Search the Community

Sd.Kfz.250/1 Ausf.B – Neue Ausführung (SA72005) 1:72 Special Armour by Special Hobby The Sd.kfz 250 was a light armoured halftrack similar in appearance to the Hanomag Sd.Kfz.251/1. Both were a mainstay of the German armoured Personnel Carrier fleet, but were flexible enough to also take up many other tasks. With two steerable wheels at the front, the rear was carried on tracks, giving it good clearance and rough ground capabilities that a truck simply could not manage once the going got tough. It was armoured sufficiently to deflect non-armour piercing rounds from small arms fire, but with an open top it was susceptible to both grenades and plunging fire, where the armour would concentrate the blast inside to the detriment of the occupants. Almost 6,000 examples were produced between 1940 and the end of WWII, and the vehicle was in service in time for the invasion of France, serving in most theatres in which the Wehrmacht fought to the bitter end. Fifteen official variants were produced, including ammunition carriers to support StuG batteries and signals cars that were equipped with radio sets. Other variants were equipped with heavy weapons that enabled them to provide infantry support. As a testament to their versatility, usefulness and durability, the type was sometimes reused when captured by Allied forces and insurgents taking back their homeland toward the end of the war, and they were kept in service for some period afterward where needs required. The Kit This is a reboxing of a kit that was originally released under the Mk.72 label, tooled for them by Special Hobby in 2013, although many new parts have been added to the series over the years, as can be seen by the differing style and colour of one of the sprues. The kit arrives in a figure-sized end-opening box that has a painting of the subject on the front, and the three decal options printed on the rear. Inside are four sprues in two shades of grey styrene, a sheet of decals, and the instruction booklet, printed in colour on glossy paper in A5 format. Bizarrely, the box states that PE and resin parts are included in the kit, which isn’t the case as confirmed both by contents and the sprue diagrams, so we removed the text from the box art. Construction begins with the lower hull, which is made up into a shallow dish from three sections so that the road wheels for the tracked portion of the vehicle can be interleaved behind the drive sprockets, which are both made from two parts each. The tracks are found on the sand-coloured sprue, and are shortened by five links to fit the chassis, as shown in the accompanying scrap diagram, and here a little heat judiciously applied might be beneficial to help the styrene wrap around the sprockets at the ends. The front wheels are each made from two halves, and these are fixed to the steering axle that is made up from six parts, with a wheel on each end. The crew compartments are made up next, starting with the driver’s compartment, which has much of the detail moulded into the floor, plus a dashboard with steering column and wheel, joined by two seat backs, control levers and two stowage boxes. The rear compartment is tread-plated in the lowest areas, and fixes to the back of the drivers’ section, with an additional seat, and a two-door cabinet at the rear, plus a stack of double drum mags for the machine gun behind the chair. The sloping centre sections of the body sides are glued in place on the lower hull after the interior is installed, adding a pair of towing hooks at the front, and the fenders with stowage boxes moulded into the surface, adding a stowage box in the space between the wheels on one side, and a barrel-shaped exhaust in the other. The upper hull is moulded as a single part, and is fixed on top of the centre section along with the rear bulkhead and a fold-down platform that stows near vertically in the left side, adding a fire extinguisher and more ammo toward the rear. The front armoured radiator cover, and crew compartment vision slots are fixed to the front, and a door, towing hitch, and two jerry cans in racks are added to the rear to complete most of the structural work. A mounting plate with an MG34 on pintle mount and a splinter shield are made and fixed to the front of the passenger compartment, adding another on a pivot at the rear of the compartment, then racking four Kar.98s on the sloped right side of the interior. A pair of wire cutters and an axe are fitted to the front arches, adding some slightly oversized width-indicator ‘lollipops’ to the corners of the wings and a convoy light to finish the build. If you’re a detail hound, we reviewed resin sets for the wheels and tracks some time ago that you can see here. Markings There are three choices on the small decal sheet, in service in various parts of the European theatre. From the box you can build one of the following: Sd.Kfz 250 Ausf. B (Neu), WH-1651812, Panzeraufklärung Abteilung 70, 4. Kavalerie Division. At the end of the war the vehicle was found in Mörtelsdorf, Austria, put out of service Sd.Kf 250 Aus. B (Neu), 388, WH-1629146, 3. Grenadier Kompanie, Panzer Grenadier Division Grossdeutschland, Lithuania 1944 Sd. Kfz 250 Ausf. B (Neu), 339, SS-900915, 3./SS-Pz. Aufkl. Abt. 11 - 11.SS Panzergrenadier Division Nordland (Schwedenzug - Swedish volunteers platoon), Berlin, May 1945. The vehicle was destroyed on the corner of Friedrichstrasse and Reinhardtstrasse on 2 May 1945. The crew including a Swedish female nurse volunteer were killed The decals are printed using a digital process and have good registration, sharpness, and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut loosely around the printed areas. This means that the carrier film on their decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier film free, making the completed decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the carrier film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and saves a good quantity of precious modelling time into the bargain. Conclusion Another well-detailed Sd.Kfz.250 to add to the roster in 1:72, broadening the range, and adding some more esoteric decal options with a story behind them, as detailed in the accompanying text. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

SS-100 Gigant Update sets (P48010 & 8068 for Tamiya) 1:48 CMK by Special Hobby The Hanomag Gigant was a German WWII prime-mover that was originally a pre-war civilian tractor that was impressed into military service to tow aircraft, Vidalwagen V-2 rocket launch transport units, and Meillerwagen V-2 erector systems. Tamiya released their 1:48 kit in 2017 as an aircraft tug, and re-released it in 2019 towing an 88mm flak 37. These sets are intended to upgrade the detail on these kits, addressing the slightly simplified hollow tyres, and adding extra detail to the prominent radiator at the front of the vehicle. As usual with CMK and Special Hobby's resin sets, they arrive in the familiar clear vacformed box, with the resin parts safely inside, and the instructions sandwiched between the header card at the rear. Front Radiator Mask (P48010) The name of this set is slightly misleading, but it supplies a new radiator grille and the core behind it, both 3D printed in orange resin and consisting of two parts on a single print base. The two parts are liberated from the base and are glued together, inserting the radiator core behind the grille after painting, and removing the raised nose section of the kit’s bodyshell to fit the new assembly, which locks in place thanks to a block on the rear of the radiator core. It should massively increase the realism of the area, as the individual grille louvres are printed separately, so the radiator behind it will be visible in good light. The grille also has the word Hanomag in raised letters above it, and a filler cap on the top. Wheels (8068) This set replaces the kit wheels that are a little simple, particularly in the rear twin-wheel axles, which have hollow inner sides. The single front wheels are drop-in replacements for the one-part kit wheels, giving much more finesse to the detail, while the rear wheels are mounted in pairs, correctly rendered with both sides of the tyres, and the particular hubs that permit their mounting in tandem, as per the real thing. A separate hub part is also included for each part. The spare tyres is moulded with a larger cut-out in the centre along that is flashed over on the casting block plus bolt-holes around the circumference, and comes with a pair of clamps that attach it to the rear wall of the double cab of the vehicle. Review sample courtesy of

Sd.Kfz.250 Captured ‘alte Ausführung’ (SA72027) 1:72 Special Armour by Special Hobby The Sd.kfz 250 was a light armoured halftrack similar in appearance to the Hanomag Sd.Kfz.251/1. Both were a mainstay of the German armoured Personnel Carrier fleet, but were flexible enough to also take up many other tasks. With two steerable wheels at the front, the rear was carried on tracks, giving it good clearance and rough ground capabilities that a truck simply could not manage once the going got tough. It was armoured sufficiently to deflect non-armour piercing rounds from small arms fire, but with an open top it was susceptible to both grenades and plunging fire, where the armour would concentrate the blast inside to the detriment of the occupants. Almost 6,000 examples were produced between 1940 and the end of WWII, and the vehicle was in service in time for the invasion of France, serving in most theatres in which the Wehrmacht fought to the bitter end. Fifteen official variants were produced, including ammunition carriers to support StuG batteries and signals cars that were equipped with radio sets. Other variants were equipped with heavy weapons that enabled them to provide infantry support. As a testament to their versatility, usefulness and durability, the type was sometimes reused when captured by Allied forces and insurgents taking back their homeland toward the end of the war, and they were kept in service for some period afterward where needs required. The Kit This is a re-release of the original MK72 kit, As the sprues were originally tooled By Special Hobby in their MPM days. According to the Special Hobby website they now own the moulds, hence its release now under the Special Armour brand. The kit arrives in a small end-opening box with a painting of the vehicle on the front and profiles of the decal options on the rear, with five sprues inside, four in grey, one in sand coloured styrene, plus a decal sheet and instruction booklet. The