Sd.Kfz.231 - Sd.Kfz.232
Barrel & Clearance Indicator Pole
AFV Club 1:35 Kit No. AG35035
Review by Terry Ashley
The set consists of five brass parts, the barrel and the four indicator posts with no clean-up needed on the parts prior to use. The barrel is dimensionally accurate compared to the 1:35 plans in the recent Panzer Tracts No.13-2 Sd.Kfz.231, 232, 263 8-rad book and has the barrel tube only without the forward section of the housing as with some other metal barrels. It also features a fully drilled out muzzle with open small and large gas holes and includes the textured hand grips on the barrel tube in the correct position and are flush with the barrel tube as they should for an excellent appearance.
Muzzle detail.
The barrel is designed to fit the AFV Club kits without alteration as you would expect and simply replaces the plastic kit barrel in the mantlet hole provided without any problems for a marked improvement in appearance.
There is a dimensional issue with the indicator poles when compared to the 1:35 plans in the recent Panzer Tracts No.13-2 Sd.Kfz.231, 232, 263 8-rad book which indicate the pole base is about 1mm too long and the pole itself 2mm too long, although comparing them to period photos in the same book they appear to be of the appropriate length. Notwithstanding this, fitting the indicator poles is a straight replacement for the rear poles that have small pins to fit into the location holes on the kit rear fender, you will however need to drill out the locating holes slightly larger as they are a little narrow for the brass pole pin.
The front poles need a bit of filing to fit, the poles have square ends and you will need to file an angle on the bottom of the pole to match the kit part as the pole fits to the front slope of the fender, filing is very easy due to the soft brass and the pole fits flush to the fender using cyanoacrylate. Note: These poles are specific to the Sd.Kfz.231/232/233/263 series as other armoured cars use different style poles.
I have also replaced the MG34 barrel with the ABER item (set #35 L-70) to improve the appearance along with the metal 2cm cannon.
The front and rear indicator poles added to the AFV Club Sd.Kfz.231/232 kits.
While the barrel is designed specifically for the AFV Club kits it can be used on any kit with the 2cm KwK 30 cannon such as the DML Panzer II, Italeri Sd.Kfz.231 6-Rad, the Tamiya Panzer II or any other candidate. I have used for this example the cannon from the DML Panzer IIC kit simply because I had assembled this previously but fitting the barrel is the same for the Italeri or Tamiya kits with a full cannon included or for any others with just the cannon tube in the mantlet.
The plastic barrel tube is cut off in front of the housing and you drill a 1.2mm hole for the barrel pin, the barrel then fits easily for a marked improvement over the plastic kit barrels, all very easy.
The brass width indicator poles are also an improvement over the plastic kit poles not only in having no mould seams to deal with but don't snap off if you look at them the wrong way as plastic poles tend to do.
Rating 8.5/10
| Büssing’s schwere Pz.Spähwagen Part 1:
(SdKfz.231) &(SdKfz.232) (8-Rad) Nuts & Bolts V35  |
Panzer Tracts No.13-2 Sd.Kfz.231, 232, 263 8-rad Doyle & Jentz  |
Panzerspähwagen Sd.Kfz.231/232 Tankograd Special #4010  |
Armored Vehicles of the German Army 1905-1945 Walter J. Spielberger  |
Ground Power Magazine #73 - 6/2000 GALILEO Publishing Co.,Ltd.  |
Ground Power Magazine #212 - 1/2012 GALILEO Publishing Co.,Ltd.  |
| Military Vehicles in Detail 2 SdKfz 231/234 8-rad Terry J Gander.  |
German 8-wheeled Reconnaissance Vehicles Schiffer Publications  |
for the review sets.