MiniArt Sd.Kfz.234/4 with Crew Schwerer Panzerspähwagen 7.5cm (53014) 1:35

[Mike]

Sd.Kfz.234/4 with Crew (53014)

Schwerer Panzerspähwagen 7.5cm

1:35 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd

 

 

Armoured cars and their derivatives were a dominant part of German military thinking after WWI, as they were prevented from having tanks or other types of heavy weaponry by the Versailles Treaty, at least until they unilaterally set its terms aside once Mr Hitler was firmly ensconced as the country’s mad dictator.  Although it closely resembles the earlier Sd.Kfz.231, the 234 was based upon a more modern ARK chassis, while the 231 was built on the GS chassis.  The 232 Schwerer Panzerspähwagen was available in 6- or 8-wheeled formats, with the number of wheels appended to the designation, and it was the 8-Rad that the basis for the 234, following on later in 1940 and learning from issues encountered with earlier designs.  The new turret was designed by Daimler Benz, while the engine was a Tatra air-cooled diesel unit, powering all eight wheels that were also all steerable.  To add to the ease with which the vehicle could be driven, there was an additional driver’s station at the rear of the crew cab, complete with a steering wheel that gave it the capability of reversing out of trouble with similar speed and dexterity as driving forward – a facility that came in very useful in the event of an ambush or stumbling into an enemy position.

 

The 234/2 was the initial variant and the most prevalent, as well as being the best known, probably because of the (comparatively) large 50mm gun in the turret.  Oddly, it was replaced less than a year later with an open-turreted /1 variant that mounted a smaller 20mm cannon, and concurrently another variant with a short-barrelled 75mm K51 gun under the /3 designation.  This variant was also short-lived, increasing the fire-power substantially with an installation of the powerful Pak 40 as the /4, although the extra weight caused extreme stress to the 234’s chassis and running gear, with fewer than 90 made.  All the variants after the /2 were open-topped, leaving the crew exposed to the elements, incoming plunging fire and explosive charges or grenades lobbed in by the enemy.  To keep the enemy out of range however, a single MG42 was coaxially mounted with the main gun - a very capable machine gun against troops and lightly armoured targets.  The armour built into the vehicle could deflect light-arms and smaller cannon rounds, with 30mm of sloped armour on the turret, and up to 100mm thickness on the mantlet, but at the rear the protection was only 10mm, as was the roof of the /2.  Over 100 /2 vehicles were made before it was superseded, and despite being the most well-known, there were around 200 of the later /1 produced, with roughly 90 of each of the other two made before the war ended.

 

 

The Kit

This is a fresh boxing of the new tool from MiniArt, a line of boxings that includes Interior Kits such as this one, and doubtless the remainder of the variants that we’ve spoken about above.  We’ve had other kits of the type in this scale from competitors previously, but not for some considerable time, and it’s fair to say that armour modellers with an interest in this genre are very pleased.  The kit arrives in a standard-sized top-opening box with a painting of a 234/4 on the battlefield, having just been narrowly missed by incoming fire that has caused the gun crew to hunker down.  Inside the box are twenty-three sprues of various sizes in grey styrene, a clear sprue, a fret of Photo-Etch (PE) brass, decal sheet, and the instruction booklet that is printed in colour on the outer pages on glossy paper, with profiles of the decal options on the inner and outer covers.  The detail is excellent, as usual, extending to the Interior and the weapon’s mechanism.  The various hatches can also be posed open or closed, although there are fewer of them in this boxing, the model benefitting from PE parts, surface detail that is fully realised with weld seams and exterior structure that are well defined.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Construction begins with the lower hull, starting with the narrow bottom section where the drive-shafts and suspensions are located, which is made from three faces, two internal bulkheads, and two steering actuators, one at each end.  The hull floor has tread-plate moulded-in and a cut-out ready for the interior, sandwiching it between the two outward sloping sides, drilling out holes in the parts before assembling them, adding a rear bulkhead behind the engine compartment.  The two assemblies are mated, fitting the first parts for the suspension to the sides, and a U-shaped stiffener in the centre of the lower spine.  The interior starts with the two drivers’ positions, fitting the floor sections with holes for the pedals, three for the rear driver and four for the primary driver at the front, adding linkages, and fairings on the left side of the hull, plus a battery compartment and fairing on the right that is built from five parts.  The drivers have their steering columns and wheels attached in recesses, the main driver’s being a more comprehensive installation.  A two-part seat is fixed to the rails moulded into the floor, with a linkage and gas mask canister to his left, plus a five-part shell stowage box fitted to the floor behind his station with the option of an openb or closed door.  The battery rack is wired into a distribution manifold on the right wall, using wire from your own stock, then inserting the two levers to the driver’s right, noting that the scrap diagram shows that the wires to the battery are braided and thick to cope with the level of current.  The rear driver’s station has the same pair of levers fitted, a two-part seat, a five-part dash panel, and a two-part skeletal bulkhead is inserted into a groove on the sides of the hull.

