The Infanteriekarren ( infantry cart ) was an extremely versatile small cart that could carry ammunition, food, other supplies, even mounted weapons, and be pulled by horses, dogs, men, motorcycle sidecar combos and kettenkraftrads. The 8.8cm Raketenpanzerbüchse “Panzerschreck” was a very effective weapon, but at 11kg was also a very heavy one. So take one of the Infanteriekarren, add a little ingenuity and you now have a way to transport half a dozen Panzerschrecks, plus ammo without someone having to carry them.
This kit comes in a tray and lid style box on two full-sized and five smaller sprues, all moulded in light grey plastic. The quality of the moulding is exceptional, with some extremely fine and delicate pieces beautifully rendered. Clean-up is extremely minimal and the fit and finish is faultless. In the kit you get two Infanteriekarren, one horse, six figures and a small assortment of weapons. The instructions will tell you that one figure is not used but I think that is rather pointless, if he’s there you’re going to use him. The faces are all well moulded, some of the detail around the webbing could be sharpened up but is still very good.
The carts each come with a different type of wheels, as did the real ones, with one having the later all steel wheels while the other has the earlier pressed steel wheels with a rubber tyre. One advantage of this kit is that both carts come with the full drawbar, you need to cut one down to fit the horse frame to it. What this means is that you can ditch the horse if desired and have these carts pulled by a motorcycle combo or a Kettenkraftrad, either separately or in tandem.
For the cart loads you get the wooden frame for the Panzerschrecks with four Panzerschrecks to go on them. You also get two spare Panzerschreck rockets plus four crates which each hold two rockets. These have separate lids so that you can have them open if you want to. The empty cart can hold four crates, the cart with the Panzershrecks can hold them end up in the middle, or two more Panzerschrecks can go there if you have spares laying around.
The horse is very nicely moulded with separate mane, tail and ears. The harness detail looks good with the strap that goes across the horse’s back to the cart arms not supplied, but rather with the instructions giving the dimensions you need to make your own from thin plasticard or paper, and how to mount it. I like this as it means you can use the horse elswhere and not have the moulded on strap to remove. It also means you get proper definition of the strap coming away from the horse’s body to the cart arms.
The figures all depict walking troops, four in infantry uniforms, a fifth wearing a Panzer wrap and the sixth ( the figure you aren’t supposed to use ) being an officer. The four infantry wear low boots with gaiters and two wear smocks. Two are hatless, the other two wear helmets . The figure in the tanker/SPG uniform wears the panzer wrap with the large map pocket on the left breat, low boots and a soft cap. The officer wears high boots, an officer’s peaked cap and no webbing. You also get a spare arm and a spare uncovered head.
The equipment included gives you a few choices as you get one helmet with a cover, three helmets without covers, four canteens, four gas mask containers, five mess tins, two entrenching tools , two breadbags, eight Kar 98K mag pouches, and one MP40 mag pouch with the smaller cleaning kit pouch. The weapons included are three Kar 98K rifles, one G43 rifle, two MP40 sub-machine guns, one Panzerfaust 60, two holstered Luger pistols, one Model 24 “stick” grenade, and one Model 39 “egg” grenade.
This is a terrific little set that offers a great deal of flexibility in how you can use the pieces included in it. It makes up well, looks good and adds an interesting dimension to any diorama.
This site has some good reference photos of an Infanteriekarren.
Click thumbnails for larger images.
