Sd.Kfz.250/1 Neu - Premium Edition
Sd.Kfz.250/1 Neu Ref. # 6427 Scale: 1/35 Manufacturer: Dragon Price: Unknown Material: Styrene, PE, DS100 Vinyl IntroductionThe Sd.Kfz.250 was an attempt by Germany to produce an armoured vehicle as a replacement for the Sd.Kfz.222 armoured car. The Sd.Kfz.251 series of vehicles based on the Sd.Kfz.11 was already in production, and so the new vehicle was to based on the Sd.Kfz.10, which presented a problem with power. Since the new armoured Sd.Kfz.250 was heavier than the Sd.Kfz.10, the existing engine, the Maybach HL42 was felt to be underpowered for such an armoured vehicle, so rather than attempt to fit a more powerful engine, the actual design of the vehicle was altered by deleting the first pair of Roadwheels and shortening the vehicle. To view larger images for this review, please see the Gallery Album. | |
In a similar way to the Ausf.C and Ausf.D variants of the Sd.Kfz.251, as material and labour became more of a problem, the production of vehicles based on the Sd.Kfz.250 was simplified in 1943 by making the sides less angular and to construct them of less separate pieces that had to be welded, and also to make the side stowage lockers integral to the fenders. The original vehicles before these changes were introduced were thus given the suffix 'Alte' for 'Original model', and vehicles produced after the changes had been introduced were given the suffix 'Neu' or 'New'. Dragon originally produced a series of kits based around the 250 some years ago, and modellers have been eagerly awaiting the recently promised 'Premium' upgrade to the series. | |
The KitThe box contains six large sprues of grey styrene, eight smaller ones, one transparent sprue, a DS100 vinyl sprue, separate lower hull, two brass width indicators, a photo-etched fret, two decal sheets and two bags of 'Magic' tracks. Anybody familiar with the original 250/1 'Neu' kit, would very definitely be quite unfamiliar with this one. To all practical purposes, it's a brand new kit; such is the amount of retooling that has gone into producing it. There are of course, many differences between this release and the earlier kit. Even where old sprues are included in the kit, they consist of many parts no longer needed and therefore marked as 'Not for Use', or consist of parts that have been retooled to improve them. For example the sprue that holds the upper hull has been retooled so that the upper hull itself now has the proper weld seams in place. Something the old kit didn't have. | |
Mostly though, the improvements consist of completely new parts. The kit now comes with 'Magic Tracks'. These are supplied in two plastic bags, and are constructed in much the same way as the tracks supplied with the 251 series of kits. One bag contains the tracklink itself, already off the sprue so to speak, and the other bag contains the rubber track pad. The links are constructed in such a way that the rubber pad holds the links together. In this way a fully working track can be made up. Perhaps the biggest difference or 'upgrade' in this release, is the complete retooling of the lower hull. In the original release, the chassis floor was supplied as a flat piece, onto which the lower chassis walls were joined. Dragon have used their expertise gained producing the 251 series to produce a new one-piece chassis, again, similar in construction to the 251 kits. The 'old' parts are still supplied, but obviously no longer used. | |
Along with the new lower chassis and lower hull, we're now given a completely new set of road wheels too. Have a close look at photographs 45 & 46 and look at that detail. They're stunning. The drive sprocket is completely new too, consisting of a tthree-part assembly, with the correct rollers in between the two halves, along with completely new sprocket mounts. The two front wheels have been produced in a new manner too, similar to the way the wheels in Dragon's Flak 36 gun were produced, i.e. in 'slices' that are layered together to form a highly detailed wheel. Making it this way allows for a much finer tread pattern to be achieved. If you look closely at photograph 42, you can see that Dragon has once again moulded 'Continentau' into the sidewall. This was to get around licensing restrictions, and should read 'Continental', which is easily achieved by taking a scalpel blade to the last letter! For the front of the vehicle we're given a basic engine, that although not much like a Maybach HL42, with some extra detailing would look good enough to leave the hood open, which is an option that the kit offers. Construction is similar to the 251 series again, and although Dragon have attempted to note the direction of the tracks, which they've only done intermittedly on those instructions, sadly they're still a little unclear, although a close study of wartime photographs will show that the tracks were often fitted the wrong way around anyway! The drivers and crew compartment floor has been split into two separate parts in this kit, with the upper hull being supplied as one complete piece to be fixed to the lower hull sides. The amount of detail supplied for inside the vehicle is incredible. Aside form obviously, a full drivers compartment with controls, dash etc., the rear compartment is offered a full compliment of fixtures and fittings, for most of which photo-etched brackets are supplied. It is therefore all the more strange that such things as the driver's foot pedals are only supplied as 'bumps' on the floor? Inside the crew compartment, for the sidewalls, wherever possible Dragon has supplied kit etc., from their 'Second Generation' series of kits. Therefore we're given Gasmask cylinders with PE brackets, MP40's with pre-drilled barrels, again with PE brackets, Canteens, flasks, stick grenades, rifles, map cases, spare vision block holders, and there's even a complete storage box made from PE, that I think was for a 'Rabbits ears' scope, although I'm not completely sure about that! There are so many 'Second Generation' weapons and kit that you'll be able to replenich your spares box quite well! | |
The photo-etched fret that's included, holds two of the large boxes mentioned above, along with a selection of brackets and fittings for inside the vehicle, and also two meshes for the rear roof of the engine compartment. Again, puzzling then that Dragon do not offer the option of PE brackets for the on-vehicle tools which are supplied with moulded on brackets. I'd guess that most modellers would have liked the option of PE ones. Dragon do however, supply two very nice brass width indicators for the front fenders, and also a great partially rolled back tarp for the rear of the crew compartment in their DS100 vinyl. Marking OptionsDragon offer seven different marking options in the kit, and for these they include two small decal sheets. One of these is a generic 'separate' number type for license plates, and the other holds mainly Balkancreuz plus some individual numbers for specific vehicles. All the vehicles offered are in dark yellow, only one of which is plain, the others in various two-tone and three-tone camouflage schemes. ConclusionThis is light years ahead of the earlier kit! It is virtually a brand new kit, there's so much in the box! I really, really hope that Dragon update the rest of the 250 range, because I'm convinced they'll sell by the shipload....and they deserve to! Go get 'em! My Thanks to Dragon for the review sample For full information on all Dragon products, please see their website, Dragon Models Ltd. |
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