Gerät 040 - Selbstfahrlafette

600 millimeters. Not a typo. Not a tank. Not even close.

Let's get something straight before we go any further: the Karl-Gerät is not a tank. It has no turret. It has no anti-tank gun. It is a self-propelled siege mortar — a 124-tonne tracked chassis carrying a 60 cm mortar designed to do one thing: reduce fortifications to rubble.

Each round weighed roughly 2,170 kilograms — nearly 4,800 pounds. A single shell, almost two and a half tons. The mortar could elevate between approximately 55 and 70 degrees. Traverse was about 4 degrees before the entire vehicle had to be repositioned. When it fired, the hull lowered itself onto the ground to absorb the recoil because no suspension system ever built could handle the forces involved.

And the rounds were so massive they couldn't be loaded by the crew alone. Each Karl-Gerät required its own dedicated Munitionsschlepper — an ammunition carrier built on a modified Panzer IV chassis, equipped with a crane to lift shells onto the Karl's loading tray. The Karl didn't just need a crew. It needed an entire logistics ecosystem just to feed it.

Rheinmetall-Borsig built seven Karl-Gerät chassis in total — six production weapons and one test vehicle. "Eva" was chassis No. II. She saw action at the Eastern Front's most punishing siege operations — the kind of engagements where conventional artillery wasn't enough and the objective was to collapse structures that had withstood everything else.

Seven. Total. Ever. That's rarer than the Maus. Rarer than the Sturmtiger. Rarer than almost anything with tracks that saw combat in the entire war.

What you're building:

• 4,706 pieces in 1:28 scale — our single largest build in the entire BrixKrieg catalog
• 16.1 inches long. 6.2 inches wide. 6.6 inches tall. A siege mortar with real shelf presence.
• 10 crew/soldier figures included — because operating a Karl-Gerät was a team effort
• The massive 60 cm mortar assembly — elevating barrel, the enormous bore that defines the silhouette
• Munitionsschlepper ammunition carrier included — the modified Panzer IV with crane that serviced the Karl in the field. Two vehicles in one build.
• Tracked chassis with the massive road-wheel arrangement
• The complete Karl-Gerät artillery system — mortar and loader together, the way it actually operated

⚠️ HEADS UP — STICKER APPLICATION:
This kit uses stickers for select markings and identification. We want you to know up front before you order. No surprises when the box arrives.