Das Werk mtl. Zgkrwg 8t, Sd.Kfz.7 Half Track (DW35037) 1:35

[Mike]

mtl. Zgkrwg 8t, Sd.Kfz.7 Half Track (DW35037)

1:35 Das Werk via Albion Alloys

 

 

Standing for mittlerer Zugkraftwagen 8t, Sonderkraftfahrzeug 7, that mouthful was shortened for convenience, time and ink saving, all of which meant Medium Towing Motor Vehicle 8t, Special Purpose Vehicle 7.  It’s a long title, even in English, and the type was developed starting in 1934 by Krauss-Maffei, a company that had experience in making large vehicles on wheels and rails, plus the combustion engines to power them.  It was accepted into service just prior to the outbreak of WWII, and was intended to be the prime-mover or tractor for the powerful 88mm flak 36, or the larger 15 cm sFH(schwere Feldhaubitze) 18 howitzer, but it was also capable of pulling just about anything with a towing hitch up to its maximum rated towing weight, and probably a little beyond in emergencies.  The vehicle weighed in at around 11.5 tonnes, and was capable of pulling loads of up to 8 tonnes, even over rough ground, thanks to the half-track design, using the front wheels for steering adjustments.  Asymmetric power delivery to the tracks was also instigated when the driver put in a hard turn, in order to ease the slew of the tracks, reduce ground disruption, and improve turning authority under all conditions.   It carried seating for a full crew for any of the weapons it was tasked with towing, plus stowage for their personal gear and other equipment, with a canvas tilt that would be erected overhead during inclement weather to keep most of the precipitation off the passengers.

 

They were in service with German forces throughout WWII, although production of the improved type was ended in 1944 after a run of over 12,000 units in one form or another.  The vehicle was a success, and it was adapted to several other functions as a result, including mobile anti-aircraft defence, with up to a quad 20mm flak cannon mounted on the load bed instead of the seating, amongst others.  The Italians made a small number of license-built copies, and even the British made an attempt to create a new prime-mover based upon the Sd.Kfz.7 to tow their heavy artillery, re-engineering captured units from Tunisia with twin motors that fed power into a combined prop-shaft, but the end of the war put paid to those experiments.

 

 

The Kit

This is a new kit from Das Werk, and it is a reboxing of the Dragon kit from around 2009, which is no bad thing, as it’s a well-detailed kit of the type, and still holds up incredibly well against time and the competition, and although there is some discussion of the shape, particularly in the forward body and engine cowling, neither offering is perfect, so it’s a roll of the dice, and a case of which you prefer.  The kit arrives in a well-appointed top-opening box, and inside are eight sprues* in grey styrene plus two large chassis parts in the same colour, a small sprue of clear parts, a fret of Photo-Etch (PE) brass, a length of braided metal cable, two bags of track links, but additional three extras, a trio of black flexible tyres, and a nicely printed instruction booklet on glossy paper in full colour.  Detail is excellent, as it comes from Dragon’s golden era, and includes a full set of crew figures to seat in the passenger compartment, and it is a full interior model that includes the full chassis and engine on the sprues.

 

* My review sample contained two of the engine sprue D, but only one is noted in the instructions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Construction begins with the chassis, building upon the large ladder-chassis moulding, onto which the leaf-spring suspension, drive axle housings and other suspension parts are fitted before a sub-frame that holds the exhaust system is attached underneath and between the tracks.  The engine is made from a substantial catalogue of parts, building up the block, sump, ancillaries and exhaust manifold, with the fan and timing belts fitted to the front of the block, assisted by a pair of scrap diagrams showing the parts in place.  A power-transfer box is made up and inserted between the chassis rails next to the drive axle with a large tank over the top, adding the drive sprockets to the large circular housings on the sides of the chassis, and making up the drive wheel pairs, plus the drum for the winch under the cab with a drive-shaft linking it to the transfer box, and routing the tow cable round the spool and through rollers in the heavily detailed front cross-member and terminating in a tow hook.  The chassis is finished off by adding the interleaved road wheels, a large tank in the centre and the front wheels, which have a central hub, flexible outer tyre, and a styrene rear section each, making an additional wheel for the spare.

 

The bodywork is started by adding the seats and sub-division onto the large floor moulding that also incorporates the mudguards for the tracks, adding a section of floor at the front for the driving crew.  The mudguards should be narrowed first by cutting or sanding away the original mouldings, and replacing them with new parts on one of the sprues to achieve the correct shape.  More seats are added, including a set with the outer skin that has pioneer tools applied, and the deck over the stowage area are built, adding a set of railings and duck-board base around the rear, then the engine firewall bulkhead is detailed with the dashboard plus central instrument binnacle that has a number of decals to detail the dials, installed on the front of the body shell along with the steering column and the folding windscreen panel, which has separate wiper blades added beforehand.  The body’s sidewalls are prepared by adding the doors to the rear stowage area and side lights at the front, then they are applied along with the rear doors, then the body is detailed underneath with a stowage rack that includes the spare tyre location, stiffening braces, and a pair of panels that fix to the rear of the fenders to hold the number plate, lights and Notek convoy light.  The front fenders are adapted by cutting a short section of the rear lip away, then adding the radiator grille, ducting, crew steps with PE grating, headlights, convoy light in one of two positions, and width-marker ‘lollipops’.  This and the engine are lowered into position at the front of the chassis, adding a short rod between the right fender and the chassis rail for authenticity.  The rear body is then lowered over the chassis, adding a few small parts and braces between the radiator and bulkhead, adding the cowling and louvred sides to the engine bay, with scrap diagrams showing the finished bay and how it should look, pointing out the important aspects in blue. 

 

 

At the same time, the tracks are made up from 54 links with separate track-pads per side, all of which are already removed from the sprues, and have just the mould-lines and the occasional wisp of flash to scrape away before you can build them up.  They have the capability of remaining workable once glued together, as the installation of the track-pads on their two pins locks the pivot points of the links together, so if you are careful with the glue, perhaps using a more viscous type in preference to liquid glues to obtain a fully workable track.  The links are small, as are the pads, so careful positioning with tweezers is probably a wise decision, along with something such as a track jig or flattened out Blutak to hold the links still whilst locking them together.  The completed runs will have excellent detail, and just require careful painting to enhance their realism further.

 

 

Figures

The single sprue contains parts for six figures, each of which have their coat tails moulded into the upper body to provide realistic drape and undercut in the area, and are otherwise broken down as usual, with separate heads, arms and legs, each leg having the forward section of the coat tails added to pegs as well as being individual legs for better detail.  The heads have flat tops to accommodate their forage caps, so if you have some steel helmets to replace them, you can go right ahead to add some individualism to your model.  One character is moulded with his hands at the quarter-to-three position to mate with the steering wheel, while another, possibly the co-driver is looking over his shoulder whilst leaning on the sill.  The other four gentlemen are sitting minding their own business, some looking a little more bored with proceedings than the others.

 

 

 

Markings

There are four options on the decal sheet, with two per side of the instructions, giving four profiles for each one.  From the box you can build one of the following:

 

 

 

Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas.

 

 

Conclusion

A welcome and well-detailed reboxing of the Dragon kit, with some new and interesting decal options that are split between camouflage and single/dual colour options to appeal to a wide audience.

 

Highly recommended.

 

Available in the UK in all good model shops.

Review sample courtesy of

[Lothian man]

Many thanks!

 

No canvas tilt or framework? I can't see one on the sprue photos. Strange, if so, as it is on the box art and a conspicuous feature of the real thing (though it was missing from the original Dragon effort).