3.7cm FlaK43 auf schwere Wehrmacht Schlepper
Great Wall Hobby 1:35 kit #L3516
Review by Terry Ashley

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The Schwere Wehrmachtschlepper (sWS) was a simple 5 tonne, low-speed, half-track designed to replace the Sd.Kfz.6, Sd.Kfz.11 and similar types and used primarily for cargo transport. The initial unarmoured cargo version was produced by Büssing-NAG from December 1943 till the end of the war with a total of 825 produced; this was continuing post-war by Tatra in Czechoslovakia.

The sWS was powered by a 6 cylinder, water-cooled Maybach HL42TRKMS gasoline engine generating 100 horsepower (75 kW) which gave it a top speed of 27 klm per hour (17.0 mph) on good roads with a load capacity of 4,000 kilograms (8,800 lb).

Great Wall Hobby continues their sWS series of kits with this release of the 3.7cm FlaK 43 Auf which is basically the sWS 60cm 'UHU' kit (#L3511) with a new rear bed tray and  the previously released LR/GWH kit of the 3.7cm FlaK 43 (kit #L3505) with some minor alterations. The main differences being the gun barrel and shields are in plastic with this kit but were metal in the original kit.

The kit has 426 parts in light gray plastic with another 248 individual track links in the same gray plastic plus 38 etched parts. Added to this are the decal sheet and 11 page instruction booklet and a colour poster of the box art included which also has the colour painting guide on the back.

Etched parts and decal sheet

The quality of the moulding is excellent with clean crisp details virtually free of any flash or pin marks and any present is quite minor and easily dealt with. There are the usual mould seam lines to be removed and as some of the parts are extremely small and you will need to take care removing these from the sprues and during assembly.

Dimensionally the kit measures up very well against the 1:35 plans in the Tank Magazine and Panzer Tracts book No.12-1, but there are some discrepancies with the latest info and plans in the new Panzer Tracts book No.22-3 mittlerer Zugkraftwagen 5t (Sd.Kfz.6) and Schwerer Wehrmachtsschlepper, the most notable being the kit rear tray bed is 7mm shorter and the width 3.5mm narrower than what is shown in the latest plans, but more on this below.

There is also disagreement on some dimensions between the plans with the kit matching parts of one plan but not on the other plans and visa-versa. So overall things sort of even out and the kit doesn’t look out of proportion when compared the available photos.

Included in the kit are a number of options including two styles of front wheel rims, the initial large and later smaller diameter drive sprocket as well the initial spoke idler and the solid disc idler plus a full set of full dish road wheels.

The kit is also broken down into sub-assemblies which can be built separately and brought together at final assembly which allows you to work on one while the glue/paint dries on another and this helps speed up assembly. The sub-assemblies are the lower chassis/suspension, forward cab/engine compartment, rear tray and the 3.7cm FlaK 43 gun.

The large lower chassis is moulded perfectly square in one piece which ensures there is a solid basis for the rest of the kit to be built on and added to this are all the separate detail parts. These include the inner torsion bar channels in two halves each and care is needed here to match the right parts together as there are small differences between the channels. It’s a good idea to mark the part numbers on the parts in a fine felt pen as you remove them from the sprues to make sure there are no mix-ups.

These channels fit neatly inside the chassis without any problems and there is also a 3 part fuel tank, a couple of bulkheads and two air tanks added inside the chassis.  Included in the kit are the multi-part winch and cable guide assemblies but the armoured sWS versions did not have the winch fitted so you shouldn’t fit these parts and fill the locating holes on the rear chassis plate. Considering some of these chassis parts can't be seen after the rear tray is fitted you could probably save yourself a bit of work by not fitting some of the parts, it’s your choice.

Added to the chassis side are the 5 axles per side which have subtle cast texturing on the arms and you have to be careful removing the moulding seams so not to eliminate the texturing, the arms are hidden by the road wheels anyway so it probably doesn’t matter a lot?

The axle arms have a small pin to ensure they are all aligned correctly in the neutral position and if you wanted to articulate the suspension you just cut off the pin and reposition the arm.

At the back the idler axle mounting has a separate threaded adjustment bolt that fits through the hull bracket with a separate tensioning bolt and gives very good definition to the mounting, you may want to leave the idler axle unglued as some minor adjustment may be needed to allow the tracks to fit properly later.

There is also a three part towing pintle, boarding step and compressed air valve as well as the towing pintle on the front of the chassis with separate pin.

The front suspension/axle assembly is made up of 18 parts that apart from the moulding seams doesn’t need any further cleanup and the front wheel axle stubs are designed to be steerable so be careful with the glue. The only adjustments made were to reduce the depth of the small brackets on the end of each axle half (parts B65, B66) so these will fit a little loose inside the axle stubs (parts A13) to allow easier movement. The pins on the steering linkages (part B10, B11) fit into the steering rod (part B63) and it’s best to heat melt the ends of the pins to secure these as there is nothing to actually hold these in place if you want the wheels steerable. The remainder of the assembly is fairly straightforward but a little fiddly so take care to get everything in the right position and the assembled suspension unit then fits neatly into the locating holes on the bottom of the chassis.

There are 4 steering linkages added to the left side of the chassis and as we have seen on some other kits these are not designed to be movable and once glued in place negate the workable steering?

This does allow you to position the front wheels at any angle as you glue the linkages for a bit of animation and it’s also a simple task