Dragon Models 6425 – Sd.Kfz. 250/8 with 7.5cm K.51 L/24 Premium Edition
Anyone who reads these reviews regularly will no doubt be aware that I am a fan of the Sd.Kfz 250 and Sd.Kfz 251 series of armoured half-tracks and this particular one, the Sd.Kfz 250/8, is one of my favourites as the stumpy little gun and the way the shields flow around the top makes it look small and aggressive.
This version from Dragon comes in a large tray and lid type box containing a lot of bits. There are a toal of seventeen sprues, fifteen in light grey and two in clear plastic. There is also the hull tub, also in light grey, a small PE fret, two brass width indicator poles, two decal sheets and two bags of magic tracks ( one left handed for one side, the other right handed for the other side ). A number of the parts are generically shared with other Dragon Sd.Kfz 250 kits so there are a number of parts not used in this kit that will bulk out your spares bin . The parts are all very nicely moulded with no flash and very minimal cleanup of things like the mould seams needed.
There is a full interior including all the personal equipment mounted along the interior walls which come with photo etched mounts. The seat backs have moulded on spring detail and there are decals provided for the dashboard. There is a shell rack with six individual shells as well as six handgrenades with PE mounts though the instructions overlook telling you where these go. In fact they should be mounted on the wall behind the storage cabinet alternating up and down. The storage cabinet itself has the doors moulded as a single piece so if you want to display them open you’ll need to cut them and fashion an interior yourself. The only thing that seems to be missing is the MP40 that should be mounted on the wall to the right of the radio operator ( an odd thing for Dragon to overlook ).
The gun is very well detailed using a single piece, slide moulded barrel and a number of small parts to make up a very nicely detailed breech and cradle. There is a spare shell catching basket included but if you want to add any empty shell casings to it you’ll have to provide your own. There is a lso the MG42 mounted to a Lafette tripod which itself is mounted to the right side of the gun, and an MG34 with an anti-aircraft mount for the rear. There is however none of the internally mounted ammo drums or spare barrel holders that were normal in the Sd.Kfz 250 series vehicles.
The kit comes with a nicely detailed complete engine along with the separate engine cover hatches that allow you to display the engine if you wish. The rear door as well as the side storage boxes can also be posed either open or closed. The tools have moulded on mounts but they are well done and wouldn’t really needed replacing with PE ones. Likewise the upper hull sides which were added to the Sd.Kfz 250/8 to provide extra crew protection are moulded thin enough to pass as they are.
The suspension arms are all separate pieces so the running gear can be positioned to show passage over uneven ground if wanted. The sprockets are very nicely moulded with good detail and the front wheels are made up of five slices each so as to give the maximum ammount of detail. The kit comes with Dragon’s Magic Tracks which need no clean up and are easy to assemble ( though like most individual link tracks are time consuming ) and look good once done.
Decals are provided for the dashboard as well as a sheet of generic numbers for use in making up the licence plates. There are also unit markings for four vehicles – 5.Pz.Div. “Wiking”, Kovel, 1945 : Unidentified Unit, Eastern Front 1944 : Pz.Gren.Rgt.304, 2.Pz.Div., Germany 1945 : Unidentified Unit, Germany 1945.
At the end of this build you’ll end up with quite a number of spare parts including personal gear, tools, a full floorpan and another gun mount. Some of these are useful as extra bits on this kit ( the helmets for example ), some on other kits, some will most likely never find a home.
This is a terrific kit and one of my favourites. There’s a lot of parts so you need to like the high number of parts of the Dragon kits to tackle it but the end result is well worth it resulting in a beautiful little model. If you only ever buy one Sd.Kfz 250 it should be this one.
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