The Small Panzer In A Big Panzer World

Historical Background

In 1934, the Waffenamnt issued a specification for an armoured vehicle weighing 10 tons and armed with a 20mm cannon. In early 1935, MAN, Krupp, Henschel and Daimler-Benz submitted their proposals under the cover name Landwirtschaftlicher Schlepper 100 'agricultural tractor' for evaluation. The new vehicle was to supplement the then-new Panzerkampfwagen I light tank / tankette and capable of firing 20mm high explosive and armour-piercing rounds. Krupp was the first to submit their design but it was not adopted. Eventually it was decided to use the MAN chassis, allied to the hull of the Daimler-Benz design. For testing purposes, pre-production models Ausf. a,b and c of the Panzerkampfwagen II (as the new vehicle was now named) were produced from 1935 to 1937. The Ausf c. introduced the five independent roadwheel suspension, which became standard on full production models.

In July 1937, the first true production Panzer II, Ausf. A was produced. It featured improved transmission and increased armour thickness (from 13mm to 14.5mm). This was followed by the Ausf. B, which featured minor changes. From March 1937 to April 1940, the Ausf. C was produced. All of the Ausf A, B and C have rounded hull front, but many of these were up-armoured before the invasion of France, by having an extra armour plate bolted on the turret front and at the front of the hull. Ausf. D and E featured torsion-bar suspension with four roadwheels and also a new superstructure. The D and E were designed as a fast cavalry tank, geared towards pursuit and reconnaissance. The final major version was Ausf. F, with even thicker armour (35mm front, 30mm on front superstructure and face of the turret and 15mm elsewhere. The commander was provided with a cupola (also retrofitted to many Ausf Cs) and a dummy visor.

All Panzer IIs were powered by Maybach HL62 petrol engine of 138hp. Models A to C had a top speed of 40km/h while the the D and E, using torsion bar suspension had a top road speed of 55km/h. All versions had a range of 200 km. The gun tank versions of the Panzer II were armed with a 20mm cannon, either the KwK 30 L/55 or the KwK 38 L/55. A total of 180 shells were carried. The tank was also armed with a co-axial MG34 machine gun with 2,250 rounds. The 20mm cannon had weak penetrating power and efforts were made to rearm the Panzer II with captured French 37mm gun following the fall of France in 1940, but the project came to nothing. Crew consists of three men - the driver, the loader/radio operator and the commander, who also acted as the gunner.

The Panzer II first saw action in 1938, albeit not 'in anger', during the Anschluss with Austria and the occupation of Czechoslovakia. Despite its supposed role as a training and reconnaissance tank, the Panzer II saw service as a combat tank early in World War 2. Of the 2,750 tanks available for the invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939, 1,223 were Panzer IIs. For operation against France and the Low Countries, 920 Panzer IIs were mustered. Although possessing a smaller gun, the Panzer II was comparable to the Polish 7TP, Soviet T-26 and the French R-35 and H-35/39. Following the reorganization of the Panzertruppen in late 1940/early 1941, the Panzer II was finally relegated to the reconnaissance role. They were however had to be used on occassions during Operation Barbarossa as combat tanks due to the sheer number of Soviet tanks. The Panzer II was finally withdrawn from frontline service in 1943; it however remain in service until the end of the war.

A total of 1,924 Panzer IIs including prototypes were built. The Panzer II chassis was also used for other armoured fighting vehicles, notably the Wespe 105mm self-propelled gun, Marder II tank destroyer, Flammpanzer II Flamingo and Sturmpanzer II Bison assault gun.

The Kit

To commemorate the 40th anniversary of their Military Miniatures range in 2008, Tamiya released a new-tool Panzerkampfwagen II (the first tank in the Military Miniatures range was another Panzer II, the Ausf. F/G). This time Tamiya chose to depict the early war Ausf A/B/C, specifically for the timeframe of Operation Case Yellow (i.e. the invasion of France). The kit parts were spread among five dark grey-coloured sprue trees, hull bottom, a small stainless steel PE fret, poly caps and a decal sheet plus, of course, the instruction sheet. The tracks are of the link-and-length type with sag built-in into the upper runs. Being a modern kit, it has better details than the original Panzer II kit released in 1971. The decal sheet contains markings for four tanks : two from the 6th Panzer Division and the other two from the 4th Panzer Division. As usual, while the decals appear to be well-printed, it looks rather thick.

Construction

The instruction slightly deviates from the usual assembly sequence for an armoured vehicle in that it starts by assembling the running gears first. I however stick to the 'normal' assembly sequence by handling the lower hull first by attaching the suspension to it. The suspension units have good detail, and also a seam line running on top of them. I however had an attack of laziness that day and not cleaning them up! Besides they were not really noticeable (yeah, excuses, excuses). This was followed by the idler wheel mounting and the final drive housing; a poly-cap was inserted into each of the latter to allow movement of the sprocket wheel. Only then I returned to the wheels. Instead of the open backs of the road wheels in their earlier releases (most noticeably on their Shermans), Tamiya includes the inside faces of the wheels. And as usual, all the road wheels and and the idler feature the ubiquitous poly caps. Once completed, they were set aside and I continue with the upper hull.

