Trumpeter's 1/35 Panzer E25 By Don Barry

Vehicle History

Envisioned as part of the E-series rationalization program, the E-25 chassis was intended to be the basis for light-to-medium tanks and tank destroyers, as well as replacements for other tracked and semi-tracked vehicles. Prototype development was done by Argus Werke, with pre-production orders placed with the firm of Alkett in 1944, and five vehicles were under construction when the war ended. The E-25 was similar in shape to the Hetzer, but was to be armed with the 7.5 cm L/70 cannon used on the Jagdpanzer IV/70. Armor surfaces were sloped more severely than on either the Hetzer or Jagdpanzer IV. All but one of the E-series vehicles were to have rear drive with transverse-mounted engines, and externally sprung suspensions, replacing the torsion bar type. Large diameter, overlapping road wheels were also used, along with Panther tracks and a hydrostatic drive to help eliminate transmission failures.

The Kit

Upon opening the sturdy, compartmentalized box, the builder finds 14 sprues containing 142 parts molded in light grey, medium hard styrene, plus separate upper and lower hulls; one photo-etched fret with engine deck screens and front and rear fenders; and one pair of black, glueable one-piece tracks(individual links are also provided). Instructions are of the single-sheet, multi-fold type, with 19 construction steps called out. Parts are called out by sprue letter and part number, and a parts map is included. A separate, 5-view, full color painting guide is included, with colors in the Gunze Sangyo Mister Color and Aqueous Hobby Color lines being referenced. The paint scheme shown is the standard 3-color late war scheme seen on most German armor of the period. As this vehicle never went into production, various experimental paint schemes are possible. Decals are thin, well registered, and limited to two black/white crosses, and two sets of white/red outline numbers 0-9. All the plastic parts exhibit a satin, non-glossy surface finish, except for the cast texture on the main gun mantlet and housing, which is very pronounced, but not over done. A one-piece, slide molded gun barrel is supplied, incorporating a recessed muzzle. The photo-etched screens have the woven texture we know and love, and the fenders have the stiffening ridges, or rather the areas where the builder raises them with a stylus or ball point pen. As I had just completed a project, building could commence immediately.

Construction

Steps 1-3 involve the construction and installation of the suspension units to the lower hull. Although not immediately clear, you are building mirror images of two types of suspension unit. Three with long wheel stems, and two with short ones for each side. Solid locator lugs ensure they all point back at the same angle. Now is the time to do some test fitting. If the idler mounts (parts B-11) are installed as shown, the idler wheel will foul the front road wheel. Try it and see, maybe I screwed up. Now is also a good time to build the drive sprocket and test fit. On my example, installing as drawn will result in the teeth of the sprocket touching the bottom of the sponson, leaving no room for the track. In my view, in order to get the appearance shown on the box, the idler mount needs to be swung forward, the drive sprocket mount needs to be lowered, or the mounting hole reamed downward, and the suspension units need to be raised. I did the first two modifications, and my wheels still sit too low, giving much more track sag than illustrated.
Steps 4 and 5 have you build and install the road wheels. They are easy to clean up and to install flush and square. This is where I noticed the aforementioned problems.
Steps 6 and 7- Tracks. I opted for the individual link tracks. They fit together well, although each one has two ejector marks requiring some quick work with a grinding bit in the Dremel. They were formed around the suspension before the cement had cured fully, then removed for painting and reinstalled.
Step 8 starts work on the upper hull. My example had a slight shrink mark across the front of the sponsons and along the sides. They required a little filling and sanding.
Steps 9 and 10 give two options for the roof. I used the MG turret version just because it's different. Fit was very good, no problems.
Steps 11 and 12 likewise give options for the engine deck. I used part D-1 with the round center housing. Deck plate fits well into upper hull.
Steps 13 and 14 cover building and installing the rear plate. I left the tubular muffler off until after painting to facilitate masking. The rear panel fit well onto the upper hull, with no filler needed.
Step 15 mates upper and lower hull. I needed to sand the front sponson plates a little on both sides to get a tight fit. The joint line is pretty much hidden all the way around, with light clamping used until the cement cured.
Steps 16 and 17 deal with fenders, the Bosch headlight, and the jacking block. I used the plastic fenders as I was not happy with my efforts to emboss the ridges in the photo-etched ones. Several onboard tools are supplied marked "not for use." Included was a nice axe, so I used it.
The final two steps, 18 and 19, cover construction and installation of the main gun. As stated, the one-piece barrel supplied in the kit cleans up quickly and matches exactly the length of a Jordi Rubio turned aluminum barrel. Since I had an extra one to hand, I used the metal one. Due to the increased weight, I glued the elevating and traversing pivots to hold the barrel level. The cast housing fits perfectly onto the front plate.
The supplied painting guide depicts a standard German 3 color camouflage scheme commonly seen on later war vehicles. Since this vehicle never made it into production, I opted for something different. I made up a hard-edged, modified "dazzle" scheme of field grey over dark yellow. I then masked and sprayed a few black "shadows" next to some of the field grey areas, only on the front and sides. Light corrosion and discoloration were applied to the muffler, corresponding to a relatively new vehicle. The national markings were sprayed on using stencils, and the numbers were omitted. Pin washes and light dry-brushing were applied to upper surfaces, with some road dirt and dust on the lower hull and running gear.

Conclusion

Aircraft modellers have had their ""Luftwaffe '46" subjects for some time now. It's about time we armor builders get some "what if" kits. This is an easy build, aside from the suspension issues, and with this information now available, it shouldn't be hard to remedy. I'm tempted to get another kit and build it to see how much difference modifying the suspension would make. Construction is straight forward; even with the suspension snags, it was only about 6 hours from box open to base color of paint overall. I recommend this kit to fans of esoteric German armor. I would like to thank Stevens International for the review kit.