Sd.Kfz.251/22 Ausf.D
AFV Club Kit No. AF 35083
Review by Terry Ashley
The kit consists of approx. 260 parts in olive drab plastic with a set of soft vinyl tracks, the decal and instruction sheets plus approx. 93 parts for the PaK40 as well as the metal barrel and etched gun shields.
The standard of moulding is excellent with virtually no pin marks to be seen, this is especially noticeable on the hull sides, real hull panel and doors which have details on both sides but not one pin mark to be seen. The details included on the parts is also very good with nice bolt head details on the hull and fenders as well as nicely rendered weld seams on the forward hull/engine compartment and the excellent tread plate pattern on the interior floor panels.
Lower Hull/Suspension:
The lower chassis part has the engine oil pan included on the undersides and
the central hump with the tread plate pattern on the top while
both hull sides are separate parts as with previous kits
The hull sides have the internal panelling used to fix the various different version fittings with the gap between the hull side and panels represented by small indentations along the top of the hull sides while the rear hull floor section is a further separate part again allowing for the different floor configuration of the other variants to come. The underside hull panel is another separate part to allow the inclusion of all the bolt and panel line details.
The suspension is the same as with previous kits with the road wheels having excellent details including the spot welds around the rims and on the drive sprocket the correct offset of the drive teeth while the front tyres have excellent tread pattern as well as good hub details on the wheels.
The lower hull sides have excellent details on the axle mountings as well as the raised reinforcing panels along the lower hull sides around the axles and bump stops with all the axles as separate parts which will allow you to animate the suspension if you wish?
Upper Hull/Exterior:
The upper hull is a full length moulding which features some very subtle
but nice bolt head and weld seam details with separate engine bay doors
ready for
the inevitable aftermarket engine as well as separate front upper and lower
nose plates.
The two front fenders are separate parts and also have very nice bolt head and panel details and you are given the choice of the standard head light or NOTEK light for the left fender as well as three part upper exhaust system and the pioneer tools carried on the fenders.
The side storage boxes are full length parts with engraved details for the compartment doors while at the rear are separate tail light and other fittings.
Hull Interior:
This is especially well detailed with the front bulkhead having a separate
instrument panel with engraved dials as well as separate driver’s foot
pedals and gear levers as well as the distinctive slanted steering wheel
and separate radio and rack.
There is just the one driver's seat with
two part lower sections and the back rests with superb cushion detail
on one side and the distinctive spring pattern on the back and as mentioned
no pin
marks to spoil the detail.
The rear section of the floor is replaced with a new part with locating holes for the PaK40 support girders and right side ammo bin.
The forward hull (driver's) panel is a new part with just the left vision port with separate outer cover and internal visor having three parts for the excellent detail definition of the previous kits while the right visor has the flat plate to blank this off as seen on some vehicles, but as there is only one sprue TA in this kit (instead of two in the previous D kits) you don't have the option of the second full visor. The side hull vision slit internal detail parts are not mentioned in the instructions but are lurking on two different sprues, parts TA9 and D28 and if you have the AFV Club 251 Ausf.D kit AF 35063 these are shown in step 10.
The forward top hull section is a separate part with the distinctive cut-out for the PaK40 and includes bolt head and attachment point details
Moving back the side hull flanges have been replaced with new items that incorporate the mounting bulkheads for the PaK40 mounting girders and large right side ammo bin, there is also a smaller ammo bin that is positioned just inboard of the right PaK40 support arm.
The main PaK 40 support frame is made of two side girders and one rear cross member with the lower gun mounting plate trapped between the two and these locate into the floor locating holes and to the top of the side bulkheads although there is no forward bulkhead cross member. There is also the small crew seat attached to the left support girder plus the two rear crew sets from the previous kits.
The rear doors are both separate with the hinge and latch detail moulded on and can be positioned in the open or closed position as you wish and two fire extinguishers located on the rear panel either side of the doors.
PaK40:
This has two sprues from the PaK40 kit (#AF 35071)
as well as a modified lower cradle and two new etched gun shields with the
correct sized cut-out at the sides
and uses the plastic shield bolts as with the PaK40 kit with the option
buying the separate brass shield bolt set (#AF
35073)
to make the shield assembly easier and better defined detail on the bolts.
The gun assembles the same as per kit #AF 35071 with the same metal barrel and two part muzzle brake with the only alterations being the new shields as mentioned above and there should also be another crew guard on the right of the gun but this isn't included which would have to be made from rod solder or thin sprue.
The gun travel lock is correctly mounted on the front of the driver's plate while the lock itself is fairly basic in details and there is the new right hull side mounted antenna base.
The Tracks:
These are done in soft vinyl and have very good details for this medium while
AFV Club have again saved their separate link track sets for separate
purchase should you want to go the extra expense?
Decals:
The decal sheet is well printed with thin carrier film and
provides markings for just 2 vehicles;
A. Western Front, 1945, Unit unknown in three colour Red Brown, Green
and Dark Yellow strip scheme.
B. Western Front, 1944, Unit unknown in three colour Red Brown, Green
and Dark Yellow mottled scheme.
Bonus Figure:
The first edition of this kit (not sure how many kits that entails) include
a bonus resin figure of a standing officer wearing a great coat and looking
through a vehicle binocular sight. He is bare headed as he would have taken
off his cap to use the sights and the uniform details are very well done
with nicely defined details on what is a simple figure. The figure has the
full body in one piece with separate arms and head and the fit of the arms
to the body is excellent with small locating pins to ensure the alignment
is correct and the figure could be used as desired.
Conclusion:
Based on the excellent Ausf.D and PaK40
kits the marrying of these together makes for a nicley detailed kit although
there are a couple of slipups such as the missing side hull visor and right
guard on
the PaK40 that will cause some extra work to remidy but overall will build
into a nice replica of the /22.
Highly recommended.
A full comparison review between this kit and the Dragon Sd.Kfz.251/22 Ausf.D will be posted shortly to show where they both stand one to one.
Also see reviews of the two track sets AF35069 Sd.Kfz.251 Track Late model and AF35070 Sd.Kfz.251 Track Latest model and the Sd.Kfz.251/9 Ausf.D Kanonenwagon and Sd.Kfz.251/1 Ausf.D
The Sprues:
 SdKfz251 Ground Power Special GALILEO Publishing Co.,Ltd |
 Sd.Kfz.251/1 in detail Special Museum Line No.37 Wings & Wheels Publications ISBN 80-86416-50-X |
 Sdkfz251 Ausf.C & D Panzer Tracts N0.15-3 ISBN 0-9771643-5-7 |
 Sd.Kfz.251/1 Ausf.D Model Detail Photo Monograph No.22 RossaGraph ISBN : 83-89717-60-3 |
 Sd Kfz 251 Tank Power Vol.VI Wydawnictwo Militaria No.215 ISBN: 83-7219-215-4 |
 Sd Kfz 251 Tank Power Vol.X Wydawnictwo Militaria No.224 ISBN: 83-7219-224-3 |
 Schutzenpanzer (Armored Personnel Carrier) Ryton Publications ISBN: 1930571291 |
 Sdkfz251 Osprey New Vanguard 25 |
 SdKfz251 in action Squadron Signal #2021 |
Thanks
to C.K.Pat from Tristar
Shop or
the review
kit.
Page Created 30 December 2004