Before assembling the upper hull, various holes were drilled into it in order to accommodate parts like the armour plates, bullet splash guards and pioneer tools. With the exception of the last mentioned, they were duly cemented onto the upper hull shell. This was followed by attaching the engine deck hatches. As for the hull visor port covers, a decision has to be made at this point - Part B19 for marking options A and B and B20 for options C and D. I decided to do Option D and used the recommended part. To ease assembly, I returned to the lower hull again. I first painted the hull sides and wheels Panzer Grey using  a mixture of Tamiya XF-63 German grey and XF-18 Medium Blue and the tyres straight Gunze H77 Tyre Black while the tracks were painted XF-64 Red Brown. Once the paints were dry, I placed all the wheels onto the chassis, cementing them all but the sprocket wheels. The tracks were then mounted onto the model; the uncemented sprocket were adjusted accordingly while positioning the tracks. when the tracks had dried properly, the upper hull was joined to the lower half. Some parts, such as the headlights, Notek headlight, tool box, hooks, fire extinguisher and the rear mudflaps were cemented onto the upper hull, while the rest were left off until after painting.

Attention was then turned towards turret assembly. The turret upper and lower halves were mated first and all hatches, ports and sundry small parts were cemented onto it, bar the commander's hatch. The instructions then have you complete the gun mantlet and then inserting the whole assembly into the turret shell. I believe this might cause some problem during painting stage, so while I did cement the mantlet, the guns were left off at this time. The mantlet also include poly caps, so that the guns would remain poseable. Now it was time for painting.

Painting and decaling

Early war German panzers were painted dark (or 'panzer' grey). I used a mixture of 80% Tamiya XF-63 German grey and 20% XF-18 Medium Blue, plus roughly 20% white for scale effect. The entire tank was covered in this paint mixture and coupled with its rather diminutive size, painting was over fairly quickly. And, yes, I don't really subscribe to the paint modulation technique or to the simulate-the-light-falling-on-object school of thought. The decals were then applied - I chose the markings for tank number 216 of the 36th Panzer Regiment, 4th Panzer Division, May 1940. The decals, as usual, were fairly thick, but settled well. Afterwards, I applied the sludge wash on certain parts of the model - not really appropriate for a tank model but sufficient for me to pop up some of the recessed details. The guns were painted flat black and when the paint dried, I applied powdered graphite onto them. But before that I covered two sections of the KwK 30 gun barrel with strips of Tamiya tape, to simulate the knurled grips.

Finishing

To start the final leg, I attached all the remaining loose parts such as the pioneer tools and the aerial holder. The guns were glued beforehand and were inserted into their slots through the bottom of the turret. The wooden block was painted XF-59 Desert Yellow and dry-brushed XF-64 Red Brown to simulate wood grain. I had another attack of laziness and simply paint the pioneer tools a straight XF-59 and XF-56 Metallic Grey. The exhaust and muffler were also painted XF-64. The PE exhaust guard was bended using a pencil as guide and fixed to the model using superglue. It was then painted steel with patches of red brown. Finally the colours were blended (sort of) using Tamiya weathering Master Rust.

For weathering, I started by applying thinned XF-57 Buff all over the lower hull, tracks and wheel. I then applied Mig Productions European Dust 'wet' and once dried, removed the excess using a stiff brush. The process was repeated, in patches, using MiG Productions Rubble Dust pigment. The same weathering powders were also applied 'dry' at selected areas of the model. Tamiya did not include the aerial in this kit, and I fashioned one using 0.5mm Evergreen rod. Finally the crew figure was painted and assembled. The uniform was painted NATO Black while the 'metal' parts (belt buckle and decorations) were painted X-11 Silver. I decided not to add any stowed items as early war panzers were rarely seen with them.

Conclusion

Tamiya has come up with another simple yet finely executed model. Assembly is hassle-free as usual, and the moulded-on details, while rather simple for some modelers, are good enough for the casual (or those not suffering from AMS) modelers. Like I mentioned elsewhere, a simple, yet detailed kit is a good antidote for stress after building a 1,000 part 'premium edition' kit!

