NEW TOOLING!!!
The first plastic injection model kit of this vehicle on market
Features:
- Newly tooled leFH18/40/2 features full detail
- Newly tooled gun platform authentically produced
- Newly produced turret made by slide mold
- Delicate upper hull and fully detailed on hull bottom
- One-piece slide-molded lower hull w/exquisite detail
- Turret contains intricate interior details
- Ammunition assembled in ammo racks
- Armored shield mounted on turret
- Stowage locker included in turret
- Delicated gun sight reproduced
- Realistic gun has full detail
- Slide-molded hollow gun barrel w/finely detailed muzzle brake
- Gun can be separately assembled in either travel or combat version
- Gun trail stowed on hull rear
- Gun wheels included
- Intricate engine deck w/ventilation grill
- Brake-cooling inlets produced for frontal plate
- Magic Tracks reproduced
Germany designed a number of different self-propelled howitzers during WWII, but not all of them reached production. One of the more interesting types was the le.FH.18/40/2 auf.Pz.III/IV Sfl. With a name as convoluted as this, unsurprisingly it isn’t widely known! However, Dragon is giving this weapon carrier an enormous popularity boost by being the first manufacturer to create a 1/35 scale plastic kit of the weapon system! Basically the 25-ton vehicle mounted a 10.5cm le.FH.18/40/2 infantry gun in a fighting compartment, although it also carried gun trails and wheels on the rear of the hull so that the howitzer could be removed and used as a towed howitzer too.
Alkett / Rheinmetall-Borsig completed a prototype in March 1944 in direct competition to Krupp’s Heuschrecke 10. It was eventually decided that it would be based on a Geschutzwagen IV (Hummel) chassis, and it was designed to carry 80 ammo rounds and operate with a five-man crew. Production was scheduled to commence in February 1945 but no vehicles ever eventuated.
This was a unique design, and Dragon has given it very special treatment. The only parts in common with current kits are the road wheels, Magic Tracks and some OVM items – all other parts are brand new! Dragon is most certainly in the vanguard by being the first company to offer the le.FH.18/40/2 auf.Pz.III/IV Sfl. as a plastic kit. The le.FH.18 howitzer installed in the open-topped fighting compartment is a brand new creation. If they wish, modelers have the choice of assembling this infantry gun as a towed howitzer with its wheels and trails attached. The fighting compartment is full of detail – the gun mount, ammo storage racks and stowage bins are all there. The lower hull is made as one piece by slide mold. This is a stunning Smart Kit of a novel vehicle, and its appearance and unusual function are bound to draw admiration and invite curious questions from viewers!
The Jagdpanzer IV (Sd.Kfz.162/1) armed with a 7.5cm PaK42 L/70 gun entered production in August 1944. The (V) added to its name signified a variant manufactured by the company Vomag. Production up till April 1945 eventually reached some 930 Jagdpanzer IV L/70(V) vehicles, making it the most common member of the family. The vehicle was based on the chassis and drive train of the Panzer IV tank, while the 7.5cm gun without a muzzle brake was mounted in a fixed superstructure. The 25.8-tonne vehicle was popular with its crews thanks to its potent armament, good mobility and low profile, especially in the defensive fighting that characterized the latter part of WWII. The Jagdpanzer IV L/70 saw combat on the Western and Eastern Fronts, with the greatest concentration of vehicles occurring in the Ardennes Offensive.
Dragon has launched a 1/35 scale model of the Jagdpanzer IV L/70(V). Logically it’s based on the fantastic earlier kit (Item No.6397). What’s special about this kit is the integral Zimmerit coating that was present on vehicles produced in the August 1944 timeframe. To correctly depict this anti-magnetic mine coating, entirely new parts have been created by the designers. Examples include the fenders, fighting compartment, mantlet, glacis, lower hull and rear plate. Not only is the molded Zimmerit a great time-saving solution for model-makers, but it’s also rendered with the touch of a master modeler. Indeed, its progenitors say it’s one of the best Zimmerit coatings they’ve ever produced on a model! Their craftsmanship means modelers can forget about the tedious job of applying Zimmerit themselves. This was a distinctive German armored vehicle of WWII, and Dragon has just made it stand out all the more!
