Development of the Sd.Kfz. 7 can be traced back to a 1934 Wehrmacht requirement for an eight-tonne (7.87 tons) half-track. Various trial vehicles were built by Krauss-Maffei from 1934 to 1938. The production vehicle first appeared in 1938 and was intended to be used mainly as the tractor for the 8.8 cm FlaK gun and the 15 cm sFH 18 150 mm howitzer. Production was stopped in 1944. The vehicle was made by Krauss-Maffei in Munich, the Sauserwerke in Vienna and the Borgward works at Bremen. Because of its heavy power, it often found use as a recovery vehicle.

The Sd.Kfz. 7/2 was armed with a 3.7 cm FlaK 36 L/57 anti-aircraft gun. Again, both open and armored cab variants existed. 123 produced, production ended in February 1945.

Interestingly 250 modified SdKfz 7 vehicles were license built by the Italian Breda company and in the UK, Vauxhall worked on a version, though the war ended before mass production could get underway.

This is another interesting variant of Dragon's very nice heavy half-track. This version has the armored cab that was installed on many of the mobile FlaK versions. This armor is one of the new sprues and is nicely done in plastic. For the gun, the armor is in photo etch. This material is also used for the tread plates on the gun mount as well as the areas on the panels of the flat bed when the vehicle is in the firing position. DS is used for the front wheels and the links are separate for the tracked portion. There is much more as listed by the Dragon PR folks below:

• Armored shield on gun can be assembled for travel/combat
• Dropsides and tailgate can be folded down for better crew access
• Gun can traverse 360 degrees
• Detailed photo-etched catcher for spent shells
• Slide-molded one-piece gun barrel w/hollow muzzle
• Newly designed gun shield can be assembled in combat or travel mode
• Ammunition box can be erected/stowed
• Newly tooled photo-etched gun shield w/support brackets
• Gunner’s sight cover on photo-etched shield can be raised/lowered
• Newly designed gun mount w/well-defined detail
• Newly designed gun mount locks for 3.7cm Flak
• Detailed gearbox has multipart assembly
• Brake drums have detail on both sides
• 6-cylinder engine represented by multiple parts
• Delicate engine housing
• Intricately detailed internal mechanical components: engine, gearbox, fuel tank, compressed-air tank, suspension, exhaust and winch
• Slide molds enable one-piece chassis frame w/support-brace detail
• Two options provided for customization – one-piece angled plate or overhanging cab armor plate
• Front window armor plates w/photo-etched parts can be assembled open/closed
• Driver’s and vehicle commander’s hatches can be assembled open/closed
• Detailed winch spool has bolt and rib detail
• Rear crossbeam w/roller and trailer coupling depicted like the real one
• Two types of front armor plates provided as options
• Sharply reproduced on-vehicle tools
• Full detailed steering mechanism
• Suspension system as per the real vehicle; slide-molded suspension arms and springs w/delicate detail
• Accurately shaped front fenders made from 2-directional slide molds
• Different road wheels rendered w/delicate detail on both sides
• Front wheels made from DS have authentic tire tread pattern
• Sprocket w/realistic ribbed detail
• Photo-etched flange around sprocket wheel hub
• Wing mirror realistically presented
• Final-drive housing made from separate parts with bolt and rib detail
• Optional headlamps provided
• Magic Tracks for German halftrack reproduced

Decals are generic license plates with a bevy of separate numbers and letters. You can paint this pretty well any way you wish from overall Panzer Tan to adding in Green and Brown bits.

With many of the 550 parts devoted to the Magic Tracks, this really will not be a hugely difficult kit to build. It has a lot of photo etch, for sure and there will be a bunch of parts not used, but the end result will be a very nice model of this interesting mobile Flak unit.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sd.Kfz._7

April 2014