An American Hound In Polish Service

Historical Background

In July 1941, The US Army Ordnance Corps issued specifications for a heavy armoured car (which resulted in the T18E1 Boarhound) and a medium armoured car. For the latter, the Ford Motor Company built a 6x6 prototype designated T17 while Chevrolet built a 4x4 prototype designated T17E1. Both prototypes were armed with a 37mm gun in a rotating turret plus a co-axial .30 cal machine gun and another .30 cal MG in the hull. At the same time the British Purchasing Commission were looking for heavy and medium armoured cars for use in the North African theatre. They took interest in the T17 and T17E1, naming them Deerhound and Staghound respectively. However the US Army chose the lighter T22 design for its medium armoured car (later named M8 Greyhound). The T17 Deerhound was only used by US MP units Stateside and was never adopted by the British. T17E1 however was accepted for production, despite not being used by its parent nation.

Over 4,000 Staghounds were built. Variants include the basic Staghound Mk 1, armed with a 37mm gun, two .30 cal M1919A4 machine guns (co-axial and in hull position) plus another M1919A4 on the turret roof for AA defence. Staghound Mk II was armed with a 3-in howitzer for close support while Staghound Mk III had its turret replaced with one from the Crusader tank and was armed with a 6-pounder gun and a co-axial 7.92mm Besa machine gun. Some Mk IIIs were later armed with Ordnance QF 75mm gun. All Mks II and III had their bow machine guns removed. T17E2 Staghounds were T17E1s fitted with Frazer-Nash turret armed with two Browning M2 12.7mm machine guns. It primarily provided low-level air defence capability for the armoured car regiments. There was also the turretless Staghound Command version while the T17E3 was a variant fitted with the turret and armament from the M8 Howitzer Motor Carriage; it was however not adopted for production.

Despite being ordered by the British for service in North Africa, it entered service too late for use in that theatre, where its combination of armour, armament and range had advantage over the German reconnaissance force. It eventually saw operational service during the Italian campaign where its bulk was now a liability in the narrow streets and roads of southern Europe. The Staghound was also used by units in the North West Europe on their drive towards Germany.

The Kit

In 2008, hot on the heels of Bronco's Staghound Mk I Late version, Italeri came up with their 1/35 kit of the Staghound Mk.I Late Version. And as per their agreement (I guess), the kit was re-boxed and released by Tamiya in the same year. The kit came in 222 parts, laid over five olive coloured sprues, 2 clear parts and small PE fret. Also included was a length of wire, decal sheet and of course, the instruction sheet. The instructions however were of the usual Tamiya style, instead of simply using the original Italeri instructions (which used the rather disliked photo-style instructions, like what Dragon did a number of years ago). The turned aluminium barrel from the original kit was omitted but a sprue containing the figures from Tamiya's Universal Carrier Mk II European Campaign was included. The Photographic Reference Manual from the original release was also included for the Tamiya release. The surface detail is very good, although not as sharp as the Bronco Staghound.

Decals were provided for five options covering both wartime and post-WW2 period. They are for:

1. 7th Armoured Division, British Army, France 1944

2. 'Ardent', Belgian Brigade Group, France September 1944

3. Esercito Italiano, unknown cavalry regiment, late 1950s

4. 1st Australian Armoured Car Regiment, BCOF, Japan 1946-1948

5. 'Nadwislanin', Polish 2nd Corps, Italy 1944

The decals were of typical Italeri quality - nicely printed with no register issues.

Construction

The Staghound kit started off slightly different from the usual AFV kits construction sequence - it started at the front plate of the hull. The instructions have you drill a number of holes into the front panel and to cut clear plastic pieces to act as windscreens. While I did drill the holes, I left the clear plastic parts, plus the PE frame and wipers, off as I intended to have the covers for the crew windscreens in the closed position. Steps 2-4 were concerned with the basic assembly of the hull. Fit is good and the one-piece lower hull makes it easier to assemble than the Bronco kit, which have separate side walls and floor. Moving on to Step 5, this was the assembly of the leaf-style suspension. Afterwards, it was time to assemble the external fuel tanks and their mounts. The fuel drums was divided into four parts and the seams between the body halves need to be sanded off. While the instructions have you fully assemble the tanks and the mounts before attaching them to the hull, I diverged by attaching the mounts (part B42) to the hull first. This was followed by the drums. The mounting end of the PE straps were then inserted into place and was followed with Part B36 (the hooks for the straps) to the hull. The female end of the bended straps were then hooked  into place, parts B18 and B28 were cemented to the hull and the fuel tank assembly was attached to the hull.

