"KIT REVIEW: Victrix German 88mm Gun and SdKfz 7" Topic

KIT REVIEW: Victrix German 88mm Gun and SdKfz 7 (Kit VG12029)
This is certainly THE best kit released to date from Victrix. Mine had zero flash anywhere. (Better than building a Tamiya kit if you can believe that!) The casting/molding of the luggage rack on the rear of the halftrack is so small and delicate. This leads me to give the following warning: Do NOT attempt to build this kit without first installing a new blade into your hobby knife (X-acto). I suggest you not use sprue cutters on any part removal from the sprues. Here's why: A sprue cutter will leave a small nub on the part. That nub will present a real challenge for you to remove and leaving it on can prevent a good fit when assembling the models. I cannot emphasize this too much. The effort will be rewarded when you assemble the models.
The kit comes with seated riders for the SdKfz7 and two sets of deployed gunners; one set for the Afrika Korps and the other for Europe. Again, these are very delicate and very detailed figures. The figure using the stereoscopic range finder has his hands sculpted on the range finder and must be glued to his arms. This very much reminded me of the Preiser range of military figures in quality and presentation. Did I mention there was no flash to clean up? The crew and deployed gun really needs to be based as the detail will be admired by your gaming buddies and you don't want them accidently damaging the scene thru handling.
The kit also comes with a large selection of accessories (tarps, ammo boxes open and closed, pioneering tools in a box to be added wherever you like and even sections of sandbags for you to create a firing position.
There are 3 each SdKfz 7 and 3 each 88mm Flak 36 (I believe it is a 36). You can build the SdKfz 7 with top up or down. (The installation of the driver beneath the steering wheel gave me some problems as a tight fit.) The extra seated figs will look great in other halftracks, kublewagons and trucks. The 88 can be made in either towed or deployed configurations.
I will be making mine for the DAK. Almost all German vehicles arrived in Dunkelgrau (RAL7021) (you may know it as Panzer Grey) and was hastily sprayed with Gelbbraun (RAL 8000). These vehicles quickly suffered sandblasting effect in the windy desert and their appearance quickly saw the Panzer Grey showing thru. I also highlighted mine with a desert yellow of a lighter shade. I will post a picture of mine when I can get my new camera operational.
So to summarize: This kit, being more expensive than the others, is well worth it if you are a real stickler for detail. You will not be disappointed. Remember to make sure you have have a new, sharp blade to remove these delicate parts as close as you can from the sprue. You will see what I mean with your first part assembly. I look forward to seeing more North Africa kits from Victrix in the 1/144th scale.

You can find this kit here: World War II: German 88mm Gun and Sd.Kfz.7

For 10mm Pendraken you can get them seperately here:
10mm World War II: German – Sdkfz 7 Halftrack Artillery Tractor
10mm World War II: German – PAK 43/41 88mm Gun with Crew (barn door 88)

Really nice looking and when you figure 6 models total (3 vehicle and 3 guns) price isnt that bad at $7.50 USD a model. And you certainly get plenty of extras! Excellent review and look forward to seeing your pictures. You might want to cross post this to the 10mm WW II board.

And hats off to you Dark Horse. Excellent website and really like the paint call outs accompanying the listing for the kit.

Thanks Marc33594, we hope to extend the paint callouts to all of the Victrix ranges over time as well as Pendraken and AIM… thousands of models to look over though!

We are also planning a website upgrade for later this year – trying not to lose any functionality we already have is the real challenge! The graphics framing load will also be reduced, and as a result the site should get faster.