Feature Article with Bill Curtis
Introduction…
In 1936, the German High Command requested a command car from the Waffenamt; the Sd.Kfz.247. Eventually two completely different versions were delivered. The pre-war Ausf. A was a 6 wheeled version, while the 4×4 Ausf.B appeared during the war. But both were lightly armoured, fast, open-top and unarmed, their off-road capabilities were average, especially for the heavy Ausf. A. The 6-wheeled version was designed and produced in 1937 by Daimler Benz utilising the Krupp L2H 143 Prötze as a basis being widely available.
Losses In 1941 showed the need for a new model which led the Waffenamt to put out specifications for the Ausf.B version. Again, Daimler-Benz demonstrated a new vehicle, based on the Horch 108 chassis, with a more updated 4×4 layout. An 8-cylinder petrol engine giving an operational range of 400 kilometres thanks to a 160 litre fuel tank, and 220 km off-road, with a top speed of 80 km/h.
The sloped hull was armoured as follows: 8 mm at the front, sides of hull and superstructure, with 6 mm for the rear and bottom. It was an open-top and unarmed, but some later models had a pintle mount welded on the driving compartment roof which could mount either an MG34 or 42. Total number of vehicles produced between 1941 and 1942 was 58 making these rare vehicles on any front.
The Ausf.B was largely deployed on the Russian front with some in Normandy in 1944. By mid-44 they had been withdrawn from the Easter Front being replaced by the Sd.Kfz.250 command version, which could deal more effectively with the adverse conditions.
The kit…
This 1:35 scale kit comes in a sturdy box from ICM, kit No 35110, consisting of five sprues of plastic with a clear one for the headlights and finally four tyres in a soft black material. The moulding is crisp with very little clean-up for the parts. After giving the parts a good look over I decided to build the kit almost straight from the box, the only addition being two rod aerials. Other boxings are available of this kit from ICM that include crew figures.
Construction…
Construction starts with the chassis and as this is made up of single pieces, once the separate parts have been constructed care has to be taken to get everything square, stage 8. The next twelve stages are all to do with adding parts to the chassis and following the instructions no problems were encountered. The next three stages 21-23 involve construction of the engine with various exhaust pipes. This is a good reproduction of the motor but it lacks detail and building the model straight from the box we can see how good it is. This was now glued onto the chassis. Next two steps are for fitting of small items associated with the suspension units. This was then followed by the assembly of the front bumper with its tow hooks and when dry was affixed to the chassis. The wheels are next to being assembled but I left these till later to allow easier painting.
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