The engine covers were then cemented into place and the detail parts were attached. These include PE brackets and wingnuts. This was followed by the engine grille covers and fenders. The tyre halves were mated but I left them off until after painting. all the hull hatches, including the driver's and co-driver's armoured windscreen covers were attached in the closed position. All the smaller parts, except on-vehicle tools, rear-view mirrors and the exhausts were glued at this time. These also include the PE box at the rear of the vehicle and the PE light guards (bended using the bending tool provided). Moving on from the hull, I started the turret assembly, beginning with the main gun. While the original release used turned aluminium barrel, the Tamiya release has a plastic replacement. There was no problem here, although the Italeri .30 cal barrel (for the co-axial and hull) MG has less definition than other manufacturers' offering. Steps 20 to 21 were concerned with the turret basket assembly. The turret basket was assembled as they were but the lightening holes can be drilled to have better definition. The turret shell halves were then mated together. However, the resulting seam line was not sanded off and was merely cleaned up as there is weld seam at the location on the real vehicle. Italeri also provided a reasonably detailed No.19 radio set, to be placed at the rear of the turret. I simply put it in place, without painting, as it would be invisible, with the crew figures in place. The completed turret basket and the front face of the turret were then cemented to the turret shell. As usual, the smaller parts were left off until after painting.

Painting and Decaling

Because of the presence of PE parts, I first sprayed the model with Tamiya Surface Primer (Grey). At the beginning of the build, I had decided to finish the kit in the Polish 2nd Corps marking. The kit instructions have you paint the kit in an overall dark yellow paint job with disruptive pattern in dark green. I however remembered an article written by Mark Starmer, who was regarded by the modeling community as an expert in British camouflage colours during World War 2. He stated that, starting from March 1943 in the North African theatre and continuing to the Sicilian and Italian campaigns, a lot of British and Commonwealth vehicles were painted in a colour called 'Light Mud'. Although Light Mud was usually used in conjunction with 'Blue Black' (Tamiya XF69 NATO Black can be used for this colour), I decided to paint the disruptive pattern in Olive Drab. The Light Mud was painted using a 4:2:1 ratio of Tamiya XF55 Deck Tan, XF49 Khaki and XF66 Light Grey, as per Mr. Starmer's recommendation. While originally planning to paint the olive drab pattern using Mr Starmer's mix for the British SCC15 Olive Drab, I eventually decided to simply use Tamiya XF-62. The still unattached parts were also painted at this time. The tools were painted XF-59 Desert Yellow and Steel for their wooden and metal parts respectively. The machine guns were painted flat black and were 'metalized' by rubbing graphite whilst the tyres were painted Gunze H77 Tyre Black.

The decals were then applied onto the model.  They went on well, even though I didn't prep the surface beforehand. There is however a slight silvering for one of the decals and I'm positive that it was caused by the untreated surface. The decals were then subjected to the usual decal setting solution treatment.

Finishing

Now is the time to attach the remaining parts. I started by fixing the pioneer tools at their places. This was followed by placing the tow cable at the glacis plate. The provided steel wire was quite stiff and I have to anneal it first before attaching the ends and wounding it around the anchor points. While still using the kit mount and cradle for the AA MG, the M1919 MG and the ammo box was replaced with the one from the Academy US Machine Guns Set. By this time I have also bought Bronco's 25-pounder Ammo box set, which can be mounted onto the Staghound's fenders. I used two of them, mounted on the front fenders - after fashioning a simple rack for them using styrene strips. With the boxes in place, the rear-view mirrors were left off. The provided tarps were placed on the rear fenders, after painting them XF-49 Khaki. I also decided to place some stowage on the engine deck and the rear box and I used a wooden ammo box from Academy's Tank Supplies Set, a couple of .30 cal ammo boxes from Academy's US Machine Guns Set and a bedroll plus four fuel cans from Tamiya's Allied Vehicles Accessory Set. I used a thread from my wife's sewing kit, painted XF-59 Desert Yellow to tie the stowage onto the model (I cemented them on anyway, the string was mainly to create some degree of realism). The commander's hatch was put in the open position so that I can use the commander's figure to illustrate the size of the vehicle. His uniform was painted with a mixture of Tamiya XF-57 Buff and XF-52 Dark Earth with the suspenders in XF-49 Khaki. 

Finally, the weathering process. I started by washing the model by using a mixture of Flat Black and Red Brown. I then added some small paint scratches using 2B pencil but I decided not to add larger scratches. Tamiya Weathering Master was applied to the exhausts to simulate rust. Finally I add 'dust' to the running gears and the underside of the model using Mig Productions Gulf War Sand. This was however my first attempt of adding dust to a wheeled vehicle, so the results were quite terrible, as can be seen from the photos. A length of copper wire, painted black, was used as the radio aerial. I am however, not quite sure whether the length of the aerial is correct or not.

Conclusion

Italeri has come up with an excellent kit of the Staghound armoured car. Yes, there is a little bit of a problem with the fit, but nothing that any modeler could overcome (unless a total newcomer to the hobby). The machine guns however could be better and best replaced. The Tamiya version was virtually similar to the original release and I lament the deletion of the turned aluminium barrel. Whether the inclusion of three figures plus a PIAT projector and a Sten Gun were worth the extra cost for the Tamiya boxing is a question I left to the readers to decide.