Sd.Kfz. 251/2 Ausf.C mit Wurfrahmen 40
3 in 1
Dragon Kit No. 6284
1:35th Scale
First Look Review by Terry Ashley

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The Wurfkoerper had an elevation of 16 to 45 degrees firing all six in 10 seconds and all 251 variants from Ausf.A to Ausf.D could and were fitted with the mountings. The Wurfrahmen were made from either wood or metal with the kit giving you the wooden framed boxes which appear to be more common from period photos.

The name aside you can actually build one of four different types from the parts in the box, the standard Sd.Kfz.251/1, the 28cm or 32cm Wurfkoerper as above or the Sd.Kfz.251/10 mounting the 3.7cm Pak (m.Schuetz.Pz.Wg 3.7cm Pak) all on the welded Ausf.C hull.

The Kit:
This kit is based mostly on the parts from kit #6202 Sd.Kfz. 251/16 Ausf.C Flammpanzerwagen which in turn had its lineage back through the previous Ausf.C kits #6187 /1, #6206 /6 Command, #6224 /1 3 in1 and #6246 /1 rivetted hull with the various updates and improvements along the way.

I will just give a brief overview of the basic kit and refer you to those reviews for the full story while concentrating on the new parts for this kit.

The kit features the updated details such as rivets on the fenders, newer crew seats with etched back springs, clear parts for the inside vision ports and formed brass width indicators. The driver's bulkhead has the offset simulated on the left side but the bulkhead itself is still vertical.

There are still some niggling issues from the previous Ausf.C kits such as the undersized central floor hump, no offset of the drive sprocket teeth, no steering arm and no upper hull overhang but overall will build easily into a nice looking model.

Etched and Metal parts

Only one set of tracks is included, the individual link plastic track with 5001/280/140 rubber pad “skeletal” track.

Stuka zu Fuss:
For this version you get the six large mounting plates for the hull sides which have separate rotating supports for the rocket boxes and these have small support brackets that can be assembled up or down for the travel or firing position. The intricate hull support frames are moulded quite thin with just very minor moulding seams to be removed and despite some tricky assembly and instructions that aren't very clear with just a single illustration with the parts in place careful study will be needed before gluing.

The wooden rocket boxes are nicely done with wood grain effect on two sides of each part with the smooth side mostly out of sight once assembled and this wood grain gives a good feel to the assembled box. There are two inner brackets at the back of the box to support the rocket motor which has a small connecting bar in plastic and you are given replacement etched connecting bars which gives a far better scale appearance and there are additional inner spacers added when using the smaller 28cm rockets.

The 28cm and 32cm Wurfkoerper (Rockets) are made up of four parts each without any mould seams to be removed and apart from one tricky sprue attachment point the rockets are moulded particularly clean with very nicely defined rocket holes on the base and go together without any problems. The 32cm Wurfkoerper includes the filler plug on the nose section which is used to fill the rocket with flammable "napalm" before firing.

The box assembly was very straightforward with a very good fit of parts, just take note of the instruction part numbers as there are some additional parts on the sprues not used for this kit and makes you wonder what else Dragon has in mind for these parts?

The fit of the rockets into the assembled wood boxes is exceptionally good with millimetre perfect fit both around the rocket head and rocket base and there is no lateral movement of the rocket inside the box but it will still easily slip in and out as required. There is a bit of filler needed on the base join with the inner brackets but this can easily be dealt with and these boxes with the fine moulding on the frames gives an overall excellent scale appearance to the assemblies.

The sighting vanes on the front of the vehicle are provided as etched parts which you bend to the required shape and are extremely delicate and prone to damage so you may want to leave these off until last.

Sd.Kfz.251/10 3.7cm Pak:
For this conversion you get a sprue from kit #6139 Sd.Kfz.250/10 w/3.7 PaK which has the gun cradle, gun controls and 3.7cm gun with a rather thick plastic shield. But you are provided with a new turned aluminium barrel (from kit #6224) and a new formed brass shield with additional etched parts for the hinges and other small fittings. This is mounted on a new upper hull panel with angular bullet splash guards and again builds into a nice little replica of the simple 3.7cm Pak.

One the inside is couple of racks of 3.7cm ammo boxes with etched box frames again from those used in kit #6224 and these racks replace the two rearmost crew seats inside the hull.

A canvas compartment cover in DS100 vinyl is also included and this is slightly different from that included in kits #6223 and #6224 for good variety, the cover has nicely defined canvas folds and seam joins and will look good once painted and weathered.

There is also the DS100 vinyl driver figure from kit #6202 to use if you wish?

Decals:
Four small decal sheets are included, the vehicle number plate sheet from kit #6206, the divisional and balkenkreuz sheet from Kit #6246, the small instrument dial sheet from kit #6187 and a new sheet with a selection of vehicle numbers, data blocks and additional balkenkreuz.

The instruction sheet shows markings for three "Stuka zu Fuss" and one 3.7cm Pak:

• 1. Stuka zu Fuss 500 th Sturm Panzer Pioneer Abteilung, Warsaw 1944
• 2. Stuka zu Fuss 11 th Panzer Division, Eastern Front 1942
• 3. Stuka zu Fuss Unknown unit, Eastern Front 1945
• 4. 3.7cm Pak Unknown unit, Eastern Front 1942

Conclusion:
Overall another basically sound 251 from Dragon with the excellent fine details and good fit of the Wurfrahmen parts making for a strikingly different looking model with a nice little 3.7 Pak added for yet another alternative.

As Dragon thought they were giving us a /2 8cm mortar maybe we will see yet another kit with this option, after all there aren't that many versions left to do.

Also see a Comparison Review between this kit and the AFV Club Sd.Kfz.251/1 Ausf.C Stuka Zu Fuss (kit #AF35091)

References:

SdKfz251 Ground Power Special GALILEO Publishing Co.,Ltd	Sd Kfz 251 Tank Power Vol.X Wydawnictwo Militaria No.224 ISBN: 83-7219-224-3	Schutzenpanzer (Armored Personnel Carrier) Ryton Publications ISBN: 1930571291
Sd.Kfz.251 1939 to 1942 Panzer Tracts No.15-2 Covers /1 to /10	Sdkfz251 Osprey New Vanguard 25	SdKfz251 in action Squadron Signal #2021

Page created 2 October, 2005