In Box Review of Esci 1/35th Scale German 1 Ton Half-track Demag D7
Kit no. 5007
By Ray Mehlberger
Out of production.
By Ray Mehlberger
Out of production.
HISTORY:
The 1 ton half-track, Demag D7, manufactured by the company of the same name, officially took service in the German army in 1939. First to tow light artillery pieces and later, because of its reliability and solidness, it was adapted to become a self-propelled vehicle with antitank and antiaircraft guns (Pak 40, Flak 30/38).
Over 17,000 were manufactured, it was very widely used and its chassis served for the well known Sd.Kfz. 250, the first of a long series of sub-versions.
THE KIT:
Esci was a company based in Italy that has gone out of business. Some of their molds went to both Revell and Italeri
This kit came in a shrink-wrapped tray and lid type box.
The box art shows a D7 posed against an all white background that has black outlines of squares over it.
The D7 is in overall Panzer-grey. It has the license plate no. of WH-729623 on the front, a white tactical mark on the left front fender and a yellow division mark that is a yellow arrow on the left front fender. A driver figure is shown wearing a field-grey uniform and steel helmet.
A sticker on the box says that Scale Craft Models of North Ridge, California was the importer of Esci kits at one time.
It says the kit holds 206 parts.
This kit has a copyright date of the 60's.
Although my boxing is out of production, the kit has been reboxed 10 time since as the basic vehicle by Revell/Esci (twice), by Esci mounting a 20mm AA gun, by Italeri mounting a Flak 38 (twice), by Revell as the basic vehicle, by Italeri pulling a nebelwerfer 42, by Italeri mounting a Flak 30 & pulling trailer, by Italeri as the basic vehicle and by Revell mounting a Flak 38. The last reboxing was in 2006.
However, many of these re-boxings are still available from venders overseas and one is at Sprue Bros.
The 1 ton half-track, Demag D7, manufactured by the company of the same name, officially took service in the German army in 1939. First to tow light artillery pieces and later, because of its reliability and solidness, it was adapted to become a self-propelled vehicle with antitank and antiaircraft guns (Pak 40, Flak 30/38).
Over 17,000 were manufactured, it was very widely used and its chassis served for the well known Sd.Kfz. 250, the first of a long series of sub-versions.
THE KIT:
Esci was a company based in Italy that has gone out of business. Some of their molds went to both Revell and Italeri
This kit came in a shrink-wrapped tray and lid type box.
The box art shows a D7 posed against an all white background that has black outlines of squares over it.
The D7 is in overall Panzer-grey. It has the license plate no. of WH-729623 on the front, a white tactical mark on the left front fender and a yellow division mark that is a yellow arrow on the left front fender. A driver figure is shown wearing a field-grey uniform and steel helmet.
A sticker on the box says that Scale Craft Models of North Ridge, California was the importer of Esci kits at one time.
It says the kit holds 206 parts.
This kit has a copyright date of the 60's.
Although my boxing is out of production, the kit has been reboxed 10 time since as the basic vehicle by Revell/Esci (twice), by Esci mounting a 20mm AA gun, by Italeri mounting a Flak 38 (twice), by Revell as the basic vehicle, by Italeri pulling a nebelwerfer 42, by Italeri mounting a Flak 30 & pulling trailer, by Italeri as the basic vehicle and by Revell mounting a Flak 38. The last reboxing was in 2006.
However, many of these re-boxings are still available from venders overseas and one is at Sprue Bros.
WHAT'S IN THE BOX:
This kit contains 3 large and one small very dark-charcoal trees of parts, a clear tree and steel colored vinyl tracks in a sealed cello bag. The decal sheet and instructions complete the kits contents.
The contents are tight against all four walls of the sturdy tray with little or no void.
The instructions consist of a single sheet that accordion-folds out into 6 pages in 8 1/4" x 11" page format, folded in the center of the 11" to fit the box.
Page 1 of the instructions shows a black and white wartime photo of a snow covered D7, parked in a woods and towing a howitzer.
Below this is the history of the D-7 in Italian, English, French, German and Spanish.
Page 2 through 5 give a grand total of 8 assembly steps.
Page 8 has a 3-view drawing that has arrows pointing to where to place decals for 3 different options:
A vehicle with license plate no. WH-729623 (the box art subject.
