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Trumpeter 1/35 German PzKpfw 38(t) Ausf.E/F

By Eric Christianson

Trumpeter Kit # 01577
1/35 scale MSRP $39.95
260 Plastic Parts on 10 sprues
1 Small Sheet of Photo-Etch
Individual Track Links
Markings for Two Vehicles, German Army WWII
Main hull packaged in separate compartment from other parts

Background (from the Box Top)

The Panzerkampfwagen 38(t) was originally a Czech tank of pre-World War II design. After Czechoslovakia was taken over by Germany, it was adopted by the German Army, seeing service in the invasions of Poland and Russia. Production ended in 1942, when its armament was deemed inadequate. In all, over 1400 were manufactured. The chassis continued to be produced for Hetzer and Marder III tank destroyers, turretless assault guns, anti-tank guns and anti-aircraft guns.

This in-box review will soon be followed by a full build article of this kit.

The Kit

Trumpeter's PzKpfw 38(t) comes in their standard sturdy box which contains ten separately bagged sprues of light-tan plastic parts and a separate box section holding the main tank hull.

The beautifully detailed individual track links come on four identical sprues. Each link is attached to the sprue at two points. In addition, each link sports two injection tabs that must be snipped off – that’s four areas per link that will need some minor cleanup before they can be attached together: (4 x 92 = 368). The TriStar replacement set for this vehicle will cut that job in half, but only half.

The remaining parts of the kit are crisp and flash-free, and an effort has been made to restrict the ejector pin marks to areas that are not visible from the outside. The plastic is soft and sands easily.

A small photo-etch sheet is provided that sports three fine-mesh grill covers as well as several clasps and vent covers.

Markings are provided for two vehicles and consist of a set of black Balkan crosses; a set of white-outlined Balkan crosses; and two ‘833’ white number decals.

The 8-page instruction booklet is well illustrated and easy to follow. A separate glossy color Painting and Marking Guide is included and provides color schemes for an early-war German Gray main battle tank, as well as a later, tri-color scheme for a reconnaissance vehicle. Color callouts are listed for Gunze Mr. Hobby, Vallejo, Model Master, Tamiya and Humbrol paints.

Construction starts with the road wheels and bogies. For the 38(t), this task is light indeed, with only four wheels and two bogies per side. The sprocket and idler wheels come in two pieces each, and there are two return rollers per side. There is a section of track that has been molded together for attaching to a rack on the front of the vehicle which simplifies this task. Both front and rear plates are well detailed and look beautiful.

Step two consists of assembling the individual track links. For each side, there is a solid run of 24 links for the bottom section, and two runs of seven links that are used for the lower rise from each side of the bottom section. All the other links are individual and you are on your own here. If you proceed carefully with slow-drying cement you should not have a problem.

After the track is assembled and attached, the side fenders and front glacis plate are added.

Step three consists of adding various pioneer tools, which include a jack, a pair of cable cutters, a tool box, an axe, a sledgehammer, and a crowbar. A hooded light and other assorted odds and ends round out this step along with the assembly of the back deck and engine covers. These covers can be attached in the open position, but no engine or transmission is provided in the kit.

In step five we attach the upper and lower hulls and that’s it.

In step six the main gun and coaxial machine gun are assembled and attached. The main armament is a single-molded affair and is hollowed out at the end, as is the machine gun. Nice! While there are no seams to deal with, there are some pretty substantial attachment points along the barrel that will need to be cleaned up.

The entire gun and machine gun assemblies, head to toe, consist of only twenty parts, probably half of the number of parts some other manufacturers might have used – no complaints here!

The final step (seven) covers the assembly of the turret and the four-piece muffler attached to the back.

Conclusion

I think this kit will be a lot of fun to build – the detail is excellent even though the kit consists of fewer parts than there could have been, and that is a good thing! Once you get past the assembly of the track, the rest of the kit should quickly fall together. With a good finish this kit should build up into a nice and unique representation of the real vehicle.

I recommend this kit to anyone who likes to build and finish early war German AFV’s. The simplicity of the design and function of the real vehicle translates well to Trumpeter’s release.

I would like to thank Stevens International for providing this kit for review, and to Internet Modeler for giving me the opportunity to build it – stay tuned for the full-build article to follow.