Video Review: Sd.kfz.251 Ausf.A from Ginger Cat in 1/35th scale

Clayton Ockerby has taken time to give us a look at Ginger Cat's heavily updated Sd.Kfz.251 with ICM plastic & 3D-printed upgrades. See what's inside the kit in his video review...

Video Review: Sdkfz 251 Ausf A 

From GINGER CAT 

1/35th scale

Plastic sprues, photo-etch, paper items & 3D-printed resin

Markings for five vehicles.

Price: € 58.95 from the Ginger Cat online store

Product Link

Another German half-track hits the market, I hear you say, but what was the bulbous drum and pipes running over the sides? What was it, and what did it do?

The Subject: 

This is actually a Holzgas generator, and it represents one of the more unusual solutions Germany used to deal with its increasing shortage of fuel during the Second World War. The system didn’t replace the vehicle’s engine. Instead, it replaced much of the petrol needed to run it.

Wood or charcoal was loaded into this large generator and heated with a restricted supply of oxygen. Rather than simply burning, the fuel produced a combustible gas containing mainly carbon monoxide and hydrogen. That gas then had to be cooled and filtered to remove ash and other contaminants before being fed through the intake and burned in the vehicle’s conventional engine.

Running an engine on wood gas produced considerably less power than running it on petrol. The equipment was also bulky, required constant attention, and, of course, you now had to carry a supply of wood around with you. But by the later stages of the war, Germany desperately needed to conserve conventional fuel, and Holzgas made a lot of sense for vehicles that didn't necessarily need to go into combat. By the end of the war, hundreds of thousands of wood-gas-powered vehicles were operating right across Germany.

The kit:

Ginger Cat is a relatively new player to the market and looks to have a similar philosophy to a company like Eduard. They are taking a basic boxing of an A version 251 and sparking it up with a tonne of aftermarket.

The ICM base kit:

The base plastic is from the 2018 ICM kit, and whilst that is reasonable to begin with, Ginger Cat has taken the initiative to upgrade most of the shortcomings found in that kit.

The engine was supplied in the ICM base sprues; some wiring is the only thing needed here.

The road wheels are a basic but detailed part of the kit.

Some extra flash on the weapons and equipment will need to be removed.

The same with some of the other tools that need a slight cleanup. The clamps supplied in 3D will replace these plastic ones. One would have to remove what is here, however.

The radio will also need some wiring here.

The interior floor of the fighting compartment.

Nothing out of place with the outer hull either.

A generous box of 3D-printed goodies covers the Holzgas system modification, which is, of course, the thing that drew me to the release. Stumbling on a subject like this is an opportunity to learn and can be a great conversation starter within the hobby.

Some of the other 3D inclusions are replacement weapons, and although a little obscured in the picture due to the printed cage. 

I can tell you the detail on those parts is extraordinary. As is the detail on the main machine gun and some of the other personal soldiers' equipment.

Elements like the tools in the base ICM kit are very soft on detail; however, this boxing has you covered with a beautiful collection of open and closed clamps.

That tarp for the crew compartment is also realistically sculpted and would make for a lovely addition to the model.

As an added bonus, the kit also comes with a set of 3D-printed workable tracks. Construction of a small length proved to be quite user-friendly; however, the small pins will need a touch of superglue to hold them in place.

You also get a small set of photo-etch and pre-printed/die-cut cardboard boxes to bulk up your interior.

And one of the most simple additions and possibly the one that I found most interesting was the addition of sprue tab markers to help identify the sprues as you require them. Such a simple idea! I love it!

The decals have been digitally printed, which concerns me a little; however, I'll reserve judgement until I see them in place.

Inside there are five different options in the kit that really spoil you for choice and allow you to create something really unique.

Conclusion

This is a fascinating piece of wartime engineering, and it's also what makes this particular Sd.Kfz. 251 such an interesting modelling subject. Ginger Cat has included everything in the box you could ever need. I can’t wait to start seeing some of these hitting the display tables!

Clayton Ockerby.

Check out this short video from Clayton showing off the kit "in living colour" for you to get a little better appreciation of what's inside...

The kit is now available for €58.95 from the Ginger Cat online store.

See more of Clayton's amazing works on his YouTube channel, his modelling portal "Workbench Hobbies" or his Facebook page