DML 1/35 Sd.Kfz.251/17 Ausf.C Kit First Look
By Michael Benolkin
| Date of Review | February 2015 | Manufacturer | DML |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subject | Sd.Kfz.251/17 Ausf.C | Scale | 1/35 |
| Kit Number | 6592 | Primary Media | Styrene, Photo-Etch |
| Pros | Two versions in one box | Cons | Nothing noted |
| Skill Level | Intermediate | MSRP (USD) | $73.95 |
First Look
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
The Sd.Kfz.251 was a German Army armored fighting vehicle mounted on a half-track chassis. Based upon the Sd.Kfz.11 utility half-track, the Sd.Kfz.251 employed an armored shell to protect the crew, passengers, and critical systems from enemy small arms fire. In its initial personnel carrier version, the vehicle was designed to accommodate a full squad of panzergrenadiers and its mounted machine gun provided cover for the squad as they deployed out of the vehicle.
Like many of the German vehicles in service, the Sd.Kfz.251 was modified to carry a variety of weapons and support systems into the field. Some of these configurations included mortars, command and control vehicle, artillery tow tractor, assault engineering vehicle, battlefield ambulance, anti-tank vehicle, anti-aircraft vehicle, flame thrower, and more. The Sd.Kfz.251/17 was an anti-aircraft platform that mounted a single-barrel 2cm gun atop the armored shell to provide excellent all-round visibility. Some of these vehicles replaced the gun platform with a rack of radio equipment and a 'towel rack' HF antenna to provide command and control of these mobile antil-aircraft batteries.
DML has produced a wide range of variants in the Sd.Kfz.251 family in 1/35 scale including two releases featuring the subject of this release - the Sd.Kfz.251/17 2cm anti-aircraft platform and the corresponding Sd.Kfz.251/17 command vehicle. The difference is that DML has provided the options for both subjects in this one box as a 2 in 1 kit.
The kit is molded in light gray styrene and presented on 23 parts trees plus two frets of photo-etched details and two pre-formed photo-etched seats (duplicate parts trees not shown).
Some key features of this release are:
- Detailed chassis
- Detailed interior with stowage
- Choice of fixed or folding crew seats
- Choice of extra crew seats in rear (C2 vehicle) or ammo storage (2cm AAA vehicle)
- Nicely detailed 2cm KwK38 (AAA vehicle)
- Nice racks of radio equipment (C2 vehicle)
- Towel rack antenna (C2 vehicle)
- Nice array of external stowage and pioneering tools
This is still a very nice kit of this distinctive half-track and with the open-top, DML provides a very nicely detailed interior that will please any modeler. Add personal gear and some figures, this model can easily tell a story with little or no display base required. Have some fun with your weathering techniques and get one of these kits for your collection!
My sincere thanks to DML for this review sample!