In Box Review of AFV Club 1/35th Scale
German leFH18 10.5cm Howitzer
Kit no. AF35050
By Ray Mehlberger
MSRP: $32.40 at Section 8 Hobbies
By Ray Mehlberger
MSRP: $32.40 at Section 8 Hobbies
HISTORY:
The 10.5 cm leFH 18 (German: leichte Feldhaubitze "light field howitzer") was a German light howitzer used in World War II and the standard artillery piece of the Wehrmacht, adopted for service in 1935 and used by all divisions and artillery battalions. A major advance on its predecessor the 10.5 cm leFH 16, the leFH 18 was superior in caliber to its early opponents in the war, with adequate range and firepower, but the modern split trail gun carriage that provided it with more stability and traverse also rendered it too heavy for a mobile role in the largely horse-drawn artillery battalions of the German army, particularly in the mud and snow of the Eastern Front.
The leFH 18 was further developed as the leFH 18M and leFH 18/40. Beginning in 1942, self-propelled versions were created by fitting the howitzer on a Panzer II, a H35, Char B1 or 37L chassis. It was also used to equip German allies and neutral countries in Europe prior to and during the war.
THE KIT:
AFV Club is a prolific model company based in Taiwan. They make all manner of model subjects in the popular scales.
This kit came in a large shrink-wrapped tray and lid type box. By LARGE I also mean that the box is too big. It is 3 1/2" too long.
The box art shows a leFH18 10.5cm howitzer posed against an all-white background, similar to how Tamiya does all their box arts. It is overall panzer-grey. The box art gives the features of the kit in Chinese and English "Complex construction highly represented. Barrel made of aluminum and recuperator cylinder made of copper. Needle for gun elevation can be revolved. It can be towed by motor or by animals. Two choices available, transport or fire.
One side panel of the box has two color illustrations showing the howitzer head-on and being towed behind a half-track.
The other side panel of the box supplies Hobby Fan Trading Co. LTD.'s street address in Taiwan. They are the overhead company for AFV Club. Their telephone and FAX numbers are included too.
This is followed by a small repeat of the box art and a list of specifications about the howitzer:
Calibre: 105mm (4.14in)
Length of barrel: 2.612m (8 ft. 7 in.)
Weight in action: 2.065kg (4,540 lbs)
Elevation: -5 to +42 degrees
Traverse: 56 degrees
Muzzle velocity: 540m/s (1,770 ft/sec)
Max range: 12,325m (13,434 yds)
This is followed by the statement that the kit is intended for modelers over 14 years of age, over that the importer for Europe of the kit is Azimut Productions and their street address is provided in Paris, France.
The inside walls of the boxes lid and the bottom of the inside of the tray serve as a kit catalog. There are no less than 26 color box arts of other AFV Club armor kits shown.
The tray of my box is badly crushed. It did not stand up to the weight of other kits in my stash that I had on top of it.
The 10.5 cm leFH 18 (German: leichte Feldhaubitze "light field howitzer") was a German light howitzer used in World War II and the standard artillery piece of the Wehrmacht, adopted for service in 1935 and used by all divisions and artillery battalions. A major advance on its predecessor the 10.5 cm leFH 16, the leFH 18 was superior in caliber to its early opponents in the war, with adequate range and firepower, but the modern split trail gun carriage that provided it with more stability and traverse also rendered it too heavy for a mobile role in the largely horse-drawn artillery battalions of the German army, particularly in the mud and snow of the Eastern Front.
The leFH 18 was further developed as the leFH 18M and leFH 18/40. Beginning in 1942, self-propelled versions were created by fitting the howitzer on a Panzer II, a H35, Char B1 or 37L chassis. It was also used to equip German allies and neutral countries in Europe prior to and during the war.
THE KIT:
AFV Club is a prolific model company based in Taiwan. They make all manner of model subjects in the popular scales.
This kit came in a large shrink-wrapped tray and lid type box. By LARGE I also mean that the box is too big. It is 3 1/2" too long.
The box art shows a leFH18 10.5cm howitzer posed against an all-white background, similar to how Tamiya does all their box arts. It is overall panzer-grey. The box art gives the features of the kit in Chinese and English "Complex construction highly represented. Barrel made of aluminum and recuperator cylinder made of copper. Needle for gun elevation can be revolved. It can be towed by motor or by animals. Two choices available, transport or fire.
