German 8 Ton 1/2 Track Sd.Kfz.

The German 8t half track is a beast in the WWII german army. Used in many roles , exceled in all of them. I would just hoped tamiya would have exceled too. But is not the case. This is a old tooling kit, and comes with the expected problems. Injection marks in visible places. A few flashes in hard to correct places. And some nasty fitting pieces will give a little headache during assembly. The plastic is some pieces seems to be a little too hard, and if caution is not used some pieces may break apart. The cabin and engine compartment arre hard to align and fit properly. The decal sheet as usual is minimal , but good quality. The vinyl tracks are os average quality. This kit after assembled begs for a metal workable track. All that said , the kit is a good buy, a half track, a AA gun , and several winter figures make this kit a eye catcher right out of box. A well executed winter camouflge will do wonders to viewers in any competition. And can be a pridefull addition to any collection.

This German Track complete with crew and anti aircraft guns was a pleasure to build and once I gave it a coat of winter paint it seemed to come to life and fit right in with my other vehicles. A little tricky to get the parts to match but it was worth the effort. Tamiya does a great job making the track look authentic.

I recently built the separate AA 20mm FLAK Gun and found it to be superb in detailing. The barrels are very delicate so caution has to be used in construction. Now I am in the process of building the crew figures to adapt them to be used around the Tamiya 7.5cm AT Gun in a Winter setting along with a prime mover vehicle. The figures are straight forward as the pieces aren't complex at all and go together very well. As in the case I'm not modifying the figures at all as the poses are adaptable to a high degree of detail as though the firing position which is a Winter scene is receiving counter fire. The set of the figures was at one time sold separately and I had an opportunity to purchase two complete sets which will afford me a better diorama as some of the figures might be slightly modified and there will be extra personal gear and weapons as well. I would highly recommend the entire kit or the gun or figures.