Hobbyboss Geschutzwagen - 1:72 Hobbyboss

[Paul A H]

Geschutzwagen

1:72 Hobbyboss

 

 

The Wehrmacht made good use of the European railway network during the Second World War, moving men and material to the front line quickly and effeciently. The railway network became an obvious choice of sabotage, which in turn meant that armoured trains were a natural requirement of operating in dangerous areas where partisans might be present. Mike reviewed Hobbyboss's BR57 armoured locomotive some time ago (and quite by accident because he forgot to check the scale, the poor old goat) and now we're going to take a look at their armoured wagon. In classic Hobbyboss style, the kit is tightly packed into a sturdy box, with everything meticulously wrapped to ensure it survives the journey from China to wherever you are. The kit is unbelievably simple, comprising just six slide-moulded parts, a sprue of smaller parts and then two sprues holding Hobbyboss's standard track sections. Also in the box are the instructions, a glossy A4 painting sheet and, unlike the BR57, a small sheet of generic decals. The detail of the slide-moulded parts is excellent, with crisp and fine surface details.  

 

 

 

This is going to be a short review. Construction begins with the lower chassis, which is a long narrow ladder into which the axles and wheels fit. The brake blocks are moulded in place on the wheels, while the leaf spring suspension units are seperate parts. The wheels are boxed in from the inside, but I can't fathom out why as no other interior detail is included. The buffer and couplings (sorry, I'm not a railway buff like Mike) are provided for either end, as well as some grab handles that run along the outside. The upper part of the wagon is incredibly simple; so much so that there is nothing to explain that cannot be deduced from the picture above. The track is broken down into four sectios, the joins in which are cleverly matched to the natural breaks and joined with nicely moulded fish plates. If you want to ramp the detail up a notch then you might want to use OO gauge track, or at least dress the provided sections with some PVA glue and ballast.

 

 

 

Only one colour scheme is included on the sheet; a base of Dark Yellow, over which Red brown and Field Green stripes are applied in a similar fashion to contemporary armoured vehicles.  Given how filthy railway gear got due to the soot and grease, there is then plenty of scope for the modeller to express themselves with weathering.

 

 

Conclusion

 

One thing I will say about this kit is that it rails (ho ho!) against the trend of producing models with ever increasing levels of detail and complexity. It will make a great model when paired with the BR57, perhaps in a diorama with some partisans springing an ambush. Whatever you decide, you can't deny that it's nice to have a mainstream model of this interesting subject. Recommended.

 

 

Review sample courtesy of

[Tracy White]

Recently picked up one of these myself and started in on it. Noted that the *doors* on the side are missing. The hinges, handle, etc., are there, but the engraved lines for the actual doors are missing