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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