The Sd.Kfz. 250 was a light armoured halftrack, very similar in appearance to the larger Hanomag-designed Sd.Kfz. 251, and built by the DEMAG firm, for use by Germany in World War II.

Compared to U.S. halftracks, the SdKfz 250 series was less mobile, with unpowered front wheels. However, its tracks made it far more mobile than the armoured cars it replaced, and it was a popular vehicle. Most variants were open-topped and had a single access door in the rear.

The Sd. Kfz 250 was adopted in 1939 to supplement the standard halftrack. Production delays meant the first 250 did not appear until mid-1941.

Tamiya has been doing quite well with its 1/48 armor series. Engineered with the care that they give to all their other kits, this comes with the larger sprues individually packaged and a small metal chassis section. There are also three figures included with the kit, one of which portrays Erwin Rommel as this is supposed to be his command halftrack.

As this is a radio vehicle, it comes with a full suite of radios for the interior as well as the antenna array. Typical of any tracked vehicle, there are an array of road wheels, idler and sprocket gears to assemble. The tracks are link and run type to provide the sag needed for the upper portion. The instructions are quite specific on installing these. There is a rather small lower chassis section made of cast metal and already primered for painting. Since it is pretty much covered by the rest of the body, its only purpose, aside from an attachment point for road wheels, is to had some heft to the finished model.

In addition to a well appointed interior, there are a myriad of tools and fuel cans to affix to the outer portions of the vehicle, making for what will be a somewhat busy look.

The instructions are well done and as usual, only Tamiya paints are referenced. As mentioned earlier, markings are for Rommel's vehicle with the large 'Greif' on the sides as shown on the box art. I'm sure that if you have photos, others could be modeled. The small decal sheet is well done and should provide no surprises.  

If you have ever built any of Tamiya's 1/48 armor kits, then you know what a delight they are to build. I expect nothing less from this one.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SdKfz_250

March 2010

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