Tristar

1/35 German Sturmpanzer IV early Sd. Kfz. 166

Kit Number: 35038

Reviewed by  Kip Rudge, IPMS# 40597

MSRP: $65.00 Website: www.tristar-model.com Review Kit Supplied by MRC Academy: www.modelrec.com Sometimes one can become so frustrated with a particular aspect of a model that it colors the entire presentation of the build. So it is with Tristar's German Sturmpanzer IV early Sd. Kfz. 166 - otherwise known as the Brummbar. The Germans never used the name Brummbar - the moniker was provided by the Allies upon capturing and evaluating the beast. Word has it the Germans nicknamed the support weapon the "stupa." For our purposes it's a Brummbar. Just a little background before we trek into the heart of frustration. The Brummbar was an attempt to provide a large caliber close support weapon that took the field for the first time in Operation Citadel. It went through several iterations to improve its survivability on the battlefield. Tristar's effort provides the first version of which only about 60 were built beginning in the spring of 1943. The kit comes on 20 sprues and includes photo etch, wire cable, clear parts and thin vinyl schurtzen. Unfortunately the kit also comes with instructions. Tristar has a deserved reputation for both excellent detail and dimensional accuracy. Both are in abundance in this kit. But Tristar also has a reputation for over engineering aspects of their kits and that too is in abundance here. I'm not sure what Tristar's reputation is for instructions, but I'm thinking one may be in the offing. This kit, as with the real vehicle, is based on earlier Panzer IV chassis molded by the company. Tristar's early Panzer IVs are excellent kits and their Panzer IV running gear is the hobby standard. But somehow they managed to get the instructions for assembling both the chassis and running gear wrong. And that is the fatal weakness in this kit. Simply put, the instructions bear no resemblance to what needs to be done. It is rather inconceivable that a company with Tristar's reputation and who can list armor heavy hitters like Tom Jentz and Yoshikatsu Tomioka on their instructions, could miss parts call out and even mislabel the parts map on a kit that is a derivative of earlier kits. To add to the confusion, Tristar's instruction designers managed to mix and match construction drawings from various other Panzer IV kits without editing the line drawings. Thus in Step 2 the modeler is assembling the hull he got in box, while by Step 4 that hull has morphed into a different Panzer IV variant hull. Interestingly enough some parts don't even get numbers in the instructions. With more than 500 parts - many of which are for other variants - it would appear that numbering parts in the instructions may be advisable. I tried marking the mistakes on my instruction and quit when I hit 20. This made the kit most frustrating. There are other issues also. The armored transmission covers illustrated in the instructions and provided on the sprues do not match any reference I have consulted, including Tomioka's Achtung Panzer volume that included the Brummbar. I have been told photos of the covers provided exist but can't confirm it. The fighting compartment roof is too big and needed to be sanded down considerably. In addition, the fit of the fighting compartment walls is less than positive and require a lot of adjustment to get correct. Essentially this kit is two kits. The chassis is the tried and true Panzer IV chassis that is one of Tristar's best. However the upper hull is not up to the standards set by this manufacturer in the past. Construction was a series of checks and double checks - dry fit and then search again - glue and then unglue. This kit sat neglected many times on the bench because it simply took an hour to complete a subassembly that normally takes 20 minutes. The upside is that the kit is finely detailed. Some of the molding is absolutely breathtaking. Check out the screw detail on the engine deck. The inclusion of the complete 150mm gun breech makes this kit fodder for the full interior treatment. My box said a figure was included, but apparently in the headlong rush to get this kit out, the figure was left out, or the box was not changed. The kit scales out very close to all measurements I can find on it. This is a company that gave us benchmark releases of the Panzer I, Panzer IV and 38t and I was hoping for the same here. Before attempting to build this kit, take time to plan the build, research all your parts and go slowly through the instructions. Taking those precautions will result in a very nice Brummbar model. Thanks to MRC Academy and Tristar for this review sample.