Photos by Peter Crow
The SdKfz 7 eight-ton halftrack was the standard heavy prime mover in the
German Army, and was used on all fronts throughout WWII. Over 12,000 units
were produced with versions ranging from heavy artillery prime movers to
mobile platforms for flak guns (both 2.0 and 3.7 cm), as an aircraft
detector, engineering vehicle, and as the command vehicle for the mobile V2
launchers. This particular model represents the an unusual armored cab
SdKfz 7 with 3.7 cm Flak 37 gun. The total production of this variant was
less than 150 units.
The Kit:
The model is composed of over 1,900 parts on 12 pages of A2 paper, and as
with all of the Halinski models that I have seen the printing and paper are
excellent. Instructions are in Polish with only adequate assembly diagrams.
Construction is reasonably straightforward, but you will find that it is
advisable to pre-fit all the parts, and unlike the tanks that Halinski
publishes the axles are tightly rolled rods rather than hollow tubes. The
model is really two models -- the tractor and the flak gun.
Construction
The 3.7 cm gun makes into a very nice model on its own and is removable from
the half-track when finished. The gun has several movable parts such as the
recoil cylinder and range finder. To allow the gun to elevate with working
hydraulic cylinders, I scratchbuilt new paper cylinders using a wood dowel
for the piston rod. I also scratchbuilt the 3.7 cm rounds using wood
dowels. The brass shell casings are made from the foil from chocolate coins
and glued on with thick cyranoacrylate glue.
Now it's time to make the 100 or so track links -- lots of repetitive
cutting and folding . I suggest you use 20-gauge wire for the hinge pins.
Up until now the assembly is a reasonably easy build, but the fun begins
with the front fenders. These are some of the most difficult assemblies
that I have had the pleasure to build. They are made out of complex
compound curves and are composed of an outer shell with radial slits that
are glued over the three inner fender assemblies. There are no instructions
and no assembly diagrams for the fenders. Rather than take a couple of
pages to describe the assembly, I will just advise that you to scan the
fenders and build a few until you find the best approach to assemble them.
You will also find that the fenders as printed are mirror images of what
they should be. There are two assemblies where you will need to cut and
trim the parts to get the correct fit. The first are the brackets which
connect the gun bed to the frame of the half-track. I found these to be
about 5 mm too long.
The other is the engine hood/ bonnet -- the distance between the firewall
and the radiator should be around 44 to 45 mm. You can gauge this by the
hinge bracket for the hood. You will then need to trim the hood to fit the
model. I made the error of building the hood before checking the radiator
position and ended up with the radiator about 4 mm further forward than it
should be. The working hinges on the cab top, doors and hood are
scratchbuilt, and yes they are paper. The tools on the hood are also
scratchbuilt from paper with the exception of the shovel handle, which is
made from a wood dowel. The fender edge indicators are also scratchbuilt
using paper and wire; the round balls are carved from wood.
Summary:
Overall the assembly is reasonably straightforward but be aware that a few
of the parts are printed incorrectly. With careful pre-assembly you will
find these before they become a problem. When finished, the model is very
impressive both in size and complexity, and I would recommend the model. On
a scale of 1 to 5 for difficulty, I would call this a solid 5.
