Attack Hobby Kits

Morserzugmittel 35(t)

Kit Number: 72837 (basic), 72SE02 (special)

Reviewed by  Jim Pearsall, IPMS# 2209

MSRP: basic €8.90 ($12.00), special not known www.attack-hobby-kits.cz/ The Vehicle Skoda Works in Plzen was the largest manufacturing plant in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. They produced locomotives, steam turbines, machine tools, and heavy guns. Skoda produced the world's first triple turret for the Austro-Hungarian Tegetthoff class battleships. After World War I, Plzen was part of Czechoslovakia. Skoda developed AFVs between the wars. When Germany took over Czechoslovakia in 1939, they found a treasure trove of useful equipment there. One of these was the LT vz 35 tank, which became the Panzer 35(t), and was used in Poland later in 1939, and in France in 1940. Even the Czechs found the suspension to be a troublesome area on the vehicle, and when they came out with the improved LT vz 38, it used the simpler, rugged Christie suspension. Also, the 35(t) had other troublesome systems, as the brakes, steering and clutch were all operated by compressed air. I believe the term is "plumber's nightmare". After 1941 the 35(t) was obsolete as a fighting vehicle. Not wanting to waste the assets on hand, the Wehrmacht made a simple conversion from tank to artillery tractor. Thus the Pz35(t) became the Morserzugmittel 35(t). (Artillery tractor, medium). The conversion removed the turret and front machine gun, and added a canvas cover over the turret ring plus a heavy-duty hitch for the towed gun on the rear of the vehicle. The Model As noted at the top, there are two variants of the Attack Morserzugmittel 35(t) kit. (OK, for simplicity, I'm going to refer to the vehicle as Mzm from here on.) The basic kit and the Special Edition (SE). I received the SE kit from John Noack, and had the hull and suspension pretty well assembled when, as a surprise, I received the basic kit. It was only after I was done with the SE kit that I found that the basic kit has something "new and improved". Better tracks. More on that later. But if you're buying one of these, I would suggest the Special Edition. Look for these logos. The Special Edition kit now has the improved tracks, and take it from me, it is worth looking for.

What separates the SE kit from the basic is that the SE has a complete resin interior. This is a true work of beauty, even if you're going to cover it up with the hull. I left the canvas cover loose so you can look down through the turret ring and see the interior. But wait, there's more. A really nicely done engine and transmission are also included. And to make them visible, there are finely molded hatches for the engine and transmission. Unfortunately the hatches are fine and somewhat fragile. The circled crumbs in front of the resin parts are the remains of the driver's hatch and one of the engine covers. But also note that the surviving hatches are so thin they're translucent. Construction You get one fairly large sprue with all those parts, plus resin detail parts. The basic and SE kits are pretty much the same, except the SE has more resin parts for the interior and engine. Assembly follows the following steps: 1. Lower hull (and interior on the SE) 2. Suspension 3. Tracks 4. Upper hull and detail parts. Lower Hull The lower hull is the same parts for both kits, but there's a stiffener which is omitted and supports which are cut off on the SE kit. The interior is two large parts which fit inside the hull, and detail parts for the driver's compartment and the rear area, then the engine and transmission. Suspension The suspension is very complex. Lots of small parts. I first assembled the wheels, (there are 18 wheels, 36 halves), then put one spring assembly into each side of the suspension bogies. There are 4 wheels on each bogie. There is also a part which I suspect is a stabilizer bar which goes from between the front pair of wheels to between the rear pair. So each 8-wheel bogie set has 13 parts. There's also a tensioning wheel on each track. The finished bogies look like this.

The suspension is then attached to the lower hull. I used liquid cement thickened with tube glue here. It allows the parts to be attached, and then adjusted to get all 16 wheels on the ground before the glue dries completely. I installed the resin return rollers at this point, when they're readily accessible. They're tiny, and trying to get them in when there's other stuff in the way could be a frustrating experience. One of the return rollers on the SE kit was not fully molded, but a bit of red putty filled it in nicely. The tensioning wheel and its support are really easy to install. I had some concern about the drive wheel and the front wheel, as they have sprocket teeth which show up on the side where the track doesn't "hide" them. Unfortunately there's no locating method. Fortunately the large lengths of track for the top and bottom can give you a pretty good idea where the teeth need to be. The other good news is that there are large "hub caps" which cover the teeth to the casual viewer. Tracks Here's where the basic kit had it 10 ways from Wednesday over the SE kit. Fortunately (for you) the SE kit has been updated. The tracks are a series of lengths. The top and bottom are long runs, and the ends have shorter parts which (on the SE kit) are notched with a fine file and bent to allow them to go around the end rollers. Yeah, right. When I tried to gently form the track, it broke. Some small scale armor kits use a system called "length and link" tracks. This is where there are long pieces, and where there's a bend, they give you individual track links. Basically, that's the system I wound up with here. And I suspect the modeling community was rounding up the villagers, lighting the torches, boiling the tar and collecting feathers for when they found the one who designed this system. So Attack, being a responsible member of the business community, fixed it before the revolting modelers reached them. The fix is a set of 4 resin track pieces which go nicely around the end rollers and the tensioning roller on each side. Then you only need to install the long flat pieces. That's the theory. In practice I still had to cut 2 links from the spare tracks to get correct fit. But that's sure better than cutting them into 20 or so per side! Upper hull and detail parts The basic kit is now on the downhill side. Assemble the top hull (3 parts), then add the two stowage items on the side. The muffler, the blackout light, the horn, and the gun port cover finish most of it. The canvas cover and the tow bar and hitch finish it. Decals are minimal, with only 3 German crosses. The SE version has more work. The hatches have to be opened up to show all that nice detail inside. There's a pair of hatches over the engine bay, a pair over the driver's position, and a large hatch at the rear over the transmission. Since they're resin, they probably should be attached with CA to be sure they'll remain attached. But this work really pays off.

Then the SE requires the same small parts as the basic kit to finish. Overall Assessment This is a neat model of a little-known vehicle. Since Attack is based in the Czech Republic, they probably knew about the 35(t), and there are still a couple of them in museums around Europe. The Mzm is probably less well known, but if you want to do a Wehrmacht WW2 artillery diorama, here's your prime mover. I highly recommend buying the SE version. That interior is a knockout. This is not a kit for the novice or the impatient. The suspension is a project in itself. Doing two of these, as well as the Pz 35(t) kit was a long slog. Nevertheless, it's well worth the time to do something that no one else on your block, or even in your ZIP code has done. Thanks to Attack for these 2 kits, and to IPMS/USA for the opportunity to do a "contrast and compare" review.

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