Armory

Sd.Kfz.164 Nashorn & Sd.Kfz.165 Hummel
56cm Ostketten tracks

After the first encounters with the Russian climate (and its effect on the road conditions), Germany developped wider tracks for their Panzer III and Panzer IV (and their derivatives). Two types saw service: Winterketten and Ostketten. The former (which appeared first, in the Winter of 1942/43) was basically a standard track with extensions (similar to "duckbills" for Sherman tracks), while the later was a wider, more uniform track, somewhat reminiscent of a Panther track.

This set of Ostketten is based on a late type track (with chevrons). Note that Ostketten are very rare on Nashorns and Hummels, while much more common on StuGs and PzKpfw. Technically, there is no reason the Nashorn/Hummel could not be fitted with Ostketten, as the tracks were exactly the same as on the StuG III & StuG IV and PzKpfw III and PzKpfw IV. Still, the only picture I have found of a Nashorn with Ostketten so far is on page 30 of Nuts & Bots 14 (also shown here). Given that the tracks of the Hummel and Nashorn were a tad longer than those of the Panzer IV and even more so than those of the Panzer III, I guess that buying this set will allow you to procrastinate when making up your mind about the vehicle to use them on.

The parts are well cast, with very discrete sprue gates (the tracks have a tendency to remove themselves from the casting blocks without damage) and minor amounts of flash. No casting defaults were found.
Pitch is spot on for 1/72, but width is closer to 570mm, instead of 560mm. I think this is within tolerance, but the real test will be how well they fit on the running gear of the kits you want to use them on. I hope to find out soon.

While the instruction leaflet shows the parts that you should get, and where they should go, there is no indication how to get them to take the shape that they are supposed to take. I have heard this is best tackled using a hair dryer but I will need to see how this works out.

Conclusion:
If the highest level of detail is what you are after (or if you want a specific track type) this set is for you. You will pay for it with a higher retail price and a higher (and technically more demanding) workload, however.

Preview sample kindly provided by Armory.

This model can be purchased from

Article Last Updated: 14 October 2016