Hi guys
(Please read the whole review, as I finished the review a thought occurred to me that may explain some things)
I have hundreds of unbuilt 1/72 WWII models in my stash, I don’t know how many exactly, but it’s somewhere between 500-700, plus I 3D print, so have hundreds of unpainted 3D models, probably 300-400, so I don’t really buy many models nowadays, but when curiosity and price point meet, I’ll make a purchase, I came across these 4D 1/72 Sdkfz 7 and 7/2 kits dirty cheap, and they looked simple but OK in the advertised, so it peaked my interest and I bought 2, they were around $7 Australian each with free shipping from China, they arrived a couple of months ago, but I had no time to make them until now, so I thought I’d make one and do a review for any others who may be interested.
I’ll write up a quick review, however, I don’t think I’ll bother making them, as I was unpacking, I thought they looked quite large, a little larger than I expect, so I did a quick measurement, at 1/72 the Sdkfz 7 should be about 32mm wide and 95mm long, the body of the model comes in at 36mm wide and 104mm long, so it’s actually 1/64th scale not 1/72nd, which is very annoying as they may with a little work have built up into a nice model.
This will be a short review, as the scale errors have almost annoyed me enough to the point of not doing one, I should have just printed a model,
The packaging is a very simple set of clear plastic bags, with the instructions on a 1 page double sided sheet, the 2 models are the standard Sdkfz 7, and an armoured cab Sdkfz 7/2 flak 37 anti aircraft vehicle, at first glance they look simple, but may build into a decent wargaming model, curiously some of the parts are painted, I think these maybe the pre built version of a die cast model, which may account for the scale of 1/64 being aimed at the die cast hot wheels crowed rather than the 1/72 modelling crowed, but in an attempt to make more sales they are mislabeled as 1/72.
Having written all this, something has popped into my mind, is this kit incorrectly labelled as an Sdkfz 7 and 7/2? Is it an Sdkfz 8? The dimension are close to being correct for a 1/72 Sdkfz 8, however I’m not sure the 37mm flak 37 was mounted on the Sdkfz 8, having a closer look at the unarmored version (in grey plastic) there is a seem running down the middle of the bonnet, the sdkfz8 had a split bonnet, the Sdkfz 7 didn’t, so it looks like it is indeed an 8, which now begs the question, is the flak 37 dimensionally correct, if so, I can use that on a different model, and replace it with a flak 88
So in conclusion, it isn’t correct as an Sdkfz 7 and 7/2, but more correct as an Sdkfz 8 (yet to be confirmed through more research) but I’m unsure there was a sdkfz 8 with a flak 37 gun, more research needed, which all reinvigorates my interest in building this model, the un armoured Sdkfz 8 version anyway, I’ll look at finding a flak 88 for the armoured version. Pretty weird experience writing a review and changing directions mid review, I should probably re write the whole thing, but I’ll let it stand as is.