Reviews of products for scale military vehicle models.

Book Author(s)
Gordon L. Rottman
Review Author
Jeff Leiby
Published on
November 28, 2011
Company
Osprey Publishing
MSRP
$17.95

Military Police units have the mission, among many others, to provide armed escort to supply convoys in a combat zone. During the Vietnam War there were never enough military police combat support units to accomplish this mission. Commanders of truck companies in the 8th Transportation Group began to arm and armor 2-1/2 ton and 5 ton cargo trucks to provide convoy security. The 8th Trans Group became the major user of gun trucks during the war.

This book, number 184 in the New Vanguard series published by Osprey Publishing, describes the development and employment of gun trucks during the last half of the Vietnam War. The first half of the volume describes the U.S. Army motor transport units deployed in South Vietnam, the Army convoy system itself, and the threat the convoys faced. The second half provides a good description of gun truck design and development and gun truck tactics.

Book Author(s)
David Doyle
Review Author
Rick Bellanger
Published on
November 25, 2011
Company
Squadron Signal Publications
MSRP
$17.95

After the American Civil War, the railroad gun became a common weapon system throughout Europe. They provided a rapidly deployable heavy artillery gun that could defend a coastline or bombard enemy positions and fortifications. By the end of World War I, these guns grew in caliber and popularity. In the 1930s, Hitler initiated several programs to develop and procure more of these systems. Krupp initiated its own design and this program resulted in the" 28cm Kanone 5 Eisenbahngeschutz." The name is often abbreviated to 28cm K5 (E) (Eisenbahngeschutz means railroad gun) and 24 examples, the largest quantity of any rail gun, were produced. They were initially deployed along the English Channel to support the invasion of Britain. After this aborted event, they were deployed on all fronts to support other actions.

Review Author
Jim Pearsall
Published on
September 19, 2021
Company
Ace Models
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$24.95

The Vehicle

The Sd.Kfz.250/1 (neu) was a compact version of the SdKfz251. Its mission was to carry a scout section for reconnaissance purposes. There was a previous (alt) version which had multi-faceted armor plate which stood up better than the simpler flat plates used by the “neu” version. But because the older version was more difficult to build and cost more, the newer one became the standard in early 1944

The armor of the Sd.Kfz 250/1 could stop rifle caliber bullets and shell fragments, but didn’t stand up to anything heavier, such as a .50 caliber or larger weapon. The half track design was superior to wheeled armored cars when off-road, so the 250 was preferred in many situations.

The Model

Ace has produced a vehicle which we haven’t seen kitted previously. ESCI had a 250/9, but it’s a different vehicle in that it has a screened top to prevent insertion of grenades and other litter.

Review Author
Ben Guenther
Published on
November 22, 2011
Company
Cyber-Hobby
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$39.99

Armies cannot operate long without supplies (food, fuel, ammo to start with) delivered to them. The German High Command thought so highly of this Opel truck that the German government nationalized production in 1940, taking it out of the hands of the US GM owners. The Opel Blitz “S” model began production in April, 1937 and by July, 1944, 82,356 3t trucks had been manufactured. The final number is actually over 100,000 when specialized vehicles built on this chassis are included. To further emphasize how valuable this truck was to Germany, in late 1945 the US Military allowed Opel to reopen the production facilities for the 3t truck to aid post-war recovery.

Review Author
Tom Moon
Published on
November 18, 2011
Company
Cyber-Hobby
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$54.95

This kit represents a field modification of an SdKfz 10 Halftrack to mount the 3.7cm PaK 35/36 in the bed. The AT gun basically just had the wheels removed and was placed in a specially designed cradle in the bed of the halftrack. The sprues are from the halftrack kit (new) and the 3.7cm PaK kit (old), along with the special sprue for the mounting of the gun. There are Magic Tracks for the tracks and, if you are careful, they will moveable and will allow for a good representation of the track sag. There is one sprue of clear plastic and one small fret of photo etched parts.

Step 1. This step builds the drive sprocket, idler wheel, and the two front wheels. It has been noted elsewhere that the drive sprocket is undersize in both the diameter and the thickness. After I built a run of the track I found that the drive rollers are too wide and, to get the tracks to fit, I had to sand off a little of the drive rollers on both sides.

Review Author
Roger Carrano
Published on
November 13, 2011
Company
Eduard
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$21.75

Eduard has recently come out with a few new items for the Nashorn by AFV Club. This particular photo etch kit is plainly called “Nashorn” and it incorporates interior and exterior items to enhance the already fine kit which AFV Club released. The stock number for the AFV kit is AF35164.

This PE fret will enhance parts such as the floor, hinges on some of the stowage boxes, handles on the hatches, antenna mounts, small hold-down clamps for accessories and tools which are stowed on the outside of the vehicle, and newly formed boxes for tool storage. These features are all designed and made with the typical Eduard engineering found in all of their products which most definitely adds the finishing touch. All of the items included in this kit add subtle improvements, but when compared to an OOB assembly, the difference can be noticed.

Review Author
Tom Moon
Published on
November 13, 2011
Company
Dragon Models
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$38.95

This super heavy tank project was started in November, 1941. By May of 1942, the size of this tank had increased varied from 70 to 120 tons, and its armament varied from 10.5cm to 15cm, finally settling on 12.8cm, then adding a second gun of 7.5cm. This project slowly progressed due to many changes, lack of adequate motors to propel the beast, and constant competing for materials and space in the production cycles. The plan was for 180 of the tanks, but only 2 were delivered to the testing center and were there at the end of the war. These two tanks were blown up by the Germans to keep the Red Army from capturing them. However, the Russians did find several hulls and turrets at the Krupp works and apparently “built” an example that is now in the Kubinka Tank Museum.

Review Author
John Ratzenberger
Published on
September 19, 2021
Company
Bronco Models
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$73.00

Background

I'm sure, no matter what you model in WW2, you've heard of the British 17-pounder, most notably in the Sherman “Firefly’'. Well, there was also a towed version – however, it wasn't the most mobile piece, so the British looked for a way to create an SP gun. Fortunately, they avoided cloning the Bishop and instead came up with a new design based on the existing Valentine tank. To keep it compact, the gun faced over the rear deck in a rather low and sleek fighting compartment. The disadvantage of this layout is, of course, that one can't fire on the move, but it is great for ambush scenarios where you back into a firing position, crank off a few, and scoot away, and that ultimately became the fighting doctrine for this weapon.

Review Author
Don Barry
Published on
November 9, 2011
Company
Dragon Models
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$79.95

The kit consists of over 400 parts on 15 sprues (7 containing individual track links), 1 upper hull, 1 small photo-etched fret, and 1 sprue of clear parts. The instructions are the exploded view type, with part numbers and sprue letters called out, consisting of 15 assembly steps on a single, multi-fold sheet. Painting details are shown throughout.

Review Author
Mark Aldrich
Published on
November 8, 2011
Company
Pro Art Models
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$78.00

Pro Art Models released this upgrade set after the arrival of the Trumpeter LMTV (01004). With the kit’s overall sparseness in the cabin area, this is just the ticket. The box art shows the tires also but these are not included in the kit. You will need Pro Art’s 35030 (5 wheels) or 35037 (7 wheels).

This set contains approximately 67 cream-colored resin parts, 50 PE parts, and a three page instruction manual. The resin is beautifully cast and bubble-free. The photo-etched parts have nice pre-grooved parts and feels quite strong, not like some of the PE I have used recently.