DAK Hanomag WIP

I couldn't resist picking up a Warlord Games Hanomag at Gothcon last month. This is a plastic kit of the famous german halftrack, Sd.Kfz 251 (the funny little letters just mean special motor vehicle) ausf. C (the third version which was used roughly between 1941 and 1944). It features a riveted hull which was later changed to being welded which makes it more suitable for the earlier period. This is perfect for using with my DAK which currently lacks any transports.

The shape is accurate enough, but the details are a bit crude.

This kit is not made in collaboration with Italeri unlike Warlord's more recent models. It bears a striking resemblance to the Plastic Soldier Company kits, but it's not identical to them as far as I can tell. It still looks more like an upscaled 20mm kit with regards to details, however. Annoyingly, some of the sprue connector points are right between the rivets making removing them hard to do without damaging the details.

Some oddly shaped helmets.

The kit includes some stowage like a spare tire, a rolled tarpaulin, a couple of Jerry cans and helmets. The tire and tarpaulin are nice, but the helmets are very oddly shaped and the cans are not very convincing either. One figure is included, a standing gunner. He wears very little in way of personal kit and is smartly dressed in the early war style uniform, but I didn't particularly like the style of sculpt. Both a pair of MG-34 and a pair of MG-42 are included in the kit to cater both for early and late war, one for the rear AA mount and one being held by the gunner. For some reason the rear AA machine guns included are less detailed than the ones for the gunner though.

The included machine gunner and a very poor rear machine gun.

The inclusion of both kinds of MG's is handy even though the model depicts a mid-war half-track. There were plenty of older models left in rear and training units that were thrown into the fight later in the war. Since the vehicles were equipped with the machine guns of whatever squad they were transporting an early model halftrack could feature MG-42:s or vice versa.

Perry figures converted to fit in the half track.

Since I was going to use the Hanomag with my Perry afrika korps figures I decided right away to get rid of the original gunner and his machine guns. I ordered another box of Perry's from Caliver Books along with a Rubicon Panzer IV also destined for the desert. The order got held up for a while and when it finally arrived the Panzer IV was missing. I chalked it up to the pre-Salute chaos and was assured by Caliver Books that it should be on it's way. (Let's hope it gets here soon!)

The two converted figures. They almost look like they are running, but they each have a foot resting on the benches.

The gunner was converted first, with a standing figure receiving a new leg from a crouching donor. The pose was good, but there was something off about him which I couldn't put my finger on. Then it hit me; the gunner had a low ankle boot on one foot and a high boot on the other foot, doh! Some more surgery and he now had matching footwear. I decided to make a standing leader figure, perhaps signalling to other vehicles or waving to footsloggers.

"Hallo! Der letzte nach Alexandria ist ein faules Ei!" Apologies for using google translate :-)

Since the Hanomag is open topped and no seated crew figures were provided I cut some Perry figures in half and glued into the seats. Ok, they are not that visible but I know they are there, right? They also serve to disguise the complete lack of details inside the driving compartment, not even a steering wheel is included.

The leader got some kit from the Warlord german infantry sprue, they are a tad bit large but will blend in better when painted.

I might order a pack of seated figures from Perry Miniatures and put in the rear to fill out the space a little bit, if I feel that it looks too empty. But it's a small and cramped vehicle, no way I will be able to fit a whole section in there. I wonder how it would have felt to ride in one during the war, bouncing around on those wooden benches with shrapnel and bullets flying around.

The crew are more visible without the gunner.

I used the radio operator from the DAK box in the right hand seat since he has headphones on and that is the place of the vehicle's radio. No radio is provided though.

The view from the front is quite horrendous...

All in all Warlord Games' Hanomag is not a bad kit. Overall the shape is good, it goes together well without any snags and for the wargamer not concerned about fiddly details that might snap off during play it's perfect. Too bad about the bad looking gunner and machine guns and the strangely shaped stowage. A couple of crew torsos could have been included too I feel.

Now that I have finished adding the crew I can paint the interior and glue the hull together and continue with the exterior. I will keep you posted!

Happy gaming!