German WWII Maybach HL 42 TRKM Engine
Great Wall Hobby 1:35 kit #L3517
Review by Terry Ashley
The kit is labelled for use with the Sd.Kfz.10 1ton H/T, Sd.Kfz.11 3ton H/T or Sd.Kfz.250 le.S.P.W. but the HL 42 TRKM engine was not used on the Sd.Kfz.11 3ton H/T which was fitted with the Maybach HL 42 TUKRM engine.
As this kit has the same basic engine parts as set #L3518 but with a new large air cleaner, exhaust manifold and single radiator it means the engine as it comes actually represents the HL 42 TUKRM as fitted to the Sd.Kfz.11 3ton H/T with numerous modifications required to represent the HL 42 TRKM for the Sd.Kfz.10 1ton H/T and Sd.Kfz.250 le.S.P.W. such as different style exhaust manifold, air cleaner and radiator fan setup.
The external visual differences between the HL 42 TRKM and the HL 42 TUKRM include the valve cover on the HL 42 TRKM only having two smaller “star” filler caps without the larger central cap as on the HL 42 TUKRM valve cover. On the bottom the HL 42 TRKM doesn't have the large oil pan cover but the oil pan cover is basically flat on the underside of the block with a large oil reservoir added to the right side of the engine.
The exhaust manifold on the HL 42 TRKM is similar to one type used on the HL 42 TUKRM and is quite different from the manifold included in the kit and you will need a spare set #L3518 just for the exhaust manifold to correctly represent the HL 42 TRKM setup and the rear clutch housing also requires different details.
The standard of plastic moulding is excellent with clean crisp mouldings with no visible pin marks but some minor flash is on a few of the finer parts. The kit has numerous very small parts and some fine piping that needs care removing from the sprue and removing the obligatory fine mould seams.
The detail on the parts is well done but you have to take into account the details mentioned above depending on the actual version of the engine you wish to build?
Assembly is fairly straightforward following the instructions which are the usual exploded view drawings but are a little busy in parts and you need to carefully study the part placement to avoid mishaps.
The engine has the main engine block in two halves with separate lower oil sump and top rocker cover as well as all accessories such as the intake/exhaust manifolds, dynamo, oil cooler/filter, carburettor, forward fan pulleys and the large air filter. You need to drill four locating holes in the ends of the intake/exhaust manifolds for the fine exchange piping provided with plan views showing the location of the holes to help drilling these in the right place.
A quick note with the fan pulleys, to make fitting to the kit of your choice easier it would be best to leave off the large front fly wheel (part #J29) as this seemed to get in the way on every kit I test fitted the engine too.
The fit of the parts is very good without any trimming needed and just the fine mould seams as mentioned above making for a fairly quick and easy assembly. The very small parts such as the top filler caps (J9) and hoist hooks (J10) need care in handling, plus there are a few small etched parts for the top rocker cover data plates and two small exhaust gaskets.
There are a couple of things to watch for during assembly, the front engine bearer (part J6) doesn’t have any particular locating point but is trapped in place by the front fan belt/pulley assembly (part J42) and it’s best to not actually glue the engine bearer leaving it free to move about behind the fan belts. This will help in fitting the engine squarely to the chassis of the target kit later on; it’s a bit tricky not to get glue on the bearer while attaching the fan belts so take care but it will definitely help when mounting the engine if left unglued for now.
Fitting the two fine exchange pipes (parts J31/32) between the intake/exhaust manifolds is a little confusing with the arrows on the instruction illustration crossing each other a few times but you do get a left and right side view to help locate these correctly. Just don’t try and force them where they shouldn’t go, when you get them aligned correctly they do fit nicely into the holes you drilled earlier.
The radiator is a single part with detail on the engine side only which isn’t a real problem as the front of the radiator is hidden after fitting to the kit of choice in any case. There is a top and bottom hose that connects to the engine block and care is needed to get these aligned correctly, but it’s not too difficult. Note these two hoses are all that attaches the radiator to the engine and I drilled small holes and inserted wire pins in the ends of the hoses for a more robust fit, but this is a person choice as you build the kit.
This configuration is actually the HL 42 TUKRM used in the Sd.Kfz.11 3ton H/T and not the
HL 42 TRKM engine for the Sd.Kfz.10 1ton H/T and Sd.Kfz.250 le.S.P.W. series
These issues to correctly depict the HL 42 TRKM and the work needed to fit the engine to some kits makes this set less attractive than the Sd.Kfz.251 S.P.W. engine in set #L3518. If you want a correctly depicted HL 42 TRKM engine you will need the SKP Models set #SKP 057 Maybach HL 42 Engine Set for the DML Sd.Kfz.250.
Recommended only if you want an engine for your Sd.Kfz.11 3ton H/T.
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Leichter Zugkraftwagen 1t (Sd.kfz.10) Ausf.A and B Panzer Tracts No.22-1 ISBN 0-9815382-5-8  |
Halftracked Vehicles of the German Army 1909-1945 Walter J. Spielberger  |
| German Light Half-Tracked Prime Movers 1934-1945 Schiffer Publishing Ltd.  |
Military Vehicles in Detail 1 SdKfz 250/1 to 250/12 Ian Allan Publishing.  |
Leichter Zugkraftwagen 3 ton Sd.Kfz.11 Nuts & Bolts Volume 20  |
Thanks to Lion Roar/Great Wall Hobby for the review kit.