tooling still looks sharp and the parts count is quite high for what will be a small model in 1:72. Some of the small parts are very fine and will require care removing them from the sprues. The kit represents the earlier 250 before it was replaced by a revised version that was simplified to be easier and cheaper to manufacture. Construction begins with the lower hull, which is made up into a shallow dish from three sections so that the road wheels for the tracked portion of the vehicle can be interleaved behind the drive sprockets, which are both made from two parts each. The tracks are found on the sand-coloured sprue, and are shortened by five links to fit the chassis, as shown in the accompanying scrap diagram, and here a little heat judiciously applied might be wise to help the styrene wrap around the sprockets at the ends. The front wheels are each made from two halves, and these are fixed to the steering axle that is made up from six parts, with a wheel on each end. The crew compartments are made up next, starting with the driver’s compartment, which has much of the detail moulded into the floor, plus a dashboard with steering column and wheel, joined by two seat backs, control levers and stowage boxes. The rear compartment is tread-plated in the lowest areas, and fixes to the back of the drivers’ section, with an additional seat and a two-door cabinet at the rear, plus a stack of double drum mags for the machine gun behind the chair. The sloping centre sections of the body sides are glued in place on the lower hull, adding a pair of towing hooks at the front, and the fenders with stowage boxes and pioneer tools moulded into the surface, the latter also able to be removed with a knife and sanded back if you choose. The upper hull is moulded as a single part, and is fixed on top of the centre section along with the rear bulkhead and a fold-down platform that stows near vertically in the left side. The front armoured radiator cover, bumper, stowage doors, and crew compartment vision slots are all fixed to the front, and a door, towing hitch, convoy light and radio antenna are added to the rear to complete the majority of the structural work. There is a choice of slotted or open-fronted headlamps, width indicator lollipops and a pair of upstands on the fenders, then the remaining parts are used to fit either a shallow or deep mounting plate for the gun, which isn’t your standard MG34 or 42. This is built up on a mount with two styles of splinter shield parts, and a pair of aiming wheels that glue onto the mount. The gun looks like a small calibre artillery piece with a breech protector on the left, and it is suitable for decal option C in Polish service. A more traditional pintle-mount is supplied for the other two options that installs in the front or rear of the crew compartment, using one of the two MG34s that can be found on the sprues. Incidentally, there are a number of spare small arms on the sprues if you wish to use them. Markings There are three choices on the small decal sheet, all captured vehicles in the service of various operators. From the box you can build one of the following: ‘Small Caterpillar’ insurgent Unit Prague-Zizkov, 8th May 1945 Vehicle captured by US Army during battle of the Bulge, Bastogne, Belgium, 1944-5 Captured vehicle operated by the troops of 13. Pułk Artylerii Samobieżnej, Ludowe Vojsko Polskie The decals are printed in good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film extending around the printed areas, which should hopefully make the edges easier to hide. Conclusion An interesting reboxing of this standard German halftrack that takes it away from both the Panzer Grey and Dunkelgelb fare that we normally see, although there’s still a little of the latter on display in some of the decal options. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Sd.Kfz.251/6 Ausf.A With Crew (35104) 1:35 ICM via Hannants The Hanomag Sd.Kfz.251/1 was the mainstay of the German armoured Personnel Carrier fleet, but was flexible enough to also take up many other tasks within the Nazi War Machine, from Anti-Aircraft duties to Howitzer carriage and back again to armoured reconnaissance, which led to a lot of variants. With two steering wheels at the front, the rear was carried on tracks, giving it good clearance and rough ground capabilities that a truck simply could not manage once the going got tough. It was armoured sufficiently to deflect non-armour piercing rounds from small arms fire, but with an open top it was susceptible to both grenades and aerial bombardment, where the armour would concentrate the blast and reduce the interior to a tangled mess. The Ausf.A was used at the beginning of WWII alongside the Ausf.B, and was generally fitted with an MG.34 on the front cab wall, operated from inside. There were more than 20 official variants and more unofficial field modifications, but despite their seemingly ubiquitous nature in German service, not many were preserved after the war, and they are highly sought after now, with many examples being based upon post-war builds from Czech factories that have been made to look as convincing as possible by their restorers. While the purist may notice the differences in films, they're still a huge improvement on repainted American half-tracks