Reviews of products for scale military vehicle models.

Review Author
Allan Murrell
Published on
Company
Das Werk Scale Models
Scale
1/25
MSRP
$32.95

This kit is a collaboration between Das Werks and Customscale and what a great little kit. The subject matter is a Rheinmetall experimental Flak Weapon with 8 barrels. There is one one example still around which is in a Moscow Museum. There is not official records or documents around anymore on this subject. The only reference I could find was an old “Nuts and Bolts” publication with a photo walkaround of the one on Moscow.

The kit contains

  • 4 sprues molded in light grey styrene
  • 1 Photo Etch sheet
  • 1 instruction booklet.

Construction

The instruction booklet is great and very detailed to assist in the build. There were a couple of minor errors that I list below that I found during the build.

Section 1 is the Base Assembly made up of 5 simple sub sections. These all went together very easily and with no issues.

Review Author
Tim Wilding
Published on
Company
Das Werk Scale Models
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$39.99

This 5cm anti-tank gun vehicle kit comes is a small, 7 inches by 11 inches, sturdy box. There are four tan color sprues individually wrapped in plastic and a separate hull. The small decal sheet has 14 decals on it. The instruction booklet is small too, 9 inches by 7 inches. It has an antique paper look with 14 steps on 12 pages. The front shows Das Werks and Amazing Hobbies logos, so that tell me this is a partnership between this two model companies. The assembly instructions are typical line drawings and easy to follow. There are four full color painting and marking guides on the last four pages with Ammo by Mig color information. There are no photo-etched or clear parts.

Review Author
Eric Christianson
Published on
Company
Das Werk Scale Models
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$39.94

Frankfurt, Germany-based Das Werk has released another trailer option for their Faun L900 series truck – this time a 5-ton, four-wheeled ‘unit trailer’ or Einheitsanhänger. As with previous releases, Das Werk continues to stick to its roots of providing interesting and imminently buildable kits for a good price.

Review Author
Michael Reeves
Published on
Company
Hobby Boss
MSRP
$105.99

History

Using the hull from a Sho’t (itself a modified Centurion), the Puma CEV is a heavily armored combat engineering vehicle and armored personnel carrier used by the IDF since the 1990´s. With a top speed of 45 km/h, the Puma can carry a crew of up to eight people. It has a variety of uses including mine clearing equipment (including the Carpet system) and bridging capabilities. It is armed with three 7.62mm FN MAG machine guns, smoke grenade launchers, and a 60mm mortar.

The Kit

Inside the durable cardboard box are seventeen olive green sprues, four brown sprues with individual track links, an upper and lower hull, two clear sprues, 24 vinyl tires, a PE fret, and a nicely detailed decal sheet. The kit only features one scheme that uses only two of the decals, so good references are a must to get the most out of the kit.

Review Author
Allan Murrell
Published on
Company
Das Werk Scale Models
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$42.95

This is a re-boxing of the very good Dragon kit with addition parts and new decals for five different markings. Included in the kit is a very nice instruction manual by Das Werk. The kit can be built in to one of two different versions – the 10.5cm StuH42 or the 7.5cm StuG III Ausf.G.

The kit contains

  • 13 sprues molded in light grey styrene
  • 1 Lower hull in light grey
  • 1 clear sprue
  • 1 Photo Etch sheets
  • 2 metal cables
  • 1 decal sheet
  • 1 instruction booklet.

Construction

The kit is includes a lot of unrequired parts as these are for the other StuG versions that Dragon does. The instruction booklet is great and very detailed to assist in the build. There were a couple of minor errors that I list below that I found during the build.

Review Author
Allan Murrell
Published on
Company
AMMO by Mig Jimenez
MSRP
$29.36

The Panther is an iconic German World War II tank and this book is a very detailed manual of how to model it using the various Takom kits currently on the market.

The chapters are written by some of the best modelers in the world and they guide you through the process of building, painting and weathering the Takom kits. The book gives comprehensive cover of all the stages of construction and finishing.

The book also has a short but concise history of the Panther which includes some awesome photos, and a great chapter three which is a photo gallery of some museum Panthers.

Review Author
Eric Christianson
Published on
Company
Das Werk Scale Models
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$34.74

History

Frankfurt, Germany-based Das Werk has been busy in the ‘cool and unusual’ department as of late, providing model kits not usually covered by other manufacturers. I was initially attracted to their work by their high-quality boxing and the beautiful artwork that adorned their kits. Not satisfied with the run-of-the-mill subjects, DW continues to stick to its roots of providing interesting and imminently buildable kits for a good price. Their stunning Faun-based truck and trailer offering is the first I’ve seen in injection-molded plastic, and this review specifically covers the lowboy Sonderanhänger (‘special trailer’) 10-ton Sd.Ah.115. The Sd.Ah.115 was a light tank transporter tasked with transporting light tanks and other vehicles such as armored cars. The total weight of the trailer itself was just over 11,000lbs, and it sits about 30 feet long.

Review Author
Will Kuhrt
Published on
Company
Italeri
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$54.99

The Semovente

The Royal Italian Army began to deploy self-propelled artillery guns at the end of the 1930s. Their purpose was to provide support for tanks and infantry units. The “Semovente” 75 /18 was developed on the back of the “M” series medium tank hull, and it soon became the most feared Italian armored vehicle. The 75mm howitzer was a highly effective anti-tank weapon and was capable of destroying the most heavily armored British and American tanks. The “Semovente” was also valued for its low profile, which made it difficult to locate.

Review Author
Ron Bell
Published on
Company
Hauler
Scale
1/72
MSRP
$12.00

This set consists of one photoetch fret with parts to detail and/or replace kit parts on Emhar’s 1/72 British Mark IV Male tank. Mainly they are replacement parts for the kit’s un-ditching beam rails, some detail parts for that beam, replacement sponson doors, pistol port covers and parts to enable the modeler to open up the driver’s and commander’s vision ports. There’s also a piece to replace the roof top storage bin.

Book Author(s)
Ben Skipper
Review Author
Bob LaBouy
Published on
Company
Pen & Sword
MSRP
$28.95

Publishers Notes

“After the Second World War many American military vehicles become surplus stock and soon found their way into the hands of farmers and land owners across Great Britain. The subsequent heavy use and the real possibility of difficulties obtaining spares led Maurice Wilks, the Rover Car Company Chief Engineer, to design and build a replacement.”