Italeri 1/35 SdKfz 10 w' FlaK 30, previewed by Scott Van Aken

The Sd.Kfz. 10 (Sonderkraftfahrzeug – special motorized vehicle) was a German half-track that saw widespread use in World War II. Its main role was as a prime mover for small towed guns, such as the 2 cm Flak 30, the 7.5 cm leIG, or the 3.7 cm Pak 36 anti-tank gun. It could carry eight troops in addition to towing a gun or trailer.

The basic engineering for all the German half-tracks was developed during the Weimar-era by the Reichswehr's Military Automotive Department, but final design and testing was farmed out to commercial firms with the understanding that production would be shared with multiple companies. Demag was chosen to develop the smallest of the German half-tracks and spent the years between 1934 and 1938 perfecting the design through a series of prototypes.

The chassis formed the basis for the Sd.Kfz. 250 light armored personnel carrier. Approximately 14,000 were produced between 1938 and 1945, making it one of the most widely produced German tactical vehicles of the war.

THE KIT

I recently finished a book on German vehicles and one of the half dozen types covered was the SdKfz. 10. I thought it would be nice to see if I could find a kit. Initial search found a Tamiya kit with the 20mm and crew. I noticed that this was a reboxed Italeri kit so searched for that version. Found several for quite a bit less than the Tamiya offering so ordered one.

The base kit was tooled in 1999 and has been released several times since then in a variety of variants. This is the 2025 release. The plastic is in a very dark grey, probably to enhance painting. The parts come in two bags with primarily the halftrack in one bag with the FlaK 30 and trailer in another.

The kit is missing the sprue to allow the standard vehicle to be built (as in there is no top and no rear seats/storage for the troops. This means you have to build the gun platform as the cargo bed is covered by a 'metal' flooring. The kit is a curbside and while there is a lower engine section to be seen from the underside, there is nothing under the hood. The windscreen can be modeled raised or lowered on the hood.

Tracks are link and length with most of the parts of the link variety. Many modelers prefer this as it really is not that difficult to assemble. The side suspension pieces are separate so you wait until each side's full suspension with tracks are finished before attaching them to the rest of the vehicle. There is netting and a framework for around the bed that can be posed in the travelling or operational position. A section of plastic screen is provided along with a template to cut them out. This netting holds the spare rounds.

FlaK 30 and the trailer appear to be in the other bag and in fact, the instructions are divided such as the vehicle and the rest are given their own instructions. Building these items is quite straight forward. Four figures are included and they comprise the gunner and his supporting crew.

Instructions are well drawn and use both Italeri and generic color references. Markings are provided for four vehicles. Three of them are in panzer grey and cover vehicles in France and Russia. One is in desert yellow as operated in North Africa.

Overall, it is a nice looking kit. It has the level of detail that will make many modelers happy and yet would be equally make newer modelers happy with appears to be a fairly straight-forward build. Probably the most difficult will be using the templates to cut the plastic mesh. Well worth picking up if you want a nice collection of half-tracks.

KIT #:	6395
PRICE:	~$45.00 from various sites.
DECALS:	Four options
REVIEWER:	Scott Van Aken
NOTES:	1999 tooling. 2025 release.