had to stay in active service, the Romanian Army decided to convert the vehicle into a self-propelled gun armed with a captured Soviet 76mm.

Forward Firing Some tanks mount weapons in the front of the hull instead of in a turret to save weight or to make them easier to produce. A Forward Firing weapon mounted in the front of a vehicle has a 180-degree Field of Fire covering everything in front of a line drawn across the front of the vehicle.

The project was entrusted to Colonel Constantin Ghiulai, who had conceived the TACAM T-60. The first prototype of the TACAM R-2 was built between July and September 1943 and by early 1944 it was decided that 40 R-2 tanks would be converted to TACAMs. The TACAM R-2 was armed with the Soviet 76mm ZIS-3 gun with either Romanian or German made gun sight and fired Romanian Costinescu ammunition (both AP and HE) rather than the original Soviet ammunition. The gun was mounted in a three-sided fighting compartment that was roofed to provide overhead protect for its crew.

The TACAM R-2 enjoyed the same performance as the R-2 but the fighting compartment gave it an unavoidable high profile and the overhang created by the length of gun barrel made trench crossing awkward. The gun was adequate for dealing with the T-34 at ranges of around 500 metres but by the Spring of 1944 the Red Army was fielding the heavy IS-2 tank and the 76mm gun was deemed inadequate for dealing with such a treat.

A proposal was put forward to up-gun the remaining chassis with the excellent TAC 43 Reşiţa 75mm gun or the German ‘88’ but with Romania’s defection to the Allies on 23 August 1944 no further consideration was given to the proposal. Designed by Evan Allen Painted by Mark Hazell

The Contents of TACAM R-2 Blister

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Description of Components

a. 1x 76mm gun barrel. b. 1x Crew sprue. c. 1x Fighting compartment roof.

d. 1x Right track. e. 1x Left track. f. 1x Resin hull.

Assembling the TACAM R-2

Step 1. Begin by attaching the right track to the resin hull.	Tip: Evan has marked each track in order to get the orientation correct. Below is the left track of the TACAM R-2 with an arrow showing which end of the track needs to point to the front of the vehicle.

Step 2. Next, add the left track.	Step 3. Then the gun.	Step 4. Followed by the crew figures.

Step 5. Finally add the roof to the fighting compartment.	Step 6. With the roof for the fighting compartment in place, the TACAM R-2 in ready for painting.