 

The engine isn’t included in this boxing, as the crew is the primary focus of the model, along with the big gun.  The base is a substantial assembly in itself, made from two thick diagonal C-beams with a cross-brace, and a large stowage box for shells that is made from five parts with optional open or closed door to expose the ends of the munitions.  It is trapped between the beams, with the gun’s pivot horseshoe above it, lowering it into place along with a small platform on the right side, adding a pair of inner panels in the engine compartment.  The upper hull interior has several louvres, the driver’s instrument panel, gas mask canister, and other inner structural parts, plus the vision ports applied, adding hinge-points for the driver’s hatch and building vision ports for later installation.  The upper hull’s exterior has the engine deck aperture filled with cooling vents that can be posed open or closed by using different parts, with two solid doors at the sides, locating in the cut-out in the back of the deck, then adding the rear bulkhead with hatch, mating the upper and lower hull assemblies, fitting the vision ports and a hatch with separate hinges and handles in the square cut-out in the glacis plate, again in either open or closed position, as you might have guessed.  A three section barrel cleaning rod assembly is attached to the centre of the left side of the hull, then the fixed bullet-splash shields are attached to the sides of the crew cut-out after fitting two small parts to make an aerial mount near the left-front of the compartment, then fitting the rear barrier that can be flipped up or down to provide working space, draught into the compartment or deflect the heat from the engine deck, which are secured at the top on a pair of separate turn-buckles.

 

Suspension and steering parts are assembled on the underside of the hull, making up four axles and leaf-springs on each side, replacing left with right-handed hubs on the relevant side.  Four triple-handled Jerry cans with PE central weld-flares and filler cap are made and wrapped in PE straps that secure them to the vehicle later, adding armoured panels to the ends of the hull with PE brackets, and a three-part spare wheel bracket on the rear with a pair of lugs to the sides.  Both sides of the fenders/sponsons have the rear carcasses of the flush stowage boxes installed, adding the external parts such as the jack, mufflers for each of the rear fenders, and another long stowage box, finishing the sponsons and their ends with additional parts that include PE lower lips on the handle recesses.  The doors can be fitted open or closed by using different parts, making the spare wheel that is the first to be made from a two-part wheel structure, fitting it to the bracket on the rear of the vehicle, in between the mufflers on either side of the sloped rear of the sponsons.  Jerry cans are mounted on both fenders to the sides of the engine deck, plus pioneer tools and a fire extinguisher on the left sponson.  Additional detail parts are dotted around the hull, including width-marker lollipops, rear-view mirrors, headlight, a simple travel lock for the upcoming gun barrel, and an antenna on the bracket to the left of the crew cut-out.  The eight wheels are made from two exterior faces, adding a tapered part that will be seen once the wheels are installed on the four axles.  A substantial front bumper is then fixed to the front of the vehicle with a peg in the centre, and a headlamp on the left fender.

 

The main gun is assembled in sections, starting with the base and narrow horse-shoe splinter-shield, both made from three parts each, the latter having a PE mid-layer that presses around the barrel, which is next, moulded from a single part with a five-part breech at the rear, followed by the slide, which is fashioned over two steps from several parts, joining the barrel, trapping it between the trunnions, adding elevation mechanisms, then the sight, the centre section of the splinter-shield, a choice of three styles of muzzle-brake, a pair of angled splinter-shield extensions with various small parts on the rear faces, cutting one corner out of each part for clearance, then fitting them with support-stays and a PE drip-rail across the top.  An MG42 with separate breech top, cocking handle and drum mag is fixed on a pintle-mount that slots into a base that is fitted into the right side of the gun, with a spare magazine box nearby, lowering the completed gun into position in the crew compartment to complete the model.

 

 

Figures

This boxing includes an extra sprue containing five figures for your model, formerly released separately some years ago as an SPG Crew Riders set, but apart from the sprue being a little less refined than the modern figures, detail is up there with current releases. 

 

 

There are three standing figures that are intended to be within the vehicle, resting their arms on the exterior of the vehicle, plus a seated driver figure with his arms out in the quarter-to-three position, and a final seated figure sat on a flatter portion of the exterior with one arm resting on a higher part of the structure.  All are wearing Panzer crew uniforms, with short double-breasted tunics held in place by a thick black belt, their trousers bloused over a pair of supportive combat boots.  The three standing figures also have pistol holsters on their hips, and there is another holster on the sprue, plus some alternative heads for everyone but the driver that allow the crew to wear Stahlhems in a combat situation for protection.  The other seated crew member has an MP40 with folded stock instead of a pistol, and it is worth noting that all the steel helmets have a slight recess in the centre that will need filling with your preferred putty if you intend to use them.

 

 

The parts for each figure are found in separate areas of the sprue for ease of identification, and parts breakdown is sensibly placed along clothing seams or natural breaks to minimise clean-up of the figures once they are built up.  The sculpting is typically excellent, as we’ve come to expect from MiniArt’s artists and tool-makers, with natural poses, drape of clothing and textures appropriate to the parts of the model.  As you can see below, they look highly realistic when painted sympathetically, using the colour call-outs that are given in Vallejo, Mr.Color, AK RealColor, Mission Models, AMMO, Tamiya, plus swatches and colour names to assist with choosing your colours.  These refer to the green colour numbers on the paintings above the chart.

 

 

 

Markings

There is a choice of four options possible from the tiny decal sheet, all sharing a base coat of Dunkelgelb (dark yellow), while three are wearing a red-brown and green camouflage pattern over the top, and the final choice is sporting some green squiggle that will test your hand’s steadiness and your airbrush’s finesse.  From the box you can build one of the following:

 

• Probably 71.Infanterie-Division, Austria, Spring 1945
• Probably Panzerkorps ‘Großdeutschland’, Spring 1945
• Unidentified Unit, Prague, Spring 1945
• Pz.Div. Muncheberg, Berlin, Spring 1945

 

 

 

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

 

 

Conclusion

The 8-rad armoured car is an appealing subject to a lot of modellers (or is it mainly me?), and the Sd.Kfz.234/4 with its Pak40 is one of the more impressive to look at.  The detail is excellent, and the inclusion of a set of five figures is perfect for the human scale I’m always talking about since I got over my fear of painting them.

 

Very highly recommended.

 

 

Review sample courtesy of