Roden's 1/72nd SdKfz 231 (8 Rad)

History

The SdKfz 231 was the first 8 Rad (Achtradwagen - eight wheeled car) to see mass production in Germany. The first reached the troops in 1937, later partaking in the early stages of World War 2. At the time it reached the troops, it was the most modern armored car of its type. Unfortunately it was difficult to maintain and repair, and was an easy target due to its height. Regardless, it served until the end of the war.

The Kit

The Roden SdKfz 231 (8 Rad) consists of 99 injected parts, some in gray, the others in black. Decals exist for three different versions of the 8 Rad - one with the 15th Panzer Grenadiere Division, Italy, 1943. Another version is for a machine with the SS Infanterie Devision "Reich" on the Eastern Front, Summer, 1941. The last version is for a machine with III Schutze Battalion of the "Hermann Goering" Regiment, Norway, 1940. Decals appear sharp and in register..

Construction starts with building up the drive-train units. Each part of the suspension consists of six parts per differential with five more parts connecting each differential to make up a suspension unit. Four wheels are then added to each suspension unit to create the 8 Rad.

From there construction moves to creating the turret, something that doesn't appear too difficult. Roden allows not only the turret to rotate, but also allows the main gun to traverse. A very nice touch.

Now construction moves to adding all of the small parts to each fender. However, I'm wondering about the validity of this. What happens if you glue one of the pieces too close to the edge? It appears if that would happen, then it would be difficult to glue the fenders to the sloped hull. I would posit that you would want to glue the fenders to the hull first, then add the smaller bits and pieces..

Moving on, the instructions now have you glue the two hull halves together, followed by the smaller pieces that are glued onto the hull. If you decided to glue the fenders to the hull prior to adding the pieces to the fenders, I would leave off the pieces that attach to the hull. That way you don't run the risk of breaking something off the hull as you fiddle with the fenders. I would glue the two hulls together to make the complete body, glue the fenders to the body, add the pieces to the fenders, then add the pieces to the hull. I would think that would run the least amount of risk with losing the smaller pieces.