FAMO & Sd.Ah.116
Schwerer Zugkraftwagen 18t "FAMO"
und Tiefladeanhänger für Pz.Kpfw.Sd.Ah.116
Tamiya 1:35th Scale Kit No.35246
Review by Terry Ashley
The Trailer bits (additional to the FAMOs 402 pieces):
- 374 crisply moulded parts in beige plastic on 9 sprues.
- 10 rubber tyres with excellent tread pattern (same as for the FAMO).
- 1 thin plastic card sheet (180x50mm).
- 2 strips of metal to reinforce the trailer.
- 2 short lengths of chain.
- 1 new decal sheet.
- Numerious screws, springs and connecting metal rods.
The trailer is basically broken into three sections, the front assembly, the centre platform and the rear steering assembly.
As you can imagine from the number of parts, the front and rear sections are quite complex with many parts. Careful reading of the instructions is a must, if you follow these there shouldn't be any problems.
The engineering is superb, the front two wheel bogies turn in unison with the main coupling bar through a series of metal rod steering arms. It is essential to fit these in the right positions and right order, as I mentioned - read the instructions.
All the wheels are attached using the usual poly caps, with each wheel hub being made up of 4 pieces as well as separate brake drums.
A nice touch is the inclusion of the plastic card sheet from which you cut thin strips to use as air tank securing straps giving a very realistic appearance.
The rear driving assembly is equally complex, yet straightforward to assemble. The wheels steer using the same metal rod arm assemblies. The winch box has nicely detailed drive chains as we saw on the M26 kit. Also featured is a nicely detailed driver's compartment and again the use of plastic strip for the air tank securing straps.
The centre platform section has an upper and lower section which traps two lengths of thicker metal strip between them for great strength, all the major assemblies are also secured using self tapping screws to make an assembly that's not going anywhere.
The lengths of chain supplied are used to attach your load to the trailer, the
perennial problem of how to tension these chains on a kit has been solved by Tamiya engineering.
The rear assemblies securing the chain pivot on a small plunger fitted with
a spring resulting in permanently tensioned chains, brilliant.
Obviously you can assembly the whole trailer either fitted together with a load or with the rear unit separate while loading or unloading a vehicle, the possibilities are endless.
Four new figures are provided representing a Sturmgeschütz crew, three sitting and one standing, these have nice uniform detail and can be positioned anywhere on the trailer or FAMO as you wish.
Markings are provided for 3 vehicles, one in Panzer Grey, and two in the Dark Yellow, Red Brown and Green cam scheme. There is also extensive decals for the red/white safety markings along the sides of the units as well as about a dozen stencil placards positioned around the trailer units.
This is simply
a sensational kit and one that won't be put together overnight.
It lifts the art of injection moulding to a higher level, you really have to
see the kit to fully appreciate the current level of Tamiya kit making.
Yet there are those who still aren't happy and bitch and whine that these kits cost "too much" (that's in between bitching that other kits "have many errors"). To these people, I simple say you don't have to buy if you don't want too and are welcome to sit in the corner whining while the rest of us get on building these great kits and enjoying what modelling is really all about.
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Decal Sheet
| Schwerer Zugkraftwagen 18 ton and Variants FAMO "Bulle" (Sd.Kfz.9) Nuts & Bolts Vol.12  |
FAMO 18t The Military Machine By Stefan König ISBN 3-9805216-4-8  |
| German Halftracks 1909-1945 Book 6 Walter J. Spielberger  |
Ground Power Magazine No.070 3/2000 GALILEO Publishing Co.,Ltd  |
