|
KIT: |
Planet Models 1/72 SdKfz 7/3 |
|
KIT # |
MV 015 |
|
PRICE: |
$ |
|
DECALS: |
None |
|
REVIEW & |
|
|
NOTES: |
Full Resin Kit |
|
HISTORY |
I'll tell you what little I know about the subject. Most of you may already know that the SdKfz 7 was an 8 ton Krauss-Maffel half track. This vehicle was most useful for pulling heavy artillery pieces and for helping to get stuck tanks out of their predicament. Later, as tanks became heavier, a larger half-track was required and this was the Famo. But that is another story.
This particular version of the SdKfz 7 was built for a specific purpose. That was to tow the Meilerwagen and A4 missile as well as to be the blockhouse for when the missile was fired. This made the V-2, as it was commonly known, a particularly mobile weapon. In fact, so successful was this combination, that very few of the thousands of V-2s fired in this manner were actually found and destroyed prior to launch.
|
THE KIT |
The kit consists of a great number of resin parts that are bagged into separate compartments to keep them from being lost or broken. For this reason, I have decided not to separate them from the bags and spread them out for this preview. Especially as I don't want to lose any of them before construction starts. As you can see, there are a couple of different colors or resin used, though I don't think that makes any difference. The parts are crisply molded and appeared to be free of any flash. Most of the bits are the idler wheels, there being 28 of these and they are different depending on if they are inside or outside, left or right side.
The most massive chunk of resin is the blockhouse part itself. This is one large casting with shallow openings at the top and back for some etched metal bits. All of these pieces have resin blocks on them with the major body parts having very large ones. The one for the front part of the body seems particularly large and since it has a curve in it will be most difficult to remove. The rest of the parts don't seem that bad, though there will be a lot of sanding needed before this kit is completed.
The other pieces are an etched metal fret for hatches, steering wheel, pintles, and windscreen. The tracks are two pieces of softish plastic, similar to old Tamiya kits. Not sure how well these will work, but I'll find out. Personally, I would have liked to have seen the tracks as injected plastic sections, but not sure how well that would have worked.
The instruction sheet is adequate to the task showing five construction steps. Much of the time will be spent sanding and constructing the wheels/tracks. Once the main chassis is done, the rest should build up quickly. The small painting guide shows the overall color to be sand yellow. Again, no decals are provided and you'll have to make the windshield out of clear acetate.
Overall, it looks like it will build into an impressive kit and should go perfectly with the previously done Meilerwagen.
Review kit courtesy 
Thanks for your support.
If you would like your product reviewed fairly and quickly by a site that averages over 2,000 visits a day, please contact me or see other details in the Note to Contributors.