By Bill Curtis
Hitler issued an order dated the 7th of May 1942 for a simple low speed semi-tracked vehicle for use on the Eastern Font, this would replace both the 5-ton and 3-ton tractors and development was given to Bussing NAG. A rate of 150 vehicles per month was envisaged but 5 units only were produced in 43 and out of 7484 ordered only 825 were produced.
Italeri have now released its fourth incarnation of this vehicle using the basic chassis and wheels. This kit, No 6480 is the open cab unit with the Flak43 mounted on the bed.
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On opening the box, which is pretty sturdy, you are confronted with six light grey sprues in plastic bags, four for the SWS, two for the Flak and a further clear one for the windows and light lenses. Also included are a length of vinyl tube, a small decal sheet and an instruction booklet.
Overall the moulding have held up well as this is not a new kit, but all parts of the SWS will need to be cleaned up as a mould line is present on them. This is no worse than on other kits from other manufacturers and considering the age of the kit, it’s really to be expected.
The chassis is made up of flat side plates, a cab floor, back plate and the torsion bar housings. Care will need to be taken to ensure this is assembled squarely. The detail on the sides and back are well done but there are some push-out marks on the inside to clean up. The axel stub arms will need clean up as they has a mould release line and ejection marks.
The wheels and tracks come on two identical sprues with the tracks as link and length which should speed up construction. There are no ejection marks on the tracks and the tyres have then on the inside so will be hidden after construction. Overall the tracks and wheels look well detailed, as the actual vehicle was fairly basic.
Sprue B has the cab bonnet and the cargo compartment which has a wood grain that is not convincing but the floor pan has wood grain which is much more to scale and would that it was all like this. The sides of the cargo compartment have the same heavy grain pattern but it may look ok when painted. The tie downs on sides and back are moulded as solid items which would be better replaced with scratch made items. A nice touch on this sprue is the fuel drum with its raised lettering on the ends and also the jerry cans with again lettering on them. The Dash has the dials with raised detail of which I have no reference to date but it could paint up and be dry brushed to give a fair representation, or be replaced with decals and a varnish glaze for the glass.
Front suspension linkage looks a little over scale but will not be too obvious in a kerbside model. Care will need to be exercised when joining the wheels to get the tyre tread pattern aligned which is shown in the instruction booklet
The gun is on two sprues with some nice moulded detail and a lot of ammunition.
The one thing missing is the mesh screen for the ammo collection basket but this can be sourced from a number of places. There is a seam line down both sides of the barrel which will need careful removing. The barrel flash suppressor is in two parts with indents for the holes which can be drilled out with a micro drill to improve the look. For a better look replace with an aftermarket gun barrel.
The instructions are in booklet form and look clear and concise with painting guide for three vehicles. View some sample pages below.
The decal sheet is small with number plates, white individual identification letters and a loading data stencil
So what do I think of the kit?
It has nice moulded detail if in places a little soft, mould seams, some ejector marks which need filling or removing but overall I think this will build into a good model straight from the box, with some extra work, replacement parts and scratch built items to improve it, you will have a little cracker , so well done Italeri.
As said earlier a replacement barrel will help no end, an etch fret including the mesh for the collector and a set of crew figures. Italeri why not include these items in the kit as it raises the bar so much?