Tamiya 1/48 Mtl.SPW.Sd.Kfz 251/1 ausf D 'Stuka Zu Fuss'

The Sd.Kfz. 251 (Sonderkraftfahrzeug 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, and by the end of the war over 15,252 had been produced by German industry. Like just about everything produced in quantity in Germany at this time, there were a number of variants and sub-variants for specialized missions. One was the subject of this kit. The 251/1-II - Rocket launcher (called "Stuka zu Fuß" (Walking Stuka) or Wurfrahmen 40) equipped with six side mounted frames for launching 280 mm or 320 mm Wurfkoerper rockets. This was an adaption of the standard personnel carrier.

Tamiya's 1/48 series has been growing steadily since first introduced to skeptical modelers several years ago. Many wondered at how much interest there would be in this 'intermediate' scale between 1/72 and 1/35. Well, it seems there has been a lot as this is the 66th kit in the series. Molded in Tamiya's light tan plastic, there are six sprues of which two (the rockets and rail assembly as well as the road wheels and tracks) are the same. These are all packaged in poly bags to keep the parts from interlocking or getting damaged in shipment. I guess it is a given that the detailing is superb and there is no flash, nasty ejector pin marks or sink areas. We pay for this quality and we get it.

This is a curbside without a full engine, though you do get a rather complete interior. in fact, the first thirteen of the twenty-one construction steps basically have you building the standard SdKfz 251/1 vehicle while the rest of the bits are for the rockets and their canisters and framework. One gets both 28cm and 32cm rockets to install in the canisters. While these rockets could be adjusted for a number of different elevations, that adjustment is not provided with the kit. Included in the kit are four figures as shown on the box art. These are in the process of lifting and loading rockets and canisters. One always wants to know about tracks and in this case, they are link and run type.

Instructions are excellent and aside from the annoying tendency to only list Tamiya paints, are quite well done. Markings are for three vehicles from late 1944 on various fronts. All are base panzer yellow with different camo patterns of brown and green on the upper and side surfaces. The small decal sheet is well done and should provide no problems.

OK, so they are not cheap and 15 years ago we'd have paid that much for a 1/35 kit, but this is now and for what you get, the cost is well worth it. The end result will be a very nice and somewhat exotic vehicle to grace your display shelves.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SdKfz_251

You can get this kit and many others at GreatModels

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