Sd.Kfz.10/4 with Flak 30
Italeri Kit No. 6395
1/35th Scale
First Look Review by Terry Ashley
The kit has 324 parts moulded in dark grey plastic which includes link and length track links plus two parts in clear plastic and mesh for the drop down sides.
The standard of moulding is typical Italeri with nice details overall with some of the smaller parts being a little heavy while there are a few pin marks to contend with but less than on some previous kits.
The chassis and suspension is the same for all kits and has the lower side hull panels as separate parts that include the fixed axles to which are attached the road wheels and drive sprockets. The sprockets include the correct offset drive teeth while the road wheels have nice stamped details and hub details.
The front suspension is fixed in place and has separate leaf springs and axle with the wheels having nice hub and tread pattern details.
The main lower hull is a complete tub which includes the front and side fenders to which the side suspension panels are attached and internally there is a smaller tub for the lower section of the fighting compartment which includes the central gearbox/transmission moulding plus the instrument panel with nice details, the seats and gear levers but no driver’s foot pedals.
At the front the engine hood is in two parts for good detail definition and the radiator grill is also nicely rendered although there is no manufacturers logo at the top, but seeing as there were several different manufacturers such as Demag, Büssing-NAG, Adler as well as some Austrian and French companies the appropriate logo could be added depending on the vehicle you are modelling. Additional smaller details such as the head lights, hood attachments, basic NOTEC light and side exhaust panels are added along with sand channels on a mounting attached to the front chassis.
The rear hull sees the large gun platform bed as a single part with quite nice surface details and separate side panels that can be fitted raised or lowered and the supplied mesh is added to the panels as well as the many 20mm ammo canisters carried here.
Flak 30:
The detail overall on the gun parts is okay but there are some pin marks
to contend with such as on the gun itself but this is contrasted by some
fine
parts like the gunners foot supports and sight which is also designed to
be movable after assembly so it remains aligned with the barrel when elevated.
The barrel will need drilling out or could be replaced with one of the available
metal barrels available for better definition.
The shields have a couple of pin marks but these will be easy to eliminate
and could do with being thinned slightly for a better scale appearance.
The lower gun base has nice tread plate detail but the Y frame is a little heavy with a couple of minor sink marks to be filled and sizable mould seam lines along the sides to be removed with the frame fitting to the small attachment points on the rear bed.
This gun is the old ESCI Flak 30 which was aquired by Italeri and now added to this kit which would account for some of the heavier details.
Figures:
The figures are broken down with separate upper torso/heads and lower bodies/legs,
plus separate arms with only the mould seam lines to be removed. The detail
on the figures is adequate although they are quite large and appear to be
more to 1/32nd than 1/35th scale but should come up okay with careful painting
and you get four Kar K98 rifles to fit into the front fender racks. The figures
are also ex ESCI from the Flak 30 kit again accounting for the sizing.
Sd Anh 51 ammo Trailer:
The trailer uses the same lower U frame as with the gun with a large storage
box added. The frame has basic details and again a mould seam line to be
removed along with separate and wheels which have good hub and
tread details but there are some pin marks on the inside surfaces of the
tyres to be removed.
The box has separate sides and top with an inside filler part with the tops of 20mm ammo boxes and some loose magazines if you wish to show the box with the top open? The tools on the end of the box are a little on the heavy side with basic retaining clips that would look better replaced with etched items.
Tracks:
The
tracks are link and length in normal plastic but are probably the low point
of the kits with soft detail and poor definition on the link and pad detail,
replacing these with individual track links will
certainly add to the look of the finished kit.
Decals:
The decal sheet is well printed with vehicle number plate markings and divisional
insignia for four vehicles;
Conclusion:
Overall a nice kit with the detail a mixture of fine to basic but with some
work should build into a nice model of the early Sd.Kfz.10/4 with Flak 30
and the inclusion of the ammo trailer a nice bonus and the kit provides
plenty of scope for additional detailing.
Recommended.
Having dusted off the ESCI kit and compared it directly to all four of the Italeri kits I can report this is completely false with the only common factor being they are both kits of the Sd.Kfz.10.
The breakdown of the parts is completely different with the level of detail on the Italeri kits being much higher than with the ESCI kit, this is especially noticeable on parts such as the road wheels with far nicer detail on the Italeri wheels and the dash board details and lower floor gearbox/transmission detail which again are better defined on the Italeri kit.
Hopefully we can put that misconception to bed and treat the Italeri kits on their own merits as they should be.
References:
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Sd.Kfz.10/4 ISBN: 83-7219-151-4 |
 |
German Light Half-Track ISBN:0-7643-0262-0 |
 |
Allied & Axis No.9 |
Page Created 21 July 2004