History

The Brummbar"Grizzly Bear" was one of a series of vehicles based on the Panzer II, III and Panzer IV tank chassis, these vehicles were intended to be inexpensive mechanized armored assault artillery, in this role they were very successful. Amongst this family of vehicles were the Stug III, Stug IV, Marder and Wespe. Compared to the Stug III and IV, the Brummbar mounted a much more powerful 150mm gun that could fire high explosive and shaped charge shells that allowed it to devastate Bunkers, Prepared Positions and concentrated enemy infantry positions. The first models were prone to various teething problems most of which were down to the vehicle being overweight for the Panzer IV chassis and engine (the initial design of the 150mm L43 gun made for a large and heavy weapon). There was also a distinct lack of a close defense machine gun which therefore meant constant infantry support. Later versions solved most if not all of these problems including a redesigned gun and mounting. As an assault weapon the Brummbar was very popular with the infantry, especially in street fighting situations where its short barrel meant it could be maneuvered very easily, unlike the later models of the long barrelled Stugs. All told about 300 vehicles were built between 1943 and 1945. Only 4 are known to still exist.

The Kit

The model comes in a standard top opening box, the artwork on the box is of a built-up model. Hopefully Trumpeter will either change this type of artwork or find better model builders. Seriously the model pictured is a really crappy build and looks horrible, I certainly was very worried that I was going to get a box of junk from looking at the picture.

Inside you will find a very simple model with a low parts count however if you read the box top and count the parts you will be confused. The instructions don't help in this regard either. In fact they have what I believe are translation mistakes on the second page, the construction drawings though are correct so believe the construction drawings not the mistranslation. Other than this the Instructions are good and show painting guides for two vehicles with callouts for Gunze Sangyo paints.

The quality of the molding and parts breakdown makes for a simple but well thought out model, there is a fly or two in the ointment though. The upper hull has a slightly roughened finish that would look good but it's not consistent, on my copy the left side of the hull was smooth and shiny in places which defeated the whole reason for the effect and was obviously a problem with the mold. There are non slip walkways but they look more than a little vague. There is also no spare track, which is pretty much in evidence on all pictures of real Brummbars. The road wheels and lower hull are very well detailed with the suspension being molded as part of the lower hull which is fairly normal in this scale. There are two types of road wheels both early and late Panzer IV steel wheels. Check your research for which type to use. The instructions indicate the plain wheels should be used. All Hatches are molded closed. All parts fit very well and construction will be easy and quick.

Tracks - the great letdown. These are of the elastic band type, they are well detailed, thin and very flexible but will rip easily if you try and stretch them, so lets hope they are long enough. The instructions say that these tracks accept normal polystyrene cement and paint rather like the Dragon DS100 tracks. Well not really, certainly there is no chemical bond and you'll be cursing if you try to use Polystyrene cement. You will want to use superglue or whatever you would usually use on rubber band tracks. The great letdown to me though is that if you had the choice of link and length and rubber band tracks you could build very realistic looking track. I get the point that younger modellers don't want to fuss with individual track links so supply the rubber band tracks as well. This would allow for spare track. I certainly don't believe this would add much if anything to the price and would please all builders.

There is no Zimmerit finish molded on the superstructure which I'm sure will irritate some modellers but I don't see an issue with this, not only can I build it bare and some Brummbars were, but I find the premolded on Zimmerit in this scale to be a bit over done. That plain superstructure should make a good canvas to try out my own zimmerit finish

The small decals sheet has 4 crosses and a set of vehicle numbers that's it, the decals are a little thick but should be ok.

Conclusion

I have heard many opinions on trumpeters 1/72 scale armor; they run the gamut of really bad cruddy models to good value for money. If you compare this model to Dragon or Revells latest offerings then certainly the Trumpeter model is not in the same league, but it is not a bad model and will build up into a nice representation of this vehicle.