In Box Review of Testors/Italeri 1/35th Scale
German Armored Car Sd.Kfz. 234/3
Kit no. 773
By Ray Mehlberger
OUT OF PRODUCTION
By Ray Mehlberger
OUT OF PRODUCTION
HISTORY:The Sd.Kfz. 234 (Sonderkraftfahrzeug 234, or Special Purpose Vehicle 234), was a family of armored cars designed and built in Germany during World War II.
The vehicles were lightly armored, armed with a 20, 50 or 75 mm main gun, and powered by a Tatra V12 diesel engine.[3] The Sd.Kfz. 234 broadly resembles the appearance of Sd.Kfz. 231 (8 rad)
The SdKfz 234/3, produced simultaneously with the 234/1, served as a support vehicle for the reconnaissance vehicles. It had an open-topped superstructure, in which a short-barreled 7.5cm K51 L/24 gun was installed.
This gun, was intended for use against "soft" targets; however when using a hollow charge shell the penetration power exceeded that of the 5 cm L/60 gun. This variant was produced from mid 1944 to the end of 1944, before switching production to the 234/4.
The vehicles were lightly armored, armed with a 20, 50 or 75 mm main gun, and powered by a Tatra V12 diesel engine.[3] The Sd.Kfz. 234 broadly resembles the appearance of Sd.Kfz. 231 (8 rad)
The SdKfz 234/3, produced simultaneously with the 234/1, served as a support vehicle for the reconnaissance vehicles. It had an open-topped superstructure, in which a short-barreled 7.5cm K51 L/24 gun was installed.
This gun, was intended for use against "soft" targets; however when using a hollow charge shell the penetration power exceeded that of the 5 cm L/60 gun. This variant was produced from mid 1944 to the end of 1944, before switching production to the 234/4.
THE KIT:
Italeri is an older prolific model company based in Italy. Testors was their U.S. distributor at one time.
This kit came in a shrink-wrapped end opening type box that has a slide out tray.
The box art shows a color photo of the Sd.Kfx. 234/3 model made up and posed atop a modeler’s work table. It is overall dark earth yellow with a German cross on the fighting compartment side shields and a license plate number WH-1751008 on the nose.
One side panel has the history of the car in English.
The other side panel lists materials required to complete the kit: glue, paints, tools, paint brushes and tape. Model Master and Testors brands are suggested.
The bottom of the box has 8 color walk-around type photos of the model made up, giving Mike Good credit for the build.
Italeri is an older prolific model company based in Italy. Testors was their U.S. distributor at one time.
This kit came in a shrink-wrapped end opening type box that has a slide out tray.
The box art shows a color photo of the Sd.Kfx. 234/3 model made up and posed atop a modeler’s work table. It is overall dark earth yellow with a German cross on the fighting compartment side shields and a license plate number WH-1751008 on the nose.
One side panel has the history of the car in English.
The other side panel lists materials required to complete the kit: glue, paints, tools, paint brushes and tape. Model Master and Testors brands are suggested.
The bottom of the box has 8 color walk-around type photos of the model made up, giving Mike Good credit for the build.
Kit features are mentioned as: having 200 parts, a complex suspension system, separately molded external stowage accessories, 6 Jerry cans, 2 packs, 2 fire extinguishers, 2 shovels, 1 pair of bolt cutters, 1 ax, 1 crowbar and a spare wheel. There are duel driver positions for the interior, a fully detailed howitzer which traverses and elevates, a pair of MP-40 machine pistols, a mess kit and a gas mask canister. There are detailed step by step instructions.
WHAT’S IN THE BOX:
Inside the slide-out tray there are 3 light tan trees of parts in a sealed cello bag with the decal sheet. The cello bag is stamped MADE IN ITALY.
The instructions complete the kits contents.
The instructions consist of a unbound booklet of 10 pages in 9” x 11 ½” page format.
Page 1 begins with a black and white photo showing a side view of the armored car made up. This is followed by the history of the Sd.Kfz. 234/3 in English, BEFORE STARTING instructions, PREPERATION OF PARTS and painting instructions.
Page 2 through 7 give a grand total of 9 assembly steps.. Each assembly has text that walks you through the assembly step by step. Nice move Testors !
Page 8 has the painting and marking instructions as a 4-view for the box art scheme. There is a grainy black and white photo of an actual Sd.Kfz. 234/3 at the bottom of the page.
The 9th and 10th pages are on a loose sheet sandwiched in the center of the booklet.
Page 9 is the parts trees illustrations and page 10 is long instruction of weathering hints.
The parts trees are labeled with geometric symbols and not alphabetized like in most kits.
The first large light tan tree, labeled as a star, holds: the wheels, seats, jerry cans, steering wheels, bogies, suspension parts, leaf springs etc. Four parts are X’d out in the parts trees illustrations as being excess and not needed to complete the model. (139 parts)
Inside the slide-out tray there are 3 light tan trees of parts in a sealed cello bag with the decal sheet. The cello bag is stamped MADE IN ITALY.
The instructions complete the kits contents.
The instructions consist of a unbound booklet of 10 pages in 9” x 11 ½” page format.
Page 1 begins with a black and white photo showing a side view of the armored car made up. This is followed by the history of the Sd.Kfz. 234/3 in English, BEFORE STARTING instructions, PREPERATION OF PARTS and painting instructions.
Page 2 through 7 give a grand total of 9 assembly steps.. Each assembly has text that walks you through the assembly step by step. Nice move Testors !
Page 8 has the painting and marking instructions as a 4-view for the box art scheme. There is a grainy black and white photo of an actual Sd.Kfz. 234/3 at the bottom of the page.
The 9th and 10th pages are on a loose sheet sandwiched in the center of the booklet.
Page 9 is the parts trees illustrations and page 10 is long instruction of weathering hints.
The parts trees are labeled with geometric symbols and not alphabetized like in most kits.
The first large light tan tree, labeled as a star, holds: the wheels, seats, jerry cans, steering wheels, bogies, suspension parts, leaf springs etc. Four parts are X’d out in the parts trees illustrations as being excess and not needed to complete the model. (139 parts)
The second large light tan tree, labeled as a square, holds: the floor, sides, top, tools etc. (33 parts)
The third small light tan parts tree, labeled as a circle, holds: side panels, machine guns, antenna, exhaust etc. (37 parts)
There are no clear parts or crew figures included
There are no clear parts or crew figures included
The small decal sheet has the sole box art scheme markings, plus tire pressure stencils and transportation data marking.
This is a nicely detailed kit, but should have included at least one crew figure and more marking options.
I bought my kit at my local hobby shop back in the 80’s