This is the first of the true “Paper Panzers” to be released by Trumpeter with the previous Sturer Emil (kit #00350), Dicker Max (kit #00348) and even the Grill 17 (kit #00378) also just released reaching the prototype stage or having a couple of examples produced but the E-25 never progressed passed the conceptual stage. There have been stories of a single prototype being almost finished before the war ended but there is no actual evidence of this that I am aware of.
Much of this kit is based on what little information is available and is mostly conjecture in regards to details such as the rear plate/exhaust setup, engine deck and roof layout but this kit is quite different in that regard to the only other resin kits from Accurate Armour and Cromwell Models.
The E-25 which has the appearance of a Hetzer on steroids was designed to replace the Jagdpanzer IV Lang, the other Panzer III/IV based Sturmgeschutz/Panzerjager types and was to be armed with the same 7.5 cm L/70 gun as fitted to the Panther, Jagdpanzer IV, etc without the muzzle brake as with the Lang.
It was to have 1000 mm diameter resilient steel type similar to the wheels for the late Panther G and Panther F with each suspension unit mounted externally to the hull with internal springs and dampers making to easy to replace a damaged component but as mentioned these details were proposed only and could well have been different if the vehicle ever saw the light of day.
The kit includes some details that were proposals for the E series such as the roof mounted AA barbette armed with the 30mm Mk108 cannon which is provided as an option and given there is no information to actually verify the parts against I will simply describe what you get in the kit and leave the rest to conjecture.
The kit:This is fairly conventional by today’s standards with just 167 parts in light grey plastic, another 161 individual track links and a small etched fret with 7 parts plus two full length vinyl tracks a the small decal sheet and the instruction sheet along with the now standard colour painting guide sheet.
Standard of the plastic mouldings is fairly good overall but there is some flash about the place and quite a few of the mould seams are a little on the heavy side especially on the one piece barrel but the surface details are crisp overall with very few if any pin marks to contend with.
The etched parts are fairly basic with the etched screen mesh being a little on the heavy side by contemporary etched standards and the vinyl track is very clean with no flash and well defined detail on both sides.
This is a conventional tub with the sponson covers included but the only surface detail is the suspension mounting plates, basic bump stops and idler axle mounting with the final drive housings and suspension units as separate parts. There is no underside panel detail or other details as these would be unknown and apart from making a guess there is no other way of knowing what should be there.
Each suspension unit is made up of three parts each which assemble easy enough but there is a large join seam that will need attention and there are different units with different length road wheel axle mounting for the alternate stations.
While the instructions indicate the different part numbers there is no indication which units go where on the hull but it’s fairly easy to work out that the longer axle stubs go on stations 1, 3 and 5 and which go on the left and right sides so the lack of identification in the instructions is not that big a deal.
The final drive housings has basic bolt head details and idler wheel axles are fairly robust with very positive locating pin and added to each corner of the tub is the four lifting eye brackets.
There are just five large road wheels per side and these intermesh so take care when fitting while the detail on the wheels is well defined with rim bolts included on both sides of the wheels and separate hub caps for good definition. As mentioned there is no way of checking the sizes of the wheels or the rim details but they look the part.
At the back are the drive sprockets which are a departure for German vehicles which traditionally have them at the front and have the inner and outer sprockets as separate parts with detail on the outer disc face only. There is no other detail on the insides or on the inner disc at all and one could safely assume there should be bolt heads present as with any drive sprocket.
The two part idler wheels have nicely represented detail which again we have to take on face value and are reminiscent of late Panther idlers wheels with all wheels designed to be simply glued in place.Tracks:
You are provided with a set of full, length vinyl track that have excellent details for this medium without any flash or other blemishes but will not glue with normal plastic cement requiring you to heat weld the four joining pins to form the tracks.
Alternatively there are individual link track designed to glued together to form the track runs and the detail on the links is nicely done but there is two pin marks on the inside of each link to be removed but thankfully these are raised making the job easier than if indented.
The links clip together easily and by gluing a short length at a time you can form this around the sprockets and idlers as well as forming the slight track sag without much trouble and these tracks have better definition than the vinyl tracks.
Upper Hull:
This is a large moulding with separate roof panels, engine deck and rear plate and the surface details are restricted to welds on the glacis joins and mounting points along the sides for proposed side skirt panels.
You are provided with alternate roof panels, one with a conventional flush hatch arrangement as well as separate plastic periscopes and additional binocular periscopes. The large hatch has an inner hinge to allow your to show this open or closed and the inside hatch detail is free of any pin marks.
The second roof is a conceptual panel with a separate four part AA barbette with the 30mm Mk108 cannon and round Commander’s hatch which can be used as an alternative.
For the engine deck you also get a choice of two configurations, one with engraved access doors that have two intake grills covered with the etched mesh as well as two round port covers and a fire extinguisher and shovel as storage. The second panel has no hatches but a central circular fan similar to those on Panthers as well as the two intake grills with all three having the etched mesh covers.
Again it is your choice which deck you use as there is no evidence one is correct over the other but the one with the circular intake does look more dramatic.
On the rear plate are two welded exhaust outlet guards again very similar to late Panther welded covers and a two part exhaust pipe fitted across the top of the panel and again this is pure conjecture as there is less documentation on the exhaust layout than any other part of the vehicle.
Other details on the rear plate is the tail light, a couple of tools with moulded on tool clips and a four part jack with separate plastic brackets that are a little on the thick side.
The fit of all these panels to the upper hull is quite good but test fitting is best to determine if any minor trimming might be needed but the fit of the upper hull to the lower hull is not the best at the front and you will need to trim the forward edges of the sponson fillers for a good fit.
On all four corners are the fenders which are provided in plastic or as etched parts that need the ribs embossed out with a ball point pen or similar and the thinner etched fenders have a better appearance than the thicker plastic items.
Main gun:
The 7.5cm main gun has a one piece barrel with the muzzle hollowed out but the mould seam is quite pronounced and will take a bit of sanding to smooth out and the separate Hetzer style gun mounting and mantlet have fairly heavy cast texture included which looks a little over done and you may want to add a coat of Mr.Surfacer to fill some of the texturing for a better scale look.
On the inside is a simple gun mounting that allows a bit of traverse and elevation but the fit is very loose meaning the gun will always be depressed and gluing this in place would be a better option. This mounting is then fitted to the back of the main gun mounting and the outer mantlet attached to the front.
The barrel then fits into the mantlet and the full assembly glued in place on the glacis without any problems with a separate driver’s visor also added to the glacis and the Bosch headlight to the left fender.
Decals:The single sheet just gives you a set of balkenkreuz and selection of red numbers with white outlines to use as required and you basically paint the model in any cam scheme you see fit.
Conclusion:
As mentioned there is no real documentation on the kit and many of the details are conceptual but the choice of alternate roof, engine deck and rear deck layouts allows you to virtually build your own configuration and the kit should appear to those wanting something different where you can let your imagination have free rain.
Highly recommended 7.5/10The Sprues:
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Review kit kindly supplied by the Australian Trumpeter distributors J.B.Wholesalers.