"At the conclusion of World War One, the German Army Weapons Bureau began development for a series of tow vehicles for artillery for future battlefield requirements, in order to be the transportation backbone for mechanized artillery units. Due to the restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles, this plan need to be executed covertly.
Being an artillery-towing vehicle, the first design objective was to determine the configuration most capable for its intended application. At first, the German automotive industry was not able to meet the capacity requirement to mass-produce tracked towing vehicles and a wheeled vehicle was considered to have limited maneuverability in adverse terrain, this limiting its tactical application. A compromise was reached with a half-track design; driven by tracks and directional control done with front wheels. The half-track solution seemed to be the best solution at that time.
In 1932, Section 6, German Army Weapons Bureau was assigned the responsibility to supervise development for a series of half-track towing vehicles. Based on its towing capacity, ranging from 1 to 18 tons, this series was divided into three levels; light, medium, and heavy, to be developed and produced by various automotive factories. All vehicles in this series were given the type classification Sd. Kfz. In order to simplify logistical support, importance of interchangeability and commonality of parts used for the vehicles in this series was also emphasized. For small to medium caliber artillery towing applications there was the Sd.Kfz. 11, 3 ton half-track. (subject of this new kit). Initial production version numbered 505 units by 1937. In 1938, the engine output was increased from 83 to 110 hp. and standardized as the final production model. By the end of 1944, a total of 7,021 units were produced. During the later stages of WWII, the cab and troop compartment was changed to a uni-body design and extensive use of wood for construction material was used, signifying the lack of resources left in Axis Germany. (this wood cabin version will be the next kit of this vehicle released by AFV CLUB).
Artillery towed by the Sd. Kfz. 11 were the 105mm leFH18, 75mm Pak 40, quad-mounted 20mm Flak 38, and the 37mm Flak 2. During the later part of the war, some units were used to tow the 88mm Pak 43, plus variants were developed to disperse gas, transport rockets, and used in ambulance applications."
WHAT'S IN THE BOX?:
The kit comes in a very sturdy, lid and tray type box. The box art is reminiscent of Tamiya's style of box arts. It has a white background with a very detailed vehicle painting. This illustration shows the half-track in Afrika Korps, 15th Panzer Div., markings. A further, three-view, painting adorns the side panel of the box and shows a vehicle in winter white-wash and 3rd SS Panzer Div. markings. Both these schemes are alternates on the kit's decal sheet.
There are 10 cello bags inside the kit. These hold seven trees of earth yellow colored parts trees. An 8th tree of parts holds the clear parts. The remainder of items is the black vinyl treads, a small fret of brass PE parts, and the decals.
The bottom tray of the box is printed, in black and white, with box arts for 16 other kits in the AFV Club line. The sides of the upper lid are printed with 12 of these box arts in full color. So, the inside of the box is a virtual AFV Club catalog. Nice touch!!
The instructions are a 16 page book, in 8 1/2" x 11" format.
Page 1 gives the history of the half-track, in English and Chinese.
Page 2 begins with the history, again, in Japanese, followed by international assembly symbol explanations, decaling instructions, and color listings for four different brands of hobby paint.
Page 3 through 13 give us 23 assembly steps.
Pages 14 and 15 show six different painting and marking schemes. They are:
1. An unknown unit, Poland 1939 2. 119th Pz.Abt., 11th Panzer Div., Eastern Front 1941 3. 33rd Pz.Artillery, 15th Panzer Div., North Africa 4. 89th Pz.Artillery, 24th Panzer Div., Eastern Front 1942 5. 3rd SS Panzer Div., "Totenkopf", Kharkov 1943 6. 4th Panzer Div., "Grossdeutschland" Panzer Grenadier Div., July 1942
Page 16 begins with parts tree drawings, followed by coupons...to mail it to AFV and request any parts missing in your kit.
There are two, identical, letter "A" trees. These hold the road wheel, front tires, road wheel axles, etc. (33 parts per tree...for a grand total of 66)
Letter "B" tree holds the drive sprockets, notek lamp, leaf spring, control levers, and undercarriage parts. (27 parts here)
Letter "C" tree holds the vehicle's frame parts, steering wheel, exhaust, dash board, transmission, floor sections, seat cushions etc. (31 parts)
"D" tree holds the headlights with their slitted black-out covers, grill, front fenders, hood pieces, windshield frame etc. (36 parts)
Letter "E" tree holds the canvas windshield cover and various body panels etc. (38 parts)
Letter "F" tree is the clear parts: the windshield panes and a searchlight lens (3 parts)
Letter "H" tree is the two lengths of black vinyl treads.
Letter "M" tree is the vehicle's rear compartment and 4 doors. (5 parts)
The small brass PE fret holds parts for the manufacturer's logo, that goes on the grill frame, two raised anti-skid plates...to go on the running boards, and two small filets to go behind the running boards.
The decal sheet completes the kit.
There are no figures in the kit and no engine is included to put under the hood. This is a shame as this vehicle normally carried a crew of nine. I also view a lot of shots of this vehicle (especially the North African ones) that have the two side panels to the engine compartment removed for better cooling in the desert. I would like to do my kit that way...but without an engine to see...sigh. Maybe one of the after-market companies will come out with an engine later?
Conclusion
This is AFV Club's first venture into doing any WWII German vehicles. When I first heard, a year ago, that this kit was planned...I also heard that AFV plans two versions of it....an early version and an late version, with the wood cab and a wood stake-sided bed. I have included pictures of this proposed second version.
It has also been recently announced that AFV plans to release a FH18 German 105mm gun, probably about this coming December. I look forward to that kit, to tow behind the Sd.Kfz. 11.
I highly recommend this kit to all modelers who like German soft-skinned vehicles.