from an authenticity point of view. The command version being identifiable by the large antenna. The Kit This is a reboxing of kit number 35102 of the same vehicle, which in itself was a reboxing of 35101 so ICM are getting their monies worth from this one. where you can see all the pictures below, as well as the build process and our thoughts on the model. The review of the original boxing can be seen here, and the command boxing here. There are now six grey, a clear sprue (just the headlamps are used), and the flexible tracks and wheels. Also included in this boxing is the command vehicle crew. Markings 2 markings are supplied in any colour you want as long as its Panzer Grey WH 179467 Command Vehicle of General H Guderian, Poland, 1939 WH 609084 1941 The Crew This is an inclusion of the set ICM offered on its own earlier. On the sprue are four figures, including a driver figure and two radio operators, one adjusting his set whilst listening in on headphones, the other with his headphones round his neck writing on a pad that is resting on his left knee. The officer of course is wearing his rank appropriate cap, binoculars and riding breeches, and is resting his right arm on the lip of the vehicle's walls and his corresponding foot propped up on a box within the vehicle. His other hand is looped through his belt/over his holster and he is leaning forward as if he is interested in what's going on. The accessories are fairly sparse due to the duties of the crew, and consist of bands for headphones, binoculars, pistol holster and notepad, while the figures themselves are broken down into separate legs, arms, torso, head with moulded in caps, or separate cap for the officer. The driver figure has his arms split at the elbow to obtain a more realistic position while maintaining detail on the hands etc., and to give a little adjustment when fitting his hands onto the steering wheel. Conclusion We liked the kit when we have seen it before, and like it still, especially with the addition of the figures, it makes it a more complete package. Highly recommended. Available in the UK from Hannants and other model shops Review sample courtesy of

Sd.Kfz.251/1 Ausf.A 1:35 ICM The Hanomag Sd.Kfz.251/1 was the mainstay of the German armoured Personnel Carrier fleet, but was flexible enough to also take up many other tasks within the Nazi War Machine, from Anti-Aircraft duties to Howitzer carriage and back again to armoured reconnaissance, which led to a lot of variants. With two steering wheels at the front, the rear was carried on tracks, giving it good clearance and rough ground capabilities that a truck simply could not manage once the going got tough. It was armoured sufficiently to deflect non-armour piercing rounds from small arms fire, but with an open top it was susceptible to both grenades and aerial bombardment, where the armour would concentrate the blast and reduce the interior to a tangled mess. The Ausf.A was used at the beginning of WWII alongside the Ausf.B, and was generally fitted with an MG.34 on the front cab wall, operated from inside. There were more than 20 official variants and more unofficial field modifications, but despite their seemingly ubiquitous nature in German service, not many were preserved after the war, and they are highly sought after now, with many examples being based upon post-war builds from Czech factories that have been made to look as convincing as possible by their restorers. While the purist may notice the differences in films, they're still a huge improvement on repainted American half-tracks from an authenticity point of view. The Kit A brand new tooling from the ICM powerhouse, this is a welcome addition to their roster, and will certainly make broaden our choice of models from which to choose from. The kit arrives in a medium sized box, with a further flap under the lid to keep the parts under control until you are ready to get in there. Under the flap are five sprues of light grey styrene, a clear sprue, and two spruelets of flexible "rubbery" parts. A small decal sheet is found slipped inside the glossy colour printed instruction booklet, completing the package. This is a full interior kit, and has the engine, crew compartment and a substantial number of interior parts, including weapons, stowage and personal belongings, so the build should result in a highly detailed model. First impressions are good, and after the initial pages detailing with sprue diagrams, the instructions jump straight into the build with the underfloor pan, which has its ladder chassis added and is then added to the interior floor, and has stowage bins added on the sponsons. The angular hull sides are held in the correct angle by butting up against the sides of the bins, and the rear bulkhead with door cut-out completes alignment. The engine compartment is fabricated from various panels including an armoured sump-guard, and work commences on the engine and compartment fittings. Suspension, steering gear and the block are assembled and fitted in turn, with colour call-outs to help you get the painting right. The firewall is fitted out with the driver's controls and inserted into a ledge within the hull, after which some engine ancillaries fit to the other side of the bulkhead. The driver's seat, bench seats and a