Box Art and Packaging

Trumpeter presents a 100% new-tooled German Schwerer Zugkraftwagen in 1/72 scale in their typical rigid, top opening box. The contents are well-packed and protected with additional foam wrapped over sprues which contain delicate parts. The condition of the contents as delivered was excellent with no parts broken from the sprues, no broken parts, and nothing warped due to inadequate packing.

The kit depicts the Schwerer Zugkraftwagen, which was commonly used between 1934 and 1945, and was built by numerous manufacturers, including Daimler Benz, Krauss-Maffei, Krupp, and Skoda. Over 4000 were built in different variants. It was powered by a Maybach HL 85 TUKRM producing up to 185 HP and could travel upwards of 100 kph.

The Kit

The kit consists of 2 main sprues containing most of the construction parts. The chassis and upper structure are separate parts, as are the tracks and inner wheels. The windshield, tires, and hood round out the supplied parts. A small decal sheet is supplied with registrations and decals for the dashboard instrument panel. Also included are masks for the windshield to allow for easier painting.

The Build

This is a straightforward build. Construction of the kit took approximately 3 to 4 hours. The fit of the parts was excellent, but care is required when removing some of the smaller parts from the sprues due to their size, but none broke, and there was no flash, so very little cleanup was required.

Assembly begins with tracks, which are in two pieces, a track with inner wheels and outer wheels which are applied over these. The finished model looks very good in this small scale. All the parts fit snugly and presented no problems at any point.

Step 4 calls for the construction of the chassis and exhaust system. The engine and transmission are then assembled and added to the chassis. The upper hull is easy and quick to assemble, and the mating of upper and lower hulls presented no problems. The hood can be left loose to be removed for examination of the engine.

Paint and Decals

The finished model was painted completely with Tamiya acrylics applied with an airbrush. The overall kit was painted in Tamiya German Gray and the seats were given various coats of paints and oils to produce a worn leather look.

The running gear and wheels were coated with some light pigments, and some additional metal pigments were applied to the crew area floor to give some bare metal effect on worn areas. No additional weathering was applied.

The kit decals were applied to represent the gray variant suggested on page 8 of the instruction manual. 2 possibilities were offered: German Gray or DK yellow.

Pros

The kit has all new tooling for the parts. It was a quick build due to well-engineered parts with excellent fit and no flash. The kit has a good price point and is an affordable quality kit for your money. The packing and presentation are very good with clear instructions and nice decals.

Cons

In my opinion, the kit could have benefited from being packaged with a crew and/or towing something.

Conclusion

This is a great kit for the money, and I highly recommend it! Thanks to MRC for providing the kit and to the IPMS-USA for facilitating the review.