Part 1: First Look

MSRP: $64.95 Kit Supplied by Stevens International: www.stevenshobby.com The year is 1982 and the place is Fort Hood Texas. An eighteen year old PV2 has his first paycheck all to himself. He has no family, no bills and basically no care or worries. What does he do? He walks into the Post Four Seasons (PX version of a Garden Shop and toy store) and buys one of every Tamiya and Italeri 1/35 armor kit on the shelves. Total cost … who cares? The young PV2 took his first step from being a builder to becoming a collector. The young soldier does remember that one of those purchases was Tamiya's SdKfz 7. This was the old gray version with the motor and equipment to motorize it as well. This beast has been around since 1972. Later on, in 1990, Tamiya released the same kit in tan styrene and without the motorization equipment. Tamiya also released two anti aircraft versions based on the same frame. For over 30 years the only vehicle you would use to haul your 88's and larger Anti-tank guns with was the Tamiya kit. Well, that has now changed. Trumpeter has released this gem of a kit of the initial or early version of the venerable SdKfz 7. The kit comes packed inside Trumpeter's stout cardboard box. The box carries an artist painting of a seven parked behind a 15cm sFH 18 150mm howitzer. Inside the box are all kinds of neat stuff. Once again, Trumpeter knows how to really pack a box. You get nine sprues of gray styrene, eight sprues of brown styrene (these are the tracks, track pads, and track pad plates), one clear sprue of twelve parts, three vinyl tires, two medium sized etched brass plates, one brass wire, one nylon cord, a decent decal sheet, a two sided painting and decaling guide and a 28 page instruction sheet. Once again, that is a lot of stuff. Tamiya's kit had only about 150 parts. Overall this looks to be typical Trumpeter fare of late. The edges are very crisp but there is some flash that need to be trimmed off before putting the parts together. The Bridge layer was the same way. Lots and lots of clean up. The engine alone is composed of 29 pieces. The only visible downside I see is no crew of any kind and the canvas top does not appear to have the internal supports. I would like to thank Mike Bass of Stevens International and Trumpeter for the gorgeous new kit and IPMS/USA for a place for others to see this review. Transition I think I was TDY to Ft Hood around 1982, but I was at least twice 18 years old and not a Private -- nonetheless, I did build the Tamiya SdKfz.7 sometime back then, even had the 88 to haul around. With Mark having a full workbench and me needing a prime mover for my review of the Griffon Detail Set for the Trumpeter SFH18, this two party review seemed like a natural, although it may cause me to rethink building the gun in firing position. Mark, in Puyallup, WA, and I, in Nags Head, NC, are only some 3000 miles apart ... some kind of Reviewer Corps record ? The build will start after the Va Beach Nats, stay tuned ...

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