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Tuesday, October 18, 2016 - 01:03 PM UTC
MR Modellbau announces the availability of its hedgerow cutter.
MR-35539 Culin Hedgerow Cutter (Tamiya)

Moving inland following the D-Day landings, the Allies had difficulty in operating in the bocage country. High hedges forced tanks to ride over them thereby exposing its thin undersides to attack. The invention of a hedge-breaching device fitted to Allied armored vehicles is mainly credited to Sgt. Curtis G. Culin III, who served as a tanker for the 102nd Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, 2AD. Culin came up with the idea of a four-pronged plow device created from scrap steel from a German roadblock. Attached to the front of the tank, it proved highly successful in rapidly plowing gaps in the hedgerows. The idea took on and by the time of Operation Cobra, more than half of the First Army tanks were so equipped.

MR-35539 re-creates Culin’s breakthrough tool in 1/35 for that added realism to your Tamiya kits.

Our thanks to MR Modellbau for this update.
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Comments

These look good and it's always nice to have a couple handy for those Normandy dios. But I'm confused, cause the cutter in photo #1 looks different than photo #2 and #3. Which one is in the box??
OCT 18, 2016 - 09:24 PM
My guess would be that you and an option of which style to build.
OCT 19, 2016 - 12:53 AM
Since these cutters were made from cut up German beach obstacles, I've found that scratching them from bits of Plastuct I-beams, and angles (depending on the type of cutter), cheaper, and usually more realistic. And quite easy to make. All you need is a clear photo of one (and there are many). Since they were all hand-made by an army of engineers, you could expect some variance between examples.
OCT 19, 2016 - 07:52 PM
Photo #1 is the base, #2 and #3 are the base with the triangular "wings". G
OCT 19, 2016 - 09:40 PM
Some food for thought (by S.Zaloga ) http://www.missing-lynx.com/articles/usa/zaloga_culin_cutter.htm H.P.
OCT 20, 2016 - 05:28 PM
Interesting, very interesting I have always wondered how the Culin cutter which is narrower than the width of the tank hull (i.e. width between the tracks) could make a hole big enough for the whole tank to get through. Using them to make holes to put explosives in makes sense in a way but the poor sod handling the explosives would be exposed to enemy fire. I would have tried with a conical "hat" on a steel tube, the "hat" has a larger diameter than the tube, the tube is firmly attached to the tank (like the Culin cutter), the tube contains an explosive charge which is fixed to the "hat" and with a sufficiently long cord and rip detonator to the inner end of the tube. The "hat" has a larger diameter than the tube and is very loosely connected to the tube. The tank rams the tube/tubes into the hedgerow and slowly backs out, the hat sticks in the hole since the "brim" is larger than the tube, the explosive charge stays with the "hat" since it is tied to it, the rip cord is pulled out when the tank backs away and the detonator blows the charge. If cardboard tubes were available they could be used to enclose the explosives as long as the whole thing fits inside the steel tube. With more advanced workshop facilities it could be possible to have prongs on the "hat" with springs to push them out into the soil of the hedge (think arrowhead with barbs). / Robin
OCT 20, 2016 - 06:14 PM
The primary reason for the hedge cutter was not to make a hole by itself, but, by forking into the base of the hedgerow, preventing the tank from riding up and over and exposing it's thin belly plate to AT fire. The tank then just forced it's way through the hedgerow by brute force. The one above by MR Modelbau does look a little small.
OCT 20, 2016 - 07:58 PM
MR Modelbau has some interesting stuff, but does anyone outside of Germany carry their products? Shipping from Germany to the US is ludicrous.
OCT 21, 2016 - 02:37 AM
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