A vehicle with license plate no. SS-568567. There are 3 division makings that could be the one that goes on this D-7, but we are not told which one to use. One is Eiffel tower, another is an Eidelwies flower and the third is a comet.
A vehicle with the license no. WL-422530. Again, we are not told which of the three division marks to use on this D-7.
Below the 3-view is an explanation of the symbols used to donate the colors to use. Next to that is technical data about the D-7.
Length: 475cms
Height: 162cms
Width: 184cms
Weight: 4,900 kgs
Motor: Maybach HL42
Kit was made in Italy
There are no parts trees illustrations in the instructions. However, trees are not alphabetized, but the parts are numbered.
Strangely, the instructions call out an alphabet letter but parts that have that letter are not on just one of the actual trees.
This is going to make a nightmare to find the part needed for each assembly. Study will have to be made of their shapes to get them right. Bad move Esci.
The first large very dark-charcoal tree holds: the chassis with front fenders attached, cargo area floor, side panels, cab floor, bogies, leaf springs, tie rods, tow hooks, seats, hood and grill etc. (39 parts)
This kit contains 3 large and one small very dark-charcoal trees of parts, a clear tree and steel colored vinyl tracks in a sealed cello bag. The decal sheet and instructions complete the kits contents.
The contents are tight against all four walls of the sturdy tray with little or no void.
The instructions consist of a single sheet that accordion-folds out into 6 pages in 8 1/4" x 11" page format, folded in the center of the 11" to fit the box.
Page 1 of the instructions shows a black and white wartime photo of a snow covered D7, parked in a woods and towing a howitzer.
Below this is the history of the D-7 in Italian, English, French, German and Spanish.
Page 2 through 5 give a grand total of 8 assembly steps.
Page 8 has a 3-view drawing that has arrows pointing to where to place decals for 3 different options:
A vehicle with license plate no. WH-729623 (the box art subject.
A vehicle with license plate no. SS-568567. There are 3 division makings that could be the one that goes on this D-7, but we are not told which one to use. One is Eiffel tower, another is an Eidelwies flower and the third is a comet.
A vehicle with the license no. WL-422530. Again, we are not told which of the three division marks to use on this D-7.
Below the 3-view is an explanation of the symbols used to donate the colors to use. Next to that is technical data about the D-7.
Length: 475cms
Height: 162cms
Width: 184cms
Weight: 4,900 kgs
Motor: Maybach HL42
Kit was made in Italy
There are no parts trees illustrations in the instructions. However, trees are not alphabetized, but the parts are numbered.
Strangely, the instructions call out an alphabet letter but parts that have that letter are not on just one of the actual trees.
This is going to make a nightmare to find the part needed for each assembly. Study will have to be made of their shapes to get them right. Bad move Esci.
The first large very dark-charcoal tree holds: the chassis with front fenders attached, cargo area floor, side panels, cab floor, bogies, leaf springs, tie rods, tow hooks, seats, hood and grill etc. (39 parts)
The second large very dark-charcoal tree holds: cargo area wood bench seat panels, the canvas hood parts, fold-down side panels for the cargo area, bulkheads, fender flag frame etc. (58 parts)
The third large very dark-charcoal tree holds: the road wheels, drive sprockets, front tires and rims, Jerry cans, windshield frame, transmission console, tow cable, shovel, pick, headlight housings, steering wheel etc. (105 parts)
The small very dark-charcoal tree holds the parts of the driver figure. He is divided into separate torso, arms, legs and steel helmet (6 parts) The top of the helmet has a sink mark in it.
Next is the clear tree that holds the windshield panes and light lenses (4 parts)
There are 2 long runs of steel-colored vinyl tracks. However, one run has broken in two in the center. I hope I can repair it somehow. These are not the glueable newer types and have to be hot riveted together to form a loop.
There is no cargo items to go in the back of this vehicle. Something to put in there and a few other figures would have been nice to have had included.
There is no cargo items to go in the back of this vehicle. Something to put in there and a few other figures would have been nice to have had included.
The kit decals.
This is a very detailed kit with a vast amount of parts, some of which are almost microscopic in size. I recommend it only to modelers with a lot of experience with kits of this complexity.
I bought my kit back in the 60's at my local shop.