Sd.Kfz.10 w/3.7cm PaK

Manufacturer: Cyber-Hobby
Scale: 1/35
Material: Styrene & photo-etch
Serial Number: 6709
Price: Unknown

Introduction

The Sd.Kfz.10 1 ton halftrack was originally designed to tow guns such as the 2cm FlaK 30 or FlaK 38. However, as with most of the other German halftracks, adaptations were produced to suit various needs as they arose, such as field modified version with a 3.7cm PaK 36. This kit is released as a Cyber-Hobby 'white box' limited edition kit, meaning there'll only be one production, once it's gone...it's gone!

The Kit Contents

As you would expect, the kit shares a lot of its parts with the Dragon Sd.Kfz. 10/5 released a few months ago. The two vehicles shared a common chassis, so all those sprues that held parts fro the chassis and body front of the rear load bed can also be found in this kit...although there have been a couple of changes.

In this kit then, we're given four large sprues, six smaller ones, a transparent sprue, and separate lower hull, two bags of Magic Track individual track links, small photo-etched fret and decal sheet. All the sprues concerned with the vehicle itself are...as you would expect....immaculately moulded, and even the ones concerned with the PaK 36 are good, although as these are a little older, there are things that Dragon would no doubt do differently if they had tooled this today.

Having built the Dragon Sd.Kfz. 10/5 kit, a link to that build could prove useful, although obviously there comes a point in the build where the two kits diverge. With this in mind here's the link:

FULL BUILD Sd.Kfz.10/5

The first thing that's different in this kit is the running gear. The two front wheels are the same, as are the Magic Track individual track links which can be made perfectly workable if you're sparing with the superglue. However, we're given completely new roadwheels for this one, and despite trying to discover the significance of these...I can't. Each of the outer roadwheels is supplied with a PE disc to provide hub detail. There were a number of different manufacturers for the vehicle, and Dragon/Cyber-Hobby have obviously found a reference for these wheels, so whether they represent a specific manufacturer or earlier/later variant, we'll have to wait for somebody else to discover. Of course, once somebody does, everybody will claim to have known all along!

The rest of the running gear is as supplied in the Dragon 10.5 kit, with the exception of the new rear wall structure and tow bar assembly for the rear of the lower hull, these are supplied on a new sprue. The kit features torsion bar suspension, each of the bars being fed through a hole in the side of the lower hull and then secured in position with a keyed hole. Note that unlike other kits from Dragon that have featured torsion bar suspension, these are non-working, in that each of the bars are not secured at their opposite end resulting in retention of a degree of flexibility, but rather at the business end, so fixing them rigidly in place.

If you built the earlier 10/5 kit, or looked at the full build linked to above, you'll be aware that the kit comes with a full engine and transmission. In the Dragon kit, the gear shift was missing for some reason, a fact I missed. Happily they've now addressed this and included the necessary parts on sprue B, as parts 66 & 67 with a small photo-etched part providing the lever gate. There are decals provided for the dashboard dials on the included sheet, and whilst we're in this area, the complete windscreen is provided as a transparent moulding, the wipers being provided as injection moulded parts, and not as photo-etched ones as described on the box art, and a full set of masks provided for painting.

As provided, both the engine and transmission are fairly complete assemblies, but as with any injection moulded kit, there are plenty of details such as wiring etc. that can be added should you wish to display these areas. Talking of which....the engine hood in this kit has to be seen to be believed. I was rightly impressed when I built the 10/5 and I'm still impressed with the way the very finely reproduced vents have been moulded open. Not even a hint of flash and yet the open gap of the louvres is very fine indeed. Not just on the engine hood either. There's a small access plate on the transmission assembly that features just two tiny vents, and even these are moulded open, along with the louvres on the engine radiator housing at the front.

Once the suspension, running gear and basically everything forwards of the driver's cab area is assembled, then construction begins to alter from the 10/5 kit. For a start, although we're still supplied with the rifle racks that were fitted to the front fenders on this vehicle, they're not fitted to this version, and there aren't even any width indicators fitted to this one. There are locating marks still moulded on to each fender for these items, so they'll need to be removed of course. This version is supplied with new full length side fenders on one of the new sprues, plus a new set of on-vehicle tools which weren't necessary on the earlier release.

Construction then moves on to the new parts fitted to the rear of the vehicle to accommodate the mounting of the gun. There's a new floor panel to insert, plus side panels and mount itself. There's also a curious 'ring' structure to assemble on to the rear of the vehicle, described as a 'mesh rack'? If anybody knows what this was used for, then please enlighten me!

The main gun itself can then be assembled. It's basically the Dragon 6152 kit, and you even get the wheels, although you won't use them for this build. Although not new, it's a sound kit, yet with some parts that would be engineered differently if produced now, such as the two piece barrel which will require some work to completely disguise the seam. Even better...invest in the Lionroar set LE35070 to bring it bang up to date, and you'll even get a nice replacement barrel!

Since this was a field mod, as you probably would expect there's only one scheme catered for as regards markings. It's a dark grey vehicle of the 13th Panzer Division on the Eastern Front in 1941.

Conclusion

It's a halftrack, it's German, brilliantly engineered and moulded and if I could have another two I would. Seriously, a perfect subject for a white box release, and no doubt will build into a superb model. Order the Lionroar set to update the gun and you can't fault it. Recommended!

- Vinnie Branigan

Kit Review: cyber-hobby.com 1/35 scale Kit No. 63 (Dragon Models Limited 1/35 Scale '39-'45 Series Kit No. 6709); Sd.Kfz. 10 w/3.7 cm PaK; 570 parts (352 in grey styrene, 192 Magic Track two-piece links, 22 etched brass, 4 clear styrene); pre-order price US$49.99 via Dragon USA Online

Advantages: new variant of a recent kit; some parts changed from first release; uses proven DML parts from previous kits

Disadvantages: more than past time for a set of DS Plastic tracks for this suspension

Rating: Highly Recommended

Recommendation: for all German halftrack fans

Early in the war the Germans came to the realization that towed antitank guns were vulnerable to enemy counterfire during emplacement and withdrawal, and so they began to experiment with making as many as possible self-propelled on tracked chassis. The limitations usually wound up being a lack of chassis more than anything else, and by mid-war they were using purpose-built platforms for these conversions.

One of the first of these conversions was the adaptation of the 3.7 cm PaK 35/36 Rheinmetall gun to the Sd.Kfz. 10 one ton halftrack. While the precise number of conversions is unknown, there appear to have been two types: one which bolted a pedestal mount down to the floor of the cargo platform and used only the upper carriage, and one which modified the platform to take two special mounts that held the axles of the original carriage in place. The latter had the advantage that the gun could easily be removed and put back on its wheels for towing, whereas the formed would need the complete lower carriage.

DML's boutique affiliate cyber-hobby.com has now taken the Pak 35/36 kit (No. 6139) and some new mold sprues and their recent Sd.Kfz. 10/5 2 cm Flak kit (No. 6676) to create one of the latter conversions.

As before this kit essentially combines proven components but instead of the Sd.Kfz. 250 road wheels it now adds new "Sd.Kfz. 10/5" dedicated road wheels and driver centers, something not present in the original kit.

As its predecessor did this kit has a totally new hull pan with individual torsion bars for the suspension and a complete engine and transmission assembly. But this kit only offers the two-piece tires and not the five-piece grooved variants from the later 250 kits.

The hood and grille are impressive as all vanes and louvers are molded open and clear, with the ones on the hood being very petite and neatly done (be careful as I would bet a thick coat of paint would block them up and ruin the effect). As before the first eight steps cover the engine, transmission, chassis and cab interior which is all quite detailed. Note that the directions covering the assembly of the rear body section (parts D22, D24 and D28 in Step 1) are not very clear, as it appears D28 is a forward bulkhead and D24 the rear one with D22 perched on top of both of them to create a seat-like structure. This isn't clear until Step 9.

The complete Pak 35/36 kit is included as well as two new sprues with the mounts for the wheelless carriage and the new cargo platform body. It consists of a low floor, new fenders and a pair of carriage mounts among other parts.

Again the kit uses the tiny Magic Track links of two parts each. While they are nicely done and accurate, they are smaller than many 1/72 scale kits and very tedious to assemble.

Technical consultants on this kit were Thomas Anderson, Tom Cockle and Gary Edmundson.

Only one finishing option is provided: 13th Panzer Division, Eastern Front, 1941 (grey with license WH-632853). A tiny sheet of Cartograf decals, mostly instruments and placards, is provided.

Overall this kit is an option for "one tonner" fans.

- Cookie Sewell