range of tools, weapons and spare ammunition are installed with the upper hull plates off, while a hollow former marks the space between the cab and crew compartment, which will be hidden under the upper hull part when it is installed. A number of vision hatches and their hinges are supplied as separate parts, as are the engine compartment doors, plus some small flush forward stowage bins. Spare rifles and machine gun barrels are fitted to the underside of the upper hull on racks, with radio gear, drum mags for the machine guns, after which it is glued to the lower hull, trapping the two hinge frames between its halves. The angled doors are then fitted to those hinges, allowing them to operate if you have been careful with the glue. It's unusual to get this far into an AFV model without building up the wheels, but it's at this stage that it's done here. The sing-arms and stub axles slot into holes in the sides of the ladder rail, with bump-stops fitted where applicable, and the interleaved wheels are then slid onto the axles with the drive sprocket at the front. The two steering wheels are made up from two-part hubs, and have rubberised tyres fitted to them before slotting them onto the front axles, and with the three layers of road wheels installed, the tracks can be wound round the lengths, and glued with normal glue. The build is finished off with a shielded machine gun mount at the front, a tripod mount, pioneer tools, fire extinguisher, number plate, rear machine gun mount, rear view mirrors, headlamps, width indicators and aerial. Markings With this being an early mark, it's any colour as long as it's Panzer Grey, with only the number plates and the style of Balkenkreuz to differentiate between vehicles. From the box you can build one of the following: WH 726465 1.Pz.D., France, May 1940 WH 179074 1.Pz.D., Russia, July 1941 Decals are printed on a bright blue paper, have good register, colour density and sharpness, with decals for the driver's binnacle included on the sheet. Conclusion A welcome release of a Wehrmacht staple that will surely find its way into many collections, and is well detailed enough to be built out of the box for diorama purposes. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

A new step in the AFV's WORLD, please be kind :))

All Below are some pics of the first batch of German AFVs I've built since returning to the hobby. As with my British submission these are all quick build kits. As you'll see they're not up to much compared to a lot of what's on here, my German camo needs more work and the weathering was is a bit hit and miss but I've got to start somewhere!! Any observations, comments and constructive criticism will be gratefully received. Andrew PS in addition to the models below I got 2 Armourfast leFH 28s and a Zvedza 88 that need finishing off at some point. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Plastic Soldier Company Sdkfz251 - 4 variants This was the second kit I bought when starting up again and for me it was a great buy. I'm never going to be building vast quantities so the opportunity to build several different versions was appealing. The kit comes with 4 models and you can build 4 x 251/D halftracks or one each of 251/8 Mortar Carrier, 251/9 Stummel, 251 /16 Flamm and 251/7 Pioneer - or a combination thereof. It also comes with 37 crew and a huge amount of spare equipment and stowage - which with having absolutely none to start with a big bonus and some of it generic enough to work on Allied vehicles I ended up mounting the mortar and crew on a very impromptu plastic base rather than mount on one of the vehicles. I also now realise that their uniform tops/smock are should probably be the camo variety but being naive I was following the box art. Needless to say I will be revisiting the base....but it was my first attempt. Amourfast Pz IV G Below is a pic of one of two I have built but the weathering didn't quite work as I was hoping. This one has some stowage from S and S Models on it. Armourfast Stug III This is one of the two I have. For some reason I didn't put any stowage on, so they look a bit bare.... Armourfast Panthers x2 These were actually built by my young daughter. She also did the tarpaulin on the back made from tissue paper covering sprue off-cuts. You'll also notice the lack of weathering and additional stowage. They are sort of her's and she didn't want them looking all cluttered and dirty!! She is a girl after all!! The figures are taken from PSC's German figure and stowage pack - if there are any newbies out there like me with a lack of stowage and crew, then the kit isn't a bad buy. The cupola mounted MGs were spares from Armourfast German MG Team pack. The brackets to mount them were made two of my plastic aerials glued together to make them stronger, sanded down to make them smooth, cut to length and bent slightly.

Here's a recent discovery in the attic that brought a smile to my face. I reckon these must have been done around 1984/1985/1986 when I was in my early teens http://flic.kr/p/jj58cR http://flic.kr/p/jj4CQv http://flic.kr/p/jj5e76 http://flic.kr/p/jj72WA Pretty rubbish really, but brought back some great memories Happy days Justin H Oops I've posted in WIP not RFI, mods please move if necc. Not used to armour forums I suppose!

