Dragon 1/35 10.5cm LeFH18/40

The 10.5 cm leFH 18/40 supplemented the 10.5 cm leFH 18 and the 10.5 cm leFH 18M as the standard divisional field howitzer used during the Second World War. It was designed in an effort to lighten the weight of the 105 mm artillery piece and to make it easier to produce. Generally it did not equip independent artillery battalions until after the Battle of Stalingrad in 1943. Some were also exported to Finland, where they were known as 105 H 33-40. Approximately 10,000 were produced between 1942 and the end of the war.

As you can see from the sprues layout, this is not the first time this base gun has been done. In fact, you'll have quite a few spares from this one as you get a lot of crew items and will not be using them all. The kit adds in figure set 6433, which is a nice touch for those who like to display their models as dioramas.

This kit is light on etched bits too. The nicely done p.e. fret is basically straps for the rifles and helmets, so those who do not like working with p.e. will not have to use it if not assembling the figures.

One thing about artillery is that nothing is hidden. This means that all the details are out where you can see them. Dragon has done its usual fine job of providing these sorts of details, from the breech to the azimuth and elevation controls to the chassis of the gun as well as the shield and trails. The trails can be posed either in firing or travel position as one chooses. The trail lock mechanism will snap into place if one chooses the travel position. The builder can also elevate the gun.

Instructions are well done and not as crowded as with other Dragon kits. Full color information is provided. Apparently Dragon simply scanned the back of the figure set as the background for the figure assembly and painting is quite dark, making it very difficult to read the information on it. There are no decals as none are needed. It seems that all of these guns were painted in overall panzer yellow. I'd use the box art to help fill out the painting information.  

Many of us like towed artillery. It looks nice on the display shelves and, at least for me, is not as difficult to build as a panzer. If you have a nice German half track, this one will look great being towed behind it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10.5_cm_leFH_18/40

November 2014 

Thanks to www.dragonmodelsusa.com  for the preview kit. You can find this kit at your favorite hobby shop or on-line retailer.

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