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AFV Club
Sd.Kfz.11 & leFH18 Value Pack
AFV Club 1:35 scale kit #AF35S48
Review by Terry Ashley

AFV Club
Introduction:

The Sd.Kfz.11 was produced from 1937 to 1945 with 25000 being produced by Hansa-Lloyd, Hanomag, Adler, Borgward, Horch and Skoda. They were used to tow light 105mm howitzers and 75mm Pak 40 guns. The same chassis/running gear was also used as the basis for the mittlere Schuetzenpanzerwagen Sd.Kfz.251 - medium personnel carriers.

The leFH18 10.5cm Howitzer used in large numbers by the German Army on all fronts during WWII could be towed by a horse team or the Sd.Kfz.11 3 ton half track. It was an accurate and reliable weapon but due to its heavy weight and relatively short range was out classed by similar Soviet weapons. Later versions of the gun were fitted a muzzle brake and other minor improvements as the leFH18M (kit #AF35S24) as well as with the carriage from the 7.5cm PAK 40 Anti-tank gun to improve mobility; this version was given the designation leFH18/40.

AFV Club have now combined their kits of the Sd.Kfz.11 3Ton Halftrack (kit #AF35040) and the leFH18 10.5cm Howitzer (kit #AF35050) in this "value pack" that also includes a few extra goodies.

The Kits:

The kit is not just a combination of the Sd.Kfz.11 and leFH18 kits but also includes the wooden spoke wheels from the leFH18M (kit #AF35S24) as well as the 105mm ammo from German 10.5cm Howitzer Ammunition leFH18 and Accessory set (#AF35062) plus some additional etched parts to add further value to the kit.

Of interest is the inclusion of etched radiator grill badges for all six manufacturers that produced the Sd.Kfz.11 3Ton Halftrack allowing you to build any one of those providing excellent variety.

The kit consists of the following items:
445 parts in the usual dark green plastic,
2 parts in clear plastic,
22 etched parts,
1 set of vinyl tracks
1 aluminium 105mm barrel
1 brass recoil cylinder
1 vinyl "dust cover"
2 brass fender width indicators
2 vinyl tyres for the spoked gun wheels
1 decal sheet
and the instruction sheet.

Metal, Etched and other parts
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The standard of moulding is again excellent overall with virtually no pin marks to be seen which is especially noticeable on the large 3ton rear compartment moulding and the separate doors which are blemish free inside and out and the many very fine parts such as door handles and gear levers and on the leFH18 the large gun shield which is completely free of pin ejector marks. There is a little fine flash on some of the parts due to their age but nothing to get real excited about and there are also quite a few very small pieces in both that are well moulded but will require care when removing from the sprues.

The etched parts with the 3ton are for the side tread plate on the fenders below the doors which is already bent to shape to simply fit over the plastic fenders as well as the fender pennant frame and as mentioned the six different manufactures badges for the radiator grill.

You are also provided with formed brass fender width indicators but these are unfortunately the wrong type for the 3ton H/T and are not usable at all for this kit, strangely the instructions show the correct shape indicators and it may be that someone slipped the wrong ones into this kit? There are the plastic indicators included with the correct shape so you will have to settle for these unless you source metal ones elsewhere.

There is also the metal barrel as recoil cylinder for the leFH18 to give a real multi-media feel to the kits.

I will only briefly outline what is included with the kits as I have previously built both the Sd.Kfz.11 3Ton Halftrack (kit #AF35040) and leFH18 10.5cm Howitzer (kit #AF35050) some years ago when first released and will refer you to those reviews for the overall views.

Sd.Kfz.11 3Ton Halftrack:

The lower multipart chassis has a 3 part gearbox and rear fuel tank provided as these can just be seen under the top hull and 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 as well as the drive rollers included while the front tyres have excellent tread pattern and good hub details on the wheels.

The chassis sides have excellent details on the axle mountings with all the axles and idler mountings as separate parts which will allow you to animate the suspension if you wish?

The tracks are the same soft vinyl Zgw 5001/280/140 rubber pad tracks other 251 kits and have quite good details for the medium, although you may want to update to one of the available individual link track sets for better detail definition.

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The large front fender moulding has both fenders and body pan in the one part with additional etched tread plate as mentioned with the cab having separate details of instrument panel with raised dial details, separate driver's foot pedals including correctly depicted accelerator pedal as well as the steering wheel.

The front section is made up of the engine firewall/bulkhead with separate hood and louvred engine bay sides with separate securing handles and the front radiator grill, the grill and side louvers are not fully opened up but have good relief and will come up nicely when painted.

Additional parts include the headlights with separate blackout slit covers and the Notek light with etched mounting bracket as well as the fender width indicators and pennant frame as mentioned above.

