In the early 1970s Tamiya produced a kit of the well known "Hanomag" German half-track the Sd. Kfz. 251/1 Ausf. C. At the time the kit was well received, but at today's standards the kit suffers from thick moulded parts, a lack of internal details and has dimension issues. Tamiya's kit was also of the lesser-produced riveted hull version. A new modern kit of the Sd.Kfz. 251/1 Ausf. C has been at the top of the "wants" list of many modellers. Now Dragon has released a brand new kit of this series. Their first release is the Sd. Kfz. 251/1 Ausf.C, the basic infantry carrier version. From  Dragon's past record with their earlier Sd.Kfz. 250 series we can expect a similar series of kits based on this chassis. And if that wasn't enough, AFV Club have also announced a kit of this vehicle based on their equally excellent Sd.Kfz. 10 chassis.

The kit contains 359 plastic moulded parts in grey colour for the base vehicle, an additional 132 parts in grey colour for the driver, figures and extra clothing and boots in the form of a soft vinyl material. A decal sheet with two options and a set of instruction sheets. The overall moulding quality of this kit is excellent. The instructions are in the exploded view format with colour illustrations typical of the older Dragon format.

The lower hull detail is good (fig.1 and fig. 3). The torsion arm shafts and various bits of suspension equipment are separate so the suspension can be positioned as can the front wheel assembly. The front wheels are moulded in halves, one half lacks the hub so by pairing two of these a spare can be modelled, although you'd need an extra kit (or you could mould your own). The various road wheels are in good detail (see fig. 5 and fig. 6). The tracks are also well done and Dragon has actually rendered each link and its corresponding track pad, similar to the Kasten set for this type. The tracks can be built as workable which will help getting the correct sag. A gas tank, transmission, air reservoir and battery is included, although these are hidden when the vehicle is assembled (fig. 1). The tools are correct in shape and could do with the usual PE clasps added.

Dragon provides good interior, all of the major parts are present and with good detail (fig. 2). The driver's compartment and the rear seat area are moulded as separate modules, this obviously to make future kits of different versions easier to produce. The driver's compartment includes the big water container, first aid box, radio, map cases and a few other details (all of which are missing from the old Tamiya kit.) The rear module contains equipment lockers / back rests and bench seats with storage lockers underneath. The upper hull is a single part, quite respectable rifle racks get mounted to the underside of this part along with an equally nice instrument panel. The vision blocks are also well done, the keen modeller could bore the glass areas out and fill them up with chunks of clear plastic. The rear door and the engine hatches are separate. The inside rear door lock and hinges are separate, and can be positioned open. The MG-34 machine guns are well detailed and the gun shield is suitably thin. For the modeller who likes to super-detail the interior offers a few opportunities: weld beads can be added between the armour plates and various clasps can be replaced for the storage bins and rifle racks. No doubt there will be many photo-etched upgrades available soon. There are a couple of field mounted gas cans that go on the outside of the rear doors, since this was a field modification, they can be left off.

Dragon provides two different colour schemes, one for Panzer Grenadier Division "GroBdeutschland", Kursk 1943 in a dark yellow base with red brown and dark green camouflage. The other is from 14 Panzer Division, Ukraine, 1942, overall in dark grey. The decals look thin and have a matte finish. This vehicle served on all fronts starting in 1942 so other marking and paint schemes are numerous.

The kit contains a driver figure, I believe this figure comes from their Sd. Kfz. 250 series. The 4 GD Div. figures are Dragon's older kit No. 6124. A sprue of personal equipment and weapons (fig. 8) is also included. Note that the kit includes the later war MP44 and Gewehr 43 rifles, it is not a good idea to display these with the vehicle if either of the two supplied marking schemes are used as they were more common later than this. Dragon always gives us a surprise, this time they have provided extra clothing and a pair of boots moulded in a soft vinyl material. These are similar to the resin accessories produced by Modeling Artisan Mori ( http://www3.ocn.ne.jp/~m.a.mori/ ). I believe this is a first in any kit. The clothing and the boots are well detailed and it is a good accessories for the diorama maker (fig. 8).

References

The best reference for this series is the old Sturm and Drang book, which unfortunately is very hard to get. The Ground Power series no. 056 is a good alternative from Japan also. Another good book is the Ryton "Shutzenpanzer Details of SdKfz 250 & 251".

Highly recommended.

A detailed construction review will follow soon from Leo Lee.