#128 - Tamiya German Hanamag Sdkfz 251/1 1/35 Review

Rick's Reviews: 1/35 Tamiya German Hanamag Sdkfz 251/1

In 1938, the German Army decided to develop an armoured personnel carrier on the basis of the 3-ton half track (HL-KL-9p). Hanomag Hannoversch Machinenbau (AG) in Hannover was ordered to develop the running gear and Bussing-NAG in Berlin was to develop the superstructure to be armoured. Design work was hastened on the model of existing armoured cars and a prototype was completed at the end of 1938. The Germans tested the prototype in the Kumahsdorf Proving Ground and accepted it for mass production. Thus was born the Armoured Personnel Carrier Hanomag Sdkfz 251/1 which, we may safely say, was a synonym for the German mechanized corps that showed activity in all battlefields throughout the war.

[davedaveson]

Best $20.00 Canadian you will ever spend, kudos to the machinist that did all the tooling for those early seventies kits, absolute skill!

[Tonyblack]

This was the first Tamiya kit I ever built in 1975. I bought it again earlier this year and it is still a joy to build. As far as I can remember, there are no changes to the kit in all that time. The figures are in the same poses they were originally and build up as a great addition to vehicle. You are right that it is an armoured personal carrier. The Germans were the first to have highly mobile infantry to support the tanks (rather than tanks supporting infantry as was happening everywhere else). It's what made the Blitzkrieg possible. This vehicle and variants of it, made this all possible.

[MrOrmesby]

Enjoyed watching this vid, thanks for posting same. I built this exact model in 2007 and remember it going together very easily. The mould for this dates from 1975 so it's got 40 years on the clock and if truth be told, better detailed examples of this vehicle now exist. That's the bad news. The good news is that it would be priced at approx. £12...($16) give or take... and once built will look the part. I am of the opinion that if it looks like a duck and walks like a duck and quacks... etc.. etc.so I'm quite happy with Tamiya's kit. This s a perfect kit for a beginner to start on, it's cheap, easy to build and has five added German troops as a bonus extra.

[DonnaJoeDoc]

I completed this model in the fall. I liked it so much I just bought another one. I wanted to do more weathering and detailing on the second build.

[darylsmith]

The Hanomag kit is great detail and to put together. For an armoured personel carrier, its a very good representation, i highly recommend getting it.

[dansmodelworx]

You can't go wrong with this kit. I built it way back in 1982 or so. Everything fit well back then and it doesn't look like the kit has suffered any. Great review!

[Reshiram_The_Fire_Dragon]

When i am getting this kit i am going to leave it in that nice gray colour and i might do a camo to it white and black and get the pak 40 and connect it to the hanomag back

[jpwphotographicstudio]

Just got this kit off the wife - Xmas present livid as the Africa Corps decals have been cut out even on the instruction sheet bits of black tape over any reference to Africa Corp the Swastika would have been so small why bother.... Good review mate...

[milkyway]

Sorry for the late reply, specifically this is the 251/C version which was eventually replaced by the "D" and final version, which in turn was replaced by the SWS series vehicles(Schwerer Wehrmacht Slepper), which was similar. Its real designation was Mittlerer Schutzen Panzerwagen (Medium Infantry Armor Vehicle). SdKfz (Sonder Kfaft Fahrzeug) or Special Motorized Vehicle 251/1 and was a more general term for any vehicle.

Not a bad mold for its day....nice review!

[thomasrand]

Cool kit! A big thank you for the review

[ronaldthompson]

"If i had to guess this is some kind of armored personell carrier." For 10 points. 251 was meant as the main vehicle for the panzergrenadiers, to accompany the tanks so thy have infantry support when needed. Ther were never enough thogh, so trucks did the bulk of troop hauling

[Cameron]

Might make a diorama with this and the German Field commanders kit I got

[fastboy]

When you showed us the weapons from one of the 3 sprews, I can tell you for sure, you can choose from either the MG 34 or MG 42 (MG meaning Machinengewehr [Machine Gun])

[anthonyfruci]

Just bought this kit myself. Don't know if you looked at the m3 Lee mk1 yet but I just got that too was going to make a nice diorama out of it.

[ronaldthompson]

My question is what would it take to motorize that beauty

[republicempire]

Wait, I bought it from hobby lobby and it was missing rubber tracks.