One side panel of the box has two color illustrations showing the howitzer head-on and being towed behind a half-track.
The other side panel of the box supplies Hobby Fan Trading Co. LTD.'s street address in Taiwan. They are the overhead company for AFV Club. Their telephone and FAX numbers are included too.
This is followed by a small repeat of the box art and a list of specifications about the howitzer:
Calibre: 105mm (4.14in)
Length of barrel: 2.612m (8 ft. 7 in.)
Weight in action: 2.065kg (4,540 lbs)
Elevation: -5 to +42 degrees
Traverse: 56 degrees
Muzzle velocity: 540m/s (1,770 ft/sec)
Max range: 12,325m (13,434 yds)
This is followed by the statement that the kit is intended for modelers over 14 years of age, over that the importer for Europe of the kit is Azimut Productions and their street address is provided in Paris, France.
The inside walls of the boxes lid and the bottom of the inside of the tray serve as a kit catalog. There are no less than 26 color box arts of other AFV Club armor kits shown.
The tray of my box is badly crushed. It did not stand up to the weight of other kits in my stash that I had on top of it.
WHAT'S IN THE BOX:
The kit contains 4 light-tan trees of parts, a copper rod, a turned aluminum gun barrel, a steel spring and the decal sheet in 4 sealed cello bags.
The decal sheet has a couple of black data plates and white letter A, B & C on it. However, the letters do not show up well in the photo of the sheet none of these marks are shown in the instructions for painting.
The instructions complete the contents of the kit.
It consists of a staple-bound booklet of 12 pages in 8 1/4" 11 3/4" page format.
Page 1 of the instructions begins with a black and white repeat of the box art over the history of the howitzer in English and Chinese.
Page 2 has a lot of Chinese at the top, over international assembly symbol explanations, decal application instructions and a suggested color listing of GSI Creos (Gunze Sangyo), Humbrol, Revell and Life Color brands of hobby paints, in the two languages.
Page 3 through the top of page 11 give a grand total of 15 assembly steps.
The bottom of page 11 has a 2-view line drawing of the howitzer saying that the body color can be either German-grey or dark-yellow.
The top of page 12 has the parts trees illustrations. The bottom of the page gives instructions for what to do to get any service with the kit over a parts replacement form. This is done in English and Chinese.
The kit contains 4 light-tan trees of parts, a copper rod, a turned aluminum gun barrel, a steel spring and the decal sheet in 4 sealed cello bags.
The decal sheet has a couple of black data plates and white letter A, B & C on it. However, the letters do not show up well in the photo of the sheet none of these marks are shown in the instructions for painting.
The instructions complete the contents of the kit.
It consists of a staple-bound booklet of 12 pages in 8 1/4" 11 3/4" page format.
Page 1 of the instructions begins with a black and white repeat of the box art over the history of the howitzer in English and Chinese.
Page 2 has a lot of Chinese at the top, over international assembly symbol explanations, decal application instructions and a suggested color listing of GSI Creos (Gunze Sangyo), Humbrol, Revell and Life Color brands of hobby paints, in the two languages.
Page 3 through the top of page 11 give a grand total of 15 assembly steps.
The bottom of page 11 has a 2-view line drawing of the howitzer saying that the body color can be either German-grey or dark-yellow.
The top of page 12 has the parts trees illustrations. The bottom of the page gives instructions for what to do to get any service with the kit over a parts replacement form. This is done in English and Chinese.
Light-tan tree letter A holds; the shield, barrel cradle parts, elevating and traverse wheels, pick etc. (54 parts)
Light-tan tree letter B holds: the road wheels, shovels, suspension parts, axles etc. (56 parts)
Light-tan tree letter C holds: the ground spades and recoil arms etc. (24 parts)
Light-tan tree letter D holds tools (12 parts)
Then there is the steel spring, turned aluminum barrel and a copper rod.
Decal sheet completes the kits contents.
This is a highly detailed howitzer model. All it really needs is a gun crew.
Highly recommended.
I purchased my kit years ago at my local hobby shop.
Highly recommended.
I purchased my kit years ago at my local hobby shop.
My company, Armor Research markets a white metal set of 105 mm German 2-part ammo for this howitzer and a couple sets of it (kit no. 2024) will be added to this model when I get it built.