ICM

1/72 Krupp L2H143 Kfz.69 Artillery Tractor with PaK 36 Gun

Kit Number: 72461

Reviewed by  Jim Pearsall, IPMS# 2209

MSRP: $26.95 Imported by Dragon Models USA www.dragonmodelsusa.com The Kfz 69 was an important part of the Blitzkrieg in Poland and France. The ability to move troops quickly to where they were needed was one of the focus points of mobile warfare, and the "Protze" provided this. With the addition of the PaK 36 anti-tank gun, it made a squad of troops very effective against armored, personnel or dug-in targets. Of course the march of technology went into double time in 1941, and the Protze was out of production by 1942, as the need was for a larger towing vehicle. Can you imagine trying to tow an 88 with this thing? Not likely. Nevertheless, if you’re doing 1/72 early World War II in Europe, this could be your model. The Prime Mover The Kfz 69 is somewhat different from the Kfz70 reviewed here: ICM 72 Krupp Protze It shares the chassis, running gear, and cab. The differences are the cargo area, which is set up for personnel seats, and the addition of the Pak 36 gun. The kit comes on two large sprues, with the Protze and gun sharing one of the sprues. When I got this kit, Dave Morrissette warned me not to hurry with this kit. This was good advice, but also unnecessary, as I had to go very slowly and carefully with removing the parts from the sprues. Even then, I had a lot of trouble with broken parts. The red-circled part numbers are parts I broke either in removal or construction. I read Andrew Birkbeck’s review, and figured out why, and what to do about my problem. Well, actually my problem was beyond Andrew’s advice. The fineness of the small parts is really commendable, in that the running gear, accessories and personal weapons look really great. They are delicately molded and extremely fine. I couldn’t get these delicate parts together without deforming or breaking something. I built the ICM BTR-152V about 5 years ago: ICM 72 BTR152 It was not as finely molded, but it was eminently buildable. Nevertheless, I did manage to get the Protze built. My first attempt with the suspension left the vehicle sitting on 3 of its 6 wheels. Disassembly and reassembly with more attention paid to alignment of the suspension parts paid off, especially since I was able to figure out how to align the suspension parts better after a trial run. The cargo/seating area in the back fit together very nicely as a unit. Mating it to the chassis and getting it to look even OK was difficult, as there is no reference point and nothing to hold the parts in place while the glue sets up. The Gun This was a much better experience. The gun is still a finicky build, but everything fit together without slippage, misalignment or bad words. The gun itself is small, and there was some flash on the shield where the barrel comes through, but this was easily fixed with a sharp #11 blade. The parts also seemed to be better designed to be removed from the sprue and assembled without fragility problems. The only problem I had with the Pak 36 was that one of the two handles on the trails was incompletely molded. This led to the bright spot of this review. I received a "wire assist bending comb" from Small Shop Products to review. This tool made replacing the mismolded parts a snap. The review is HERE: Small-shop Wire-Assist Overall Assessment With the addition of a driver and a couple of riders, this model could make a super centerpiece for a "France 1940" diorama. The addition of an abandoned Somua by the roadside, whether broken down or knocked out would really add a nice touch. The only caveat I have for that is that you need really good "fine motor skills" to manage the parts and a lot of patience to get the parts on the Protze to align and hold. My thanks to Dragon Models USA and ICM for the chance to build this kit