Hi folks,as a cure for a touch of aircraft modellers block I built this for the D-Day GB.It is going into a diorama with a set of figures so before it gets put away until the rest is built thought I would post some pics.Thanks to references sent me by Sgt Squarehead I have tried to finish her in one of the schemes around on D-day although I have not applied unit markings but will.I am unable to confirm whether she was KO,d by a Sherman or a Typhoon!Thanks for looking

Sd. Kfz. 251/16 Flammpanzerwagen 1:72 Italeri The Sd. Kfz. 251 (Sonderkraftfahrzeug, or Special Motorised Vehicle) was one of the most widely used halftracks in the Wehrmachts wartime inventory. Development of the vehicle began in 1937 and it was designed around the successful halftrack formula established by the Heereswaffenamt (German Army Weapons Agency) during the Weimar Republic. The Sd. Kfz. 251, commonly known as the Hanomag after the principal manufacturer, was designed from the outset to give its passengers a good level of protection whilst being able to traverse rough terrain at speed. This was considered essential in order to enable panzergrenadiers to keep pace with the rapid panzer advances that were characteristic of Blitzkrieg tactics. Over 15,000 examples were produced between 1939 and 1945, and the vehicle saw service in every theatre in which the Wehrmacht fought. Twenty two official versions were produced, many of which mounted heavy weapons to give them an infantry support role. The Sd. Kfz. 251/16 flammpanzerwagen was fitted with two flamethrowers, enabling the crew to make effective attacks against heavily fortified infantry positions. The Sd. Kfz. 251 design was kept in production by Czechoslovakian firm Skoda after the end of the war and they were still in use by the Czechoslovakian army until the 1980s. In common many other small-scale Italeri armour kits, this model was originally designed and manufactured by ESCI. Despite dating back to the 1970s, the moulds look to be in fairly good nick and the kit appears to be reasonably well-detailed. It contains over 120 parts spread across three sprues, one of which contains the parts for the link and length tracks. Fine details such as the pioneer tools are moulded as separate parts and a couple of crew members are included too. Construction of this model differs slightly from most halftrack kits in that you must start with the hull rather than the chassis and running gear, but it should be pretty straightforward nonetheless. The kit contains a reasonably respectable interior, comprised of a floor for the driver/crew compartment, a dashboard and steering wheel and benches and ammunition boxes for the crew area. Compromises have been made - details such as the seats and gear lever are moulded in place but the overall affect should be reasonably good. Youll need to paint the interior details as you go, because they wont be particularly easy to get to once the upper hull is in place. Detail on the overlapping main wheels is fairly decent, although the drive sprockets have been simplified. As mentioned above, the tracks are of the link and length variety. ESCI were early adopters of this style of track, and as with most of their kits these look pretty good. I have a strong preference for link and length tracks as, even though they can be fiddly, I hate the rubber band tracks. To my eye they never look particularly convincing in this scale. The front wheels are nicely moulded and suspension and steering components have been replicated too. As mentioned above, most of the pioneer tools are provided as separate parts. This is a really nice touch from Esci/Italeri as there are kits being produced today, almost 40 years after this kit hit the shelves, which lack this feature. The flame projectors are each made up of four parts. They look pretty good to me, but it wouldnt hurt to add some extra details if you can find some good reference photographs. Two machine guns are also provided, as are two crew members another reminder that this is an ESCI kit. I wish manufacturers producing 1:72 armour kits today would do this as good figures are hard to come by in this scale. Dragons series of AFV kits with crew is a reminder of how good figures can be in the smaller scale. The crew doors can be posed open or closed, which is a nice finishing touch. A generous four options are included on the decal sheet, all of which are illustrated in colour on the back of the box. The first three options are for vehicles belonging to unknown units operating in Poland or Russia in 1943-44. They offer a good variety of schemes in grey or dark yellow with mottled or squiggled camouflage. The fourth option is for a Hanomag of the Panzergrenadier Regiment Grossdeutschland, Russia 1944. It is camouflaged in dark yellow with brown and green stripes. The decal sheet is obviously small but appears to be well printed. Conclusion Escis small scale armour kits were, on the whole, very good for their time. They were usually fairly detailed and the link and length tracks were excellent. Im glad that Italeri are still releasing them as I think they can still hold their own today. This might not be the very best Hanomag that you can buy, but overall it is a pleasing little kit which has much to recommend it. Review sample courtesy of