DML Dragon 1/35 Sd.Kfz. 251 Ausf. D 3 in 1 kit no. 6233 MSRP: $36.00 By Ray Mehlberger

History:

The Sd.Kfz. 251 German half-track was the work-horse of the German Army during WWII. Many versions of it appeared and it served in all the different theatres of operation that the Germans fought in.

The last version of the Sd.Kfz. 251, the Ausf. D, was introduced in 1943. The Wehrmacht had a never ending need for more of these armored vehicles so the contruction of the D model was greatly simplified to increase and speed up their production.

Many of the complicated features, that took longer to produce, were eliminated. This resulted in a much cleaner looking vehicle. Its most noticeable changes were: a straight rear plate, simpler doors, elimination of cowls for the engine air-intake (which were now concealed under straight side plates), stowage boxes built into the lower sides and vision ports on the sides were changed to vision slits.

Even though the Ausf. D version was now slightly longer (5.98m) and slightly heavier (8 tons), than either the Ausf. A, B or C verions, its performance remained pretty much the same.

The D version was also the most numerous version built, with 10,602 vehicles produced up to the war's end.

What's in the Box?:

DML has really pulled out all the stops on this new kit. It can be built as any one of three versions:

• A Sd.Kfz. 251/1 with two machine-guns mounted.

• A Sd.Kfz. 251/9 with a 7.5cm KwK 37 L/24 short-barreled gun mounted.

• A Sd.Kfz. 251/20 with infa-red devices mounted.

Added to this is a ton of extra parts, that we normally think of as after-market accessories. More on these later in the review.

The kit comes in a very sturdy tray and lid type box. The box art shows one of each type of 251 (that can be built with this kit) parked side by side in a grassy field. This box art is not by DML's resident artist Valstad. Side panels of the box depict the EXTRA bonus parts in the kit and color photos fo the three possible versions built up.

There are 14 trees of parts in 12 cello bags in the kit. 12 of these trees are molded in a medium shade of gray. The remaining two trees are clear parts.

There is another cello bag that contains all of the EXTRA items: another tree of clear parts, a great coat and boots and a seated driver figure molded in soft vinyl (I wish these were hard plastic), two small brass PE frets, some brass armor-piercing type ammo rounds for the 7.5cm, a turned aluminum barrel for the 7.5cm, two self-adhesive silver disks to use for rear view mirror faces, E-Z tracks individual track links and threee decal sheets - WOW!! The instructions complete the kit's contents. These consist of a large instruction sheet, for assembly of the vehicle, that accordian folds out into 10 pages. A second smaller instruction sheet is assembly and painting of the four German soldier figures in the kit. It is printed in full color. Page one of the large instructions begins with a black and white repeat of the box art. This is followed by parts tree drawings. Some of the the parts in these drawings are shaded over in blue, meaning they are excess or not needed to complete any of the three versions offered in the kit. Page 2 begins with cautions in six languages followed by international assembly symbol explanations and a paint color listing. At the bottom of the page is the first two assembly steps.

Pages 3 through 8 give us the remainder of a total of 13 assembly steps.

Pages 9 and 10 have no less that 15 different marking and painting schemes. The majority of these drawings are for schemes for the 251/1 version, with only two drawings each given for the 251/9 or the 251/20.

The bottom of page 10 has decal application instructions in six languages.

Careful study of the assembly steps will be mandatory in order to either add or delete parts to accurately complete the version of the three options you decide to build with the kit.

As previously stated, a smaller instruction sheet is for assembly of the fourr man team of German soldiers. They are all equiped with infra-red devices on their weapons. These drawings are done in full color and each figure has two views.

Large letter A tree holds: The vehicle's upper side shield, tools, rear door frame, engine access doors, lower side locker panels, machine-gun mounts, head light housings, two MP40 machine pistols etc. (51 parts).

Large letter B tree is given us one and one half times. One half holds the vehicle's lower side inner panels, nose plate, an axe, front vision ports frame panel, fire wall, front floor panel etc. (11 parts). This half is only given us one. There are two identical other half of this tree provided. They hold: stowage bin parts, crew compartment seat parts, a machine-gun etc. (31 parts each).

Medium sized letter C tree holds: two MG34 machine-guns and their mounts, under-carriage parts, steering wheel, infra-red unit parts and various other panels etc. (51 parts).

Thirteen of these parts are shaded blue on the parts tree drawings, indicating that they are excess and not needed for any version chosen in the kit.

Small letter D tree is called out as D1 and D2. D! is the vehicle's forward lower body panel only. There are two identical letter D2 trees. Most of the parts on these trees are marked as blue/excess on the parts tree drawings. The parts that are used are: wheel axles, drivers and passenger seat backs and eight x K98 carbines. (43 parts per tree).

There are two identical letter E trees. These hold individual track links, road wheels, drive sprockets, idler wheels and front tire and rim parts (198 parts per tree)

There is no letter F parts tree.

Small letter G tree holds: the 7.5cm gun barrel (however you also get a turned aluminum one of these) and some shielding parts for it etc. (32 parts). Five parts are shaded out in blue on the parts tree drawings as excess/not needed.

Lettering now jumps to letter R & S tree. These are co-joined into just one parts tree. It holds: ammo rounds for the 7.5cm (you also get some brass ones in the kit), various panels and storage boxes etc. (48 parts).

A large un-lettered tree holds the parts for the four German soldier figures and their gear. They are divided into separate heads, caps and helmets, arms, torsos (molded neck to ankles on three of them and separate legs and torso on the kneeling figure)canteens, mess kits, bayonets in scabbards, ammo pouches, bread bags etc. Three of the figures are posed as standing and one is kneeling. (51 parts) This tree is marked as 6089 which was the number of an earlier figure kit sold my DML. A second tree, also marked as 6089, holds the infra-red equipped weapons for these figures (15 parts).

There are three identical letter Z parts trees. These are clear lense parts. (12 parts per tree).

Four parts on each tree are marked in blue - or being excess on the parts tree drawings.

There are two small cello bags, stapled to a backing card. These are the E-Z Tracks individual track links. One cello holds the metal link parts and the other sack holds the parts that are the rubber blocks. These are all off the trees and ready to go. Apparently, they are engineered to just SNAP together - WOW! This means that if you opt to use them you wind up with the links on letter E parts tree as extra.

The final cello bag holds all the EXTRA or BONUS parts. There are a pair of boots and a great coat and a seated driver figure all molded in soft vinyl, two brass PE frets, brass ammo (armor-piercing type) rounds for the 7.5cm, a turned aluminum short barrel for the 7.5cm, three decal sheets: one with division markings, one with license plates and numbers, and one with vehicle numbers, loading stencils, national crosses etc., a parts tree of more clear parts, and the two self-adhesive discs to use for rear view mirrors. All these are fastened to a stiff sheet of cardboard.

DML is getting all the mileage they can out of their new Sd.Kfz. 251 molds. They also did this with their earlier Sd.Kfz. 250 vehicle series. In the future, three more variants of the 251 are announced:

Kit no. 6202, which will be a Sd.Kfz.251/16 Ausf. D Flammpanzerwagen (flame thrower version).

Kit no. 6224, which will be a Sd.Kfz.251/7 Ausf. C Engineering vehicle with two metal bridge sections and a 3.4cm gun. However, none of my references on the 251 show that this vehicle EVER mounted a 3.4cm gun. Did DML make a big mistake here?

Kit no. 6248, which will be a Sd.Kfz.251/22 Ausf. D with a 7.5cm long-barreled pak 40 mounted.

Beyond these, there are even three or four other versions that DML could also produce should they choose to do so.

I recommend this kit, very highly, to experienced armor modelers. I also suggest that the Squadron in Action book on the 251 would be a good reference to get.

The EXTRA BONUS items in this kit are super - and a great idea. Keep these kind of kits coming DML. They sure save us some bucks by not having to buy after-market accessories. Kudos to you guys in Hong Kong!

I purchased my kit at my local hobby shop.