Thursday, July 28

Preview: Heavy Hobby teams up with Dragon for revised & upgraded 72nd scale Sd.Kfz. 251 halftracks...

Heavy Hobby has sent us news of their collaboration with Dragon models to re-shape and enhance the Sd.Kfz. 251 series in 72nd scale. Three new kits under this dual release. We look at them in our preview...
Preview: Heavy Hobby teams up with Dragon for revised & upgraded 72nd scale Sd.Kfz. 251 halftracks...

Sd.Kfz. 251 series
From Heavy Hobby
1/72nd scale 
Kit No's #72001 / 72002 / 72003
The Subject:  
The Sd.Kfz. 251 (Sonderkraftfahrzeug 251) half-track was a World War II German armoured personnel carrier designed by the Hanomag company, based on its earlier, unarmoured Sd.Kfz. 11 vehicle. The Sd.Kfz. 251 was designed to transport the Panzergrenadier (German mechanized infantry) into battle. Sd.Kfz. 251s were the most widely produced German half-tracks of the war, with at least 15,252 vehicles and variants produced by seven manufacturers.
There were 23 official variants, and sundry unofficial variants. Each variant is identified by a suffix to the model number; however, there was some overlap in the variant numbers.

The Dragon kits:
The Dragon kit of the Sd.Kfz. 251 Halftrack is a good kit, and it has been made in a few variants. Heavy Hobby want to improve on that with new upgrades to the structures of the vehicles and the lads they carry, equipment and weapons they bear. 

Heavy Hobby's new 1/35th scale WWII Panzerschreck
Heavy Hobby presents three revised injection moulded kits from Dragon Models with new extensive upgrade sets from Heavy hobby. The upgrade sets include tires, tracks(integrated), interior of engine and crew compartments, revised weapons and loads including stowage and alternate weapons load outs.

We will look at all three kits in turn now:

Sd.Kfz. 251/7 Ausf.D & If.18
From heavy hobby / Dragon
1/72nd scale
Kit No #72001
Plastic kit with Resin 3-D printed enhancements
The kits enhancements can be easily seen in the 3-D printed parts made from tan coloured resin.
The alternate gun used in this kit.
The choice of guns in close-up
Alternative wheels to the kit show just how much improvement in the tread, sidewalls and the rest of the tyre even in such a small scale.
The new engine provided by Heavy Hobby makes a great improvement.
The short trailer supplied with this kit is an interesting addition
The colour choices in this kit are:


Sd.Kfz. 251D
From heavy hobby / Dragon
1/72nd scale
Kit No #72002
Plastic kit with Resin 3-D printed enhancements
The kits enhancements can be easily seen in the 3-D printed parts made from tan coloured resin.
As well as the full interior, a printed tarpaulin is included.    
The sides of the halftrack stripped away to show the extras from Heavy Hobby
The cannon is supplied by a (tiny) metal barrel to further enhance the kit.
Alternative wheels to the kit show just how much improvement in the tread, sidewalls and the rest of the tyre even in such a small scale.
The colour choices in this kit are:


Sd.Kfz. 251D/Nebelwerfer
From heavy hobby / Dragon
1/72nd scale
Kit No #72003
Plastic kit with Resin 3-D printed enhancements
The kits enhancements can be easily seen in the 3-D printed parts made from tan coloured resin.
The top of the deck of the halftrack showing the firing mechanism of the Nebelwerfer
Alternative wheels to the kit show just how much improvement in the tread, sidewalls and the rest of the tyre even in such a small scale.
The new engine provided by Heavy Hobby makes a great improvement.
The colour choices in this kit are:

If you like what you see here, there is good news, you can purchase Heavy Hobby's sets from their many hobby show connections around the world, with links to them on their new Website...