Sd.Kfz.251/1 Ausf.D mit Wurfrahmen 40

Dragon kit # 7310

Construction review by Rob Haelterman

Preliminary note:
The box calls this kit the Sd.Kfz.251/1 Ausf.D mit Wurfrahmen 40. The /2 was a mortar carrier, however. I will use the correct designation (and not the kit label).

Construction

• It is best to leave the suspension off until the end, to avoid damage, whatever the instructions tell you.
• While the concept of interlinked roadwheels is nice, I decided to cut off the individual wheels of parts B4 and B5, as this allowed me to position them all with the holes in a slightly different position (the inner wheels won't line up in this way, but this is almost impossible to see), whereas the kit parts "as such" all have them in the same position.
• The tracks in this kit are the all metal type (rubber "sprue D2", which is confusing as the tracks themselves are referred to as "D1" and "D2"). Note that the drive sprocket was fitted with rubber pads, which need to be painted dark grey/black. I also removed the thin overlapping end of the DS tracks as it would have made the tracks too thick in the overlapping area and made sure that the area where the tracks connect was hidden behind a roadwheel on the bottom.
  Note that DS tracks can be glued with ordinary glue, but that they easily snap when glue is applied to tracks that are under tension.
• My kit had the old instructions for the front suspension.
  
  
  Correct installation of parts B2, B3 and B22 in some instructions (picture on the right), confusing and wrong in others (picture on the left), as in my kit.
  (Pictures by Timothy Lau.)
  
  I believe that the corrected instructions are still confusing. A comparison with the instructions from AFV Club kit 35251, might help.
  
  (Picture by Timothy Lau.)
  
  A useful picture can also be found here.
  This is how decided to assemble the parts.
  

• The floor plate (A8) is a bit too narrow, although most of this will be hidden behind the lateral seats.
  

  

  

• There is interference between the dashboard (A17) and the upper hull (A1), if the former is not lowered a bit. (Removing material from the top will damage the nice dials, so better work from the bottom.)
• While the upper hull should hang over the lower hull, this is overdone in the kit. It actually seems as if the lower hull is too narrow for the upper hull and rear plate.
  
• I chose to install the flanges (C9) to the lower hull before adding the upper hull. If you bend them outwards slightly, this will ensure a tight fit when the upper hull is added. Otherwise you will have to fiddle around with clamps.
• I have no idea where part MA4 should go, so I left it off.
• There are sink marks on the rear hull plate (A16) that will remain visible after construction, if not filled in.
• The attachment of the rear Notek (B8) is very (!) weak.
• If the rear doors are left open, the handle (A23) should be put in the horizontal position, something Dragon overlooked.
• While both tracks are marked "D" in the instructions and "D1" and "D2" on the rubber sprue, one (D2) is actually one link longer than the other (D1) and should go on the right. (On the real vehicle the tracks had 56 links on the right and 55 on the left [3].)
• The Sd.Kfz.251 had its front licence plate painted on. Some kits in the Sd.Kfz.251 series by Dragon have a PE part for it, but not this kit.
• The instructions don't ask you to install the antenna mount, while pictures clearly show that (some of) these vehicles had them installed on the right side of the fighting compartment.
• I didn't use the PE parts for the front MG shield.

Remarks specifically related to the Wurfrahmen and their mounting frames:

• The rockets cannot be slid into the wooden frames after these have been assembled. Remember that.
• The angle of the Wurfrahmen could be altered on the real vehicle. In the kit this is fixed at around 45°.
• Parts MB3 were ritually sacrificed to the carpet monster
• The whole assembly of the frames is a very, very fiddly affair. It doesn't help that there are no location markers in the kit and that the instructions are not very clear.
  I tried to install the frames as per the instructions (after painting it as a subassembly), which is not something I am going to attempt again. If I ever can bring myself to building another "Stuka zu Fuss", I will first glue the frames (E4, E7, E8) to the hull, before painting. I have yet to figure out how to make sure they are in the right position. After painting, I will add the plates (E11-12-13).
• The hooks at the end of the frames (red in the scan below) interfere with the handholds on the top of the fighting compartment (green in the scan below).
  I ended up sanding down the hooks to make them fit. I think next time I will remove the handholds, as they don't seem to be a universal feature on the real vehicle.
  
• Note that the hooks that hold the frames (parts E3) were folded up when the wooden frames were not fitted.
• I forgot to add sighting rods on the nose until the very end. (The instructions don't mention them.)

 

There are some remarkable observations regarding the parts count

• There are too few rifles (C13) in the kit to fill the racks. There are 4 rifles, while there are six slots to hold them (three on each side). Nevertheless, the instructions only want you to install two in total.
• There are too many pick axes: two, while one is needed.
• There are 4 ammo drums for the MG, while you actually only need two. The two others are useful as stowage, however.
• There are a total of 9 plates to mount the Wurfrahmen (3 each of parts E11-12-13), while you need only 6. At the same time, there are 9 frames (part E7), while you need 6. You also get parts E4 and E8 twice, while you only need one each.
• It's nice that you can choose between 28cm and 32cm rockets.
• This kit has no holders for the MP40, while other Dragon kits of the SdKfz251 have them in PE.

Decals and Markings

I painted the vehicle in a fictional scheme, using decals from the spares box.

Below are some pictures that show the finished kit in a diorama together with an ICM Kfz.70, a Dio72 house and TQD Figures.

Accuracy

A discussion about the dimensional accuracy of the Dragon Sd.Kfz.251 Ausf. D can be found here.

References

[1] Panzer Tracts 15-2 Mittlere Schuetzenpanzerwagen (Sd.Kfz.251), T.L. Jentz & H.L. Doyle

[2] Panzer Tracts 15-3 Mittlere Schuetzenpanzerwagen (Sd.Kfz.251) Ausf.C & D, T.L. Jentz & H.L. Doyle

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Article Last Updated:
31 March 2020