6392 - German sFH 18 Howitzer w/Limber

"...a new prime mover to replace the 33-year-old Tamiya kit..."

"...this will build up into a superb model of the howitzer..."

DR6392: German sFH 18 Howitzer w/Limber
1/35 injection plastic kit with metal barrel and extras

The schwere Feld Haubitze 18, which translates as Heavy Field Howitzer 18, was the backbone of the German heavy artillery during WWII. It combined a long 150mm barrel with the type 18 carriage, was served by a crew of 12, and had a range of around 13 kilometres (8 miles). It was typically towed by the Sd. Kfz 7 half-track, and due to its weight was not suited to being drawn by horse. The carriage was connected to a limber (included in kit), which has attached to the rear of the half-track. The sFH 18 was used by the German Army in all major European, Mediterranean, and North African campaigns. After the war captured howitzers were used by several European armies including Romania and Czechoslovakia.

Overview

This model features all new tooling and is in the Smart Kit format. The new tooling is crisp and benefits from slid-molded detail while key parts are made from metal to add finesse, but without adding undue complexity. Throughout the howitzer the numerous nuts and bolts have been crisply reproduced.

The gatefold instruction sheet has 13 steps of line drawings that are well laid out with illustrations in a good easy to follow size. This combined with the well thought out design will ensure this howitzer will be rewarding to a broad range of modelers and has a decided advantage over resin alternatives.

Contents

The howitzer's barrel is aluminum with a hollowed out end and a recess at the base to help position it in the breech. The breech and breechblock are well detailed with small features such as rods and levers as separate parts. The barrel sits on a slide molded recoil frame and can be assembled to recoil.

The gun cradle mount is slide molded and also has separate parts for hand wheels and other attachments. The traverse gears are finely detailed with small teeth on both wheels. The periscope gun sight is clear plastic, while metal parts are used for the data plate and firing table. The elevation cylinders are made from hollow turned brass which ensures there are no seam marks or an over scale edge when they join with associated plastic parts. The gun can be made to elevate across a wide arc and PE is used for two of the rods that allow this.

The type 18 carriage is also new tooling and uses slide molding to achieve much of the detail including the gun trails, spades and wheels. The wheels are made from two main parts of which the outer part features the external nuts with the hex profile and the groves of the rubber tyres. The wheels are the cast metal profile, which had round lightening holes. Separate parts are included for the hub nut, and mounting plate, which is fully detailed. The carriage also has an impressive steering mechanism. The trail spades can be assembled in either the emplaced or travel position, as can the rest of the carriage and limber. A variety of tools were fitted to the trail arms including toolboxes, spade, axe, pick (brackets molded on), ranging poles, firing lanyard and cleaning rods. These items are all cast to Dragon's latest standards.

The limber also has slide-molded wheels with tread detail, crisp nut heads and round lightening holes. The leaf springs suspension is nicely detailed and has small fittings such as the handles and anchor points. The limber can be modeled attached to the carriage or alongside the gun as would happen when the gun is emplaced.

Markings

One new decal sheet provides a range of generic German artillery markings such as the gun identifiers A, B, C and D in both black and white (2 x 5 of each letter), kill rings, ammunition stencil markings and warning signs that were attached to the gun.

The instruction sheet and the side of the box present five indicative paint schemes for the howitzer and limber.

Accessories

The SFH 18 includes some useful accessories for equipping a diorama. In Dragon Styrene (DS) the kit includes a pair of wicker ground mats which were placed underneath the carriage wheels as shown in Ron Volstad's box art, and four wicker cases for protecting the ammunition, the DS being successful in capturing the uneven appearance of the wicker. In injection plastic, there are five Gr 19 (high explosive fragmenting) and five Gr 19 Schwere Betongranate concrete penetrating rounds, along with ten propellant casings and five propellant covers.

Recommendation

With the schwere Feld Haubitze 18, Dragon have released another first rate piece of WWII artillery. With crisp detail and a well planned break down of the parts, this kit is a good example of the benefits of the Smart Kit format and how these kits can appeal to a broad range of modelers. Definitely recommended.

- Neville Lord