Dragon 1/72 SdKfz 251/22 ausf D

 The Sonderkraftfahrzeug 251 (SdKfz 251) half-track was an armored fighting vehicle designed and first built by Germany's Hanomag company during World War II. They were produced throughout the war.

The early production models of this vehicle were issued to the 1st Panzer Division in 1939. There were four main models (A - D), with many variants. The initial idea was for a vehicle that could be used to transport a squad of infantry to the battlefield protected from enemy small arms fire, and with some protection from artillery fire. The open top meant that the crew was still vulnerable, especially to high explosive rounds and shell fragments.

The first two models were produced in small numbers. The C variant had a larger production run, but was a quite complex vehicle to build, involving many angled plates that gave reasonable protection from small arms fire. The D version utilized a much simpler design, and can be easily recognised by its single piece sloping rear (with flat doors).

Although designed for cross country work, it had some limitations as the front wheels were not powered.

The standard personnel carrier version was equipped with a 7.92 mm MG34 or MG42 machine gun mounted at the front of the open compartment, above and behind the driver. A second machine gun was usually mounted at the rear on an anti-aircraft mount.

Variants were produced for specialized purposes, including with anti-aircraft guns, anti-tank rockets (triple Panzerschrecks fitted on either side of the vehicle) as well as a version with an infra-red search light used to spot potential targets for associated Panther tanks equipped with infrared detectors.

Sdkfz 251/22 ausf D is the subject of this kit. It is what the US Army would call a Gun Motor Carriage as it filled the troop compartment with a 75 mm PaK 40 anti-tank gun, making it a useful hit and run weapon.

I've bought a few Dragon small scale armor kits in the past and have generally been pleased with them. This one is no exception and continues Dragon's concentration on providing a quality kit that rivals the large scales of just a few years ago. Dragon does not like cramming all its sprues in a single polybag, which is just fine with me. In this case the multiple bagged items are identical sprues, as it is better to do one of an item and do two sprues full of these singular items. There are six plastic sprues plus one for the flexible tracks, the main body and an etched fret, mostly for the gun shield

Since this is an open topped vehicle, you get a full crew compartment that includes driver's seats, instrument panel, steering wheel and other accoutrement that you'd expect from what is basically a ACV. As it does carry that monster anti-tank gun, there is not really any room in the back for the usual troop seats and such. In addition, the builder will need to do some trimming of parts to get things to fit. The instructions show what is needed.

A very nice touch is that the vast majority of the road wheels are ganged together, taking away much of the chore of construction in this area, but none of the painting. Only the very outer three wheels on each side are separate. All of the attaching thingies are hidden behind them. The tracks are a specialty of Dragon that are not only easily glued with super glue but are of such a material that they can be painted without having to worry about the paint flaking off.

Instructions are superb and provide not only a parts breakdown, but color info in Gunze, Model Master and generic specs. There are two markings options. One is the box art vehicle  and the other is an overall Panzer Yellow one. No unit information is provided.

Overall, this is an exceptional kit of this vehicle in 1/72 scale, a scale many are finding to be a lot more fun to build than the often very complex larger scales. I know I like them as they don't overwhelm the display case! I think you'll find this to be very nice build and make into a superb replica.