COBI® LCVP Higgins Boat

Especially on the occasion of the upcoming 80th anniversary of D-Day we have created an official collector's set with a special logo of the anniversary that will take place in 2024. The set will keep alive the memory of this extremely important event, which had a huge impact on the course of World War II.The Higgins Boat model made of COBI construction blocks faithfully reflects its historical inspiration, maintaining the popular 1:35 scale. The block boat is a completely new structure, designed from scratch. The model is 36cm long. It has an opening ramp and a detailed full hull. The set includes movable elements such as two machine guns with covers and a mechanism for lowering and raising the front ramp based on a cable system. We didn’t forget about such details as the rudder, turbines and the opening hatch with the outline of the engine underneath, either. The set uses permanent prints only. To display this beautiful model we designed a special brick display stand with a plate containing the name of the boat. The set also includes two figures depicting an American infantry soldier and a sailor from the boat crew. A large US flag printed on both sides flies on the Higgins Boat, as well.This is a special D-Day anniversary set intended for enthusiasts of history, military technology and block modeling! Build history, piece by piece, with COBI!Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel (LCVP) or the Higgins Boat was a type of landing craft used during World War II and later to transport and land supplies, small vehicles and soldiers. They were used on a massive scale during D-Day (June 6, 1944) and in Operations Torch in North Africa, Husky, Shingle and Avalanche in Italy, as well as in combat in the Pacific in the Battle of Guadalcanal, the Gilbert Islands, the Philippines, Iwo Jima and Okinawa.The Higgins Boat was designed by Andrew Higgins. Various manufacturers produced over 20,000 of these units. Most of the structure was built mainly of plywood, which made the boat very cheap and easy to build, extremely light, but at the same time it did not provide any protection against gunfire. Thanks to the flat bottom, a special lowered front ramp and the drive cover, it could reach any shore, even very shallow ones. The barge could carry a 36-person army platoon on board. In the case of transporting a small vehicle such as an off-road vehicle, it could also accommodate about 12 soldiers or 3.6 tons of cargo. The landing craft reached speeds of up to 12 knots (14 mph, 22 km/h). The boat was also armed with two machine guns operated by two gunners.