The Sonderkraftfahrzeng 8 was a German half-track that saw wide spread use during World War II. Its prime purpose was to tow heavy guns. Approximately 4,000 units were built between 1938 and 1945. It fought in many campaigns, mainly Eastern Front, North Africa, Normandy, and many more.
For the lovers of Soviet cold war armor, decades have gone by without any accurate, readily available kits. What was out were either resin or very limited run, and usually done from sketchy plans and grainy photos as a reference. The fall of the Iron Curtain saw the availability of reference material open up some, and a few kits from former Soviet Bloc countries trickled in, but we were still left wanting. Tamyia, Esci, Dragon, and others started covering the “heavy hitters” during the 1990s, yet that still left many vehicles untouched.
Enter the 21st century market with an onslaught of kits from the Far East. Trumpeter has been steadily working its way through the Soviet inventory, or so it seems, and after starting a series of eight-wheeled vehicles, they begin the four-wheeled with the release of the early model BRDM-2.
There is very little online about the Henschel 33D1 Kfz. 72. I did find a few black and white pictures, but my own library added nothing.
The kit comprises 7 sprues in yellow plastic, one of clear plastic, a small decal sheet, and a 13 page instruction sheet. The instruction sheet has a two-paragraph background, a color chart (Model Master), a parts map (showing unused parts), 34 steps of construction, and color and marking profiles for two trucks. The instructions are very well drawn and mostly clear, with some painting call outs.
I want to begin this review with a disclaimer. I am not an armor guy. I am an airplane guy. But I just wanted to try out – at least once – building an armor kit.
This kit has about 440 plastic parts, about half of which are individual links for the tracks. It also has a small photo-etch fret and a turned metal barrel for the cannon. The surface detail is superb and there was no flash whatsoever in my example.
Assembly of the hull and rolling wheels is simple. I had all the body and wheels assembled in about 4 hours. Fit is good, with little need for filler in the body. The turret is molded in two halves, which leaves a large seam that needs treatment with filler. It is not difficult, just a bit surprising, given that the rest of the engineering of the kit is really good.
This new Hobby Boss offering represents the final version of an armored observation vehicle used mainly for scouting and communications. It was designed to operate efficiently both on-road and off-road, riding on conventional tires as well as tracks. At least that was the promise. Of 140 ordered early in the war, 129 were produced and fielded, seeing service in North Africa, France, and on the Eastern Front.
The M109A2 is the second upgraded version of the M109 self-propelled howitzer, the most widely used and longest serving artillery in the US Army history. The M109 entered service in 1961 and was upgraded to the M109A2 in 1979 with about 4000 pieces being produced. This kit represents a vehicle the US and British Army used from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s, when they were upgraded again to the M109A3/A4. I had the opportunity to serve in an Army Reserve M109 unit for 11 years, so I am very familiar with this gun.
This latest release in the Duel series by Osprey examines the conflict between the American M4A3 and Japan’s best tank of WWII, the Type 97-kai Shinhoto Chi-ha. As is typical for this series, this book provides detailed descriptions of the tanks and the men who operated and fought in them.
Not a lot has been written on tank battles in the Pacific theater. The region’s diverse terrain required a change in tactics, to where tanks were used as infantry support weapons as opposed to the maneuver warfare that usually led to major tank-vs.-tank battles. This book starts with the early encounters between the Japanese and the US in the Philippines in 1941, where US M3 Stuarts fought Japanese Type 95 light tanks. By 1944, both sides were deploying large numbers of tanks in combat. The Japanese committed an entire tank division to Luzon while the US Army had nearly a third of its armored battalions committed to the Pacific.
I have always loved reading about the LRDG and SAS during the North African campaign during WWII. Their ability to make long treks across the desert, attack the enemy at their bases, and return was just amazing.
Finally, a kit has been released in 1/72nd scale of the LRDG’s main mode of transportation, the Chevrolet Model 1533X2 30 cwt 4x2 truck. So let’s take a look at it.
Packed in a sturdy, well illustrated box, the kit consists of 28 sprues of dark grey plastic, 1 clear sprue, and 2 photo-etched frets, one of which consists of the weld seam inserts for the spare jerry cans. Also included are 5 each of three slightly different back packs, a covered and folded windshield, one folded-down top, and one full closed top with a clear rear window. Decals include pre-made and make-your-own registration plates, instrument faces, stencils, and division and army group markings. Paint call-outs for detail and overall colors refer to Mr. Hobby, Hobby Color, Humbrol and Tamiya brands.
The glossy instruction booklet is broken down into 25 assembly steps, with some options for early and later versions. I found it prudent to deviate from the published sequence, but each builder may feel differently.
I will start this review by stating that the new Dragon release of the German Neubau-Fahrzeug is a well-engineered, fun to build kit that goes together nicely to produce a very realistic replica of the “new construction vehicle”. My assembly time was short as there were no fit issues, and I probably spent more time researching this vehicle than anything else, but more on that later. The slide mold technology being utilized by Dragon allows for the front idler wheels and road wheels to be single-piece items, but with an impressive amount of detail for this scale.