The main cab has separate side panels although the doors are not separate within the panels but there is very fine door handles to add detail as well as the rear cab wall and separate bench seat parts. The windscreen has clear plastic for the glass with additional fine plastic windscreen wipers.

The rear compartment is one single moulding that is quite impressive without any pin marks or other blemishes to mar the finish with separate side compartment doors and top deck sections with luggage rack frames from thin plastic with everything fitting together quite nicely; see the build comments for finer details.

leFH18 10.5cm Howitzer:

Many of the sub assemblies are broken down into multiple parts for excellent detail definition, an example is the breech which is made up of nine separate parts and also features engraved production numbers on the breech face while the main gun sight has four parts and is especially well detailed.

The cradle and lower carriage are again very well detailed with many separate small parts for excellent detail, with alternate parts for the horse drawn or vehicle towed versions.

The main gun shield as mentioned is devoid of pin ejector marks and has nice details moulded on both sides along with other details parts, including the ‘tail light’ for the towed version.

The 105mm barrel is in aluminium with the muzzle hollowed out to a depth of 1/4inch (6mm); this is trapped between the two halves of the breech block assembly, but there is no rifling on the inner barrel. Added to this is a brass tube for the upper recoil cylinder and a section of concertina vinyl material for the dust cover on the air equalizer cylinder on the right side of the gun assembly, the length of this will vary depending on your choice of building the gun in firing or towed configuration.

The split trailing arms have an interesting feature in that they have the two sides and top moulded as one with a hollow centre; this eliminates any sink marks sometimes seen on thick parts moulded in one piece and also means there are no seams to be filled while keeping a good level of detail definition on all faces. There are again many smaller detailed parts fitted to the arms as well as the two large recoil spades. These are also free of any pin ejector marks while the holes are cleanly moulded and the arms and spades can be positioned in the firing or towed position.

The main pressed steel wheels are moulded in one piece except for the separate inner rubber tyre section (in plastic) for good definition of the tread pattern. The wheels have excellent detail on both sides and again there are no pin ejector marks to be seen.

Also included are the later spoked wheels to use as an alternative if you wish and these have vinyl material tyres added to the rims and you can use either as you wish or to model a specific gun shown in references.

Also included is one sprue from set #AF35062 with 105mm shells, charge cases and ammo boxes and shell cages to use with the gun in a diorama setting are to fill the rear cargo lockers on the half track as you wish.

Decals:

The revised decal sheet has markings are provided for 5 half track vehicles along with some some data blocks and numbers for the inside of the gun shield plus a selection of stencil data for the ammo boxes.

The 5 vehicle markings provided are:
  • A. Panzergrenadier Division "GD" Eastern Front 1941 in overall German Grey
  • B. 5.SS-Panzer Division "Wiking", Kharkov, August 1943 in overall Dark Yellow
  • C. Pz.Jg.Abt.543, France 1942 in overall German Grey
  • D. 1st Panzer Division, Eastern Front 1941 in overall German Grey
  • E. 1.SS-Panzer Division "Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler" Kharkov 1943 in overall German Grey
Decal Sheet
AFV Club
Conclusion:

Both kits are very nicely moulded with few pin marks or other blemishes along with finely rendered details with the metal parts adding further to the overall effect.

They will build without much trouble into excellent replicas of the standard Sd.Kfz.11 3Ton Halftrack and earlier leFH18 10.5cm Howitzer and providing both together with the addition of the alternate gun wheels and ammo accessories provides excellent value as the name suggests and is worth getting even if you have individual kits.

Highly recommended 8/10

The Sprues:

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Detail Images
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References:
Leichter Zugkraftwagen 3 ton Sd.Kfz.11
Nuts & Bolts Volume 20
book
German Light Half-Tracked Prime Movers 1934-1945
Schiffer Publishing Ltd.
book
Die Halbketten-Fahrzeuge Des Deutschen Heeres 1909-1945
Book 6 Walter J. Spielberger
book
SdKfz251
Ground Power Special
GALILEO Publishing Co.,Ltd
Sd.Kfz.251
WWII German and Soviet Field Howitzers in detail
Wings & Wheels Publications.
Special Museum Line No.25
Wings & Wheels
Le.F.H. 18/18M
Model Detail Photo
Monograph No.16

Published by Rossagraph
Book
German Light Field Artillery in World War II
Schiffer Military Books
ISBN: 0887407609
Schiffer
Allied-Axis
The Photo Journal of the Second World War No.7
Ampersand Publishing.
Allied & Axis
Allied-Axis
The Photo Journal of the Second World War No.8
Ampersand Publishing.
Allied & Axis

Thanks to my credit card and the excellent service from Hobbyeasy for the review kit.




Page created July 9, 2008