PMMS
AFV Club
8.8cm Pak43/41
7.5cm Pak40
Brass Shield Bolt

Kit No. AF 35073
First Look Review by Terry Ashley

Also released for the Pak43/41 and the soon to be released Pak40 is this set of brass shield bolts which simply replace the kits plastic bolts (parts E45) to fit the two etched metal gun shields together.

These really make life a lot easier than having to remove the plastic bolts from the sprues, cleaning them up and then fitting to the shields which can test your patience.

The bolts though are very small and will require the use of tweezers, a good light and possibly some visual aid (especially for old buggers like me) but the fit is very good so they just slip into place without any problems.

To fit the shields together just use cyanoacrylate to attach the bolts to the rear shields (kit parts G1 and G2), then simply fit the front shields (parts G3 and G4) over the inner shields by slipping the four innermost bolts into place and ‘clip’ the outer bolts into place. No glue was required to hold the two shields together once clipped in place due to the angles of the bolts.
Just a quick note, the instructions in the Pak43/41 kit have the numbers transposed for parts G3/G4 but this should be obvious when lining up the shield parts.

The question can be asked why these bolts weren’t included in the initial Pak43/41 kit? The plastic kit bolts do work and look good when assembled and at ¥700 the brass bolts would add just over 20% to the kit price of ¥3400, so having them as an option does give you the choice of spending the extra or not but personally for the easy of use and the better detail definition I would choose the brass bolts.

If you intend getting the bolts, get an extra set for the soon to be released Pak40 as I’m sure if you bought the Pak43/41 you’ll be buying the Pak40 also, right?

Recommended.

Bolts in packet
AFV Club
Bolts attached to rear shield and with the front shield clipped into place.
No glue was needed to hold the front shield in place
AFV ClubAFV Club

References:
Pz.Jäger Nashorn & 8,8 Pak 43/41 - Sd.Kfz. 164
Nuts & Bolts Vol. 14
by Martin Block, Anthony J. Greenland, Detlev Terlisten
Book

Kit courtesy of my Credit Card



Page Created 10 March 2004

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