Munitionsschlepper 1 Ausf.A
(Ammunition transport T-1A)
1/35th #T3504
First Look Review by Terry Ashley
In 1942 the tank models Pz.IA and Pz.IB had been withdrawn from the arsenal. Part of those machines was re-equipped into ammunition transporters (Munitionsschlepper). Turrets were dismounted, and welded metal boxes of simple shape opened on the top were mounted instead. It is known, for example, that 12 such machines operated at Leibstandarte SS "Adolf Hitler".
The Kit:
This new kit from Master Box Ltd will obviously be compared to the Tristar Panzer 1A kits that have set the benchmark for this vehicle in kit form but
this review is not intended as a direct comparison and I will only make the
occasional brief comment on the two along the way. The kit represents an
A 3.Serie/La.S Panzer 1 hull which has features such as the reinforcing armour
strips on the superstructure sides, reinforcing ribs on all road wheels,
only two fuel filler caps on the engine deck, a brake light on the rear plate,
the 60cm wide hatch on the glacis and the longer nozzle on the front horn,
basically the same configuration as the first Tristar kit.
The kit consists of 135 parts in a light grey plastic with a further 208 individual track links in black plastic as well as etched parts for the exhaust covers and rear intake grills, plus a small decal sheet and instruction sheet. There are also a few parts on the sprues for the other versions of the Panzer 1 to be released that are not used on this kit.
The quality of the mouldings is quite good for a new company with cleanly moulded details such as bolt/rivet heads and panel lines on the parts with very finely rendered tread plate pattern on the side fenders as well as some fine smaller parts such as the lifting hooks but there is also some degree of flash on some parts and quite large moulding seams apparent (although easy to remove) and also some fair sized sink holes in the suspension parts with some smaller parts being a little chunky but overall the standard is quite acceptable. The plastic used is softer than that in mainstream kits (Tamiya, Dragon etc) which makes it easy to work with while still having good detail definition.
The Lower Hull:
This is in the usual Eastern European style of separate bottom plate with
separate side, front and rear panels each of which have nice details included
and there is an interior engine compartment bulkhead to help align and
strengthen the lower tub assembly.
The fit of these parts will need a bit of test fitting and trimming to get a good fit and there will be some minor filling needed with the biggest problem being the fit of the front plate which left a sizable gap at the bottom hull join, this is best filled with plastic card and then sanding smooth. Also watch that the bolt head detail on the front plate goes to the bottom, something that can easily be missed resulting in the plate being upside down.
The suspension is quite detailed with all separate parts for the suspension
arms, return rollers and large shock absorber spring on the front wheel,
the details on the wheels is quite good but not as refined as on the Tristar wheels but the drive sprocket is excellent with bolt head details on both
sides something the Tristar drive sprocket doesn’t have with only bolt
heads on the outside.
The return rollers have the raised centre hub and the suspension bar has
good detail definition.
The larger suspension parts have sizable sink marks that will need to be
filled but as there isn’t other details around the sink holes this
should be easy to remedy and there is some minor flash around the rear track
tensioning bolts on the rear suspension parts but other than this the detail
definition is good.
The tracks are all separate links with okay details but are not workable being designed to be glued together and it would be best to assemble the tracks after the suspension is assembled to get the proper sage before the glue dries.
Upper Hull:
The two separate side fenders have as mentioned very good surface tread plate
pattern included while the front and rear fender sections are also separate
with some minor flash to be removed but the edges are quite thin. The front
fender sections are often not fitted to serving vehicles so you probably
won’t fit these anyway?
The pioneer tools on the fenders are a little chunky and the tool clips are very basic and could do with replacing by etched items, and the aerial rest is also quite basic while the rear exhausts are in two parts each with etched heat shields which is good but you will have to open out the ends of the exhausts for a better look.
The rear engine compartment decking is in one piece with etched screens for the rear intakes but there are no intake covers provided but again these were often not fitted in the field on these vehicles. The detail on the engine deck is well defined and while heavier than the Tristar deck is not overdone. The cover for the top engine intake grills has the rear lip moulded at right angles to the top but should be at a slight angle with a curved transition from the top plate so a bit of work will be needed on this if used?
The front glacis is in one piece with the two side extensions included with
again well defined details with items added such as the central head light,
two part horn and exhaust pipe with nice ribbing details plus the small lifting
eyes. There are the usual moulding seams to be removed before attaching but
shouldn’t be a problem and thankfully the very small lifting eyes are
free of flash and well moulded.
Some minor trimming will be required when fitting the glacis between the
hull side panels and again a bit of test fitting will get this right.
The Superstructure:
This is in five separate parts with a top plate and all four sides that have
bevelled edges to fit together but there is also a lot of flash on the
two side panels that will need removing.
There are some bolt head details on the front plate but all the other that the plates are devoid of details such as no hinge details on the port side but there wasn’t much detail on these plates anyway other than some flush rivets/screws that aren’t on the Tristar superstructure either.
The two part hatch is better detailed with hinge detail on the outside and bolt head and latch details on the inside but the hatches are a little on the thick side and the front of the top hatch will need to be rounded in profile a little.
The two side reinforcing armour strips are separate parts and have good details while all vision port covers are separate parts but the vision slits will need some cleaning as there is some minor flash present, they also have internal mountings to allow them to be shown open if desired.
The fit of the five superstructure parts is a bit of a problem and some trimming and test fitting will be needed as well as some filler to finish the job. The fit of the completed superstructure to the lower hull will also require some trimming; this is probably the most troublesome area of the kit in terms of fit.
The top metal box is a single moulding without any details with quite thick walls and some pin ejector marks on the inside that will probably be hidden when you add a load to the box. There are also some other parts that appear to be an ammo box with three artillery rounds but these are not mentioned in the instructions so it’s left to you to use as desired.
The Decals:
The sheet has morkings for two vehicles one in overall Panzer
Grey and the other in Dark Yellow/Green/Red Brown cam which are shown in
colour on the box top and includes the vehicles numbers, crossed and tac
signs.
The Instructions:
These are in the form of exploded view drawings that are fairly easy to follow
but one thing to note is that the parts are not numbered on the sprues
as with most kits but the parts layout diagrams on the instructions show
the part numbers which you then match to the parts on the sprues. I didn’t
see any problems identifying the parts as most are fairly obvious anyway.
Some of the diagrams also show more detail than is actually on the parts,
especially on the internal engine bulkhead and superstructure walls, maybe
this was planned but not included on the final kit?
Conclusion:
While the kit doesn’t match Tristar’s finesse and fit engineering
it is a nice little kit that accurately portrays all the features of a series
3 Panzer 1 and includes some very nice details while other areas can do with
some work.
The fit of the parts is a bit of a problem but nothing that can’t be overcome with a bit of basic modelling skills and there are also some nice details included and the kit is certainly a good basis for a nice model. This is illustrated by the built up model by Thomas Egon Hofmann on Tank Guys web site, worth a look to see what can be achieved with this kit.
The kit actually represents good value for money as it only cost me AUD$18.00 (USD$13.90, Euro 11.00) while the Tristar kit sells for around AUD$85.00 (USD$65.50, Euro 52.00) and the difference in price is no where in proportion to the difference in the level of detail of the two kits with the MB kit on a par with the Tristar kit in some areas while lacking in others.
For that low price you get a very reasonable kit which includes etched parts and individual track links but will require a bit of basic modelling skills to get a result, that to me says it’s a kit worth getting and personally I will be picking up the other kits in the series when released as the standard can only improve from here.
Recommended.
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Page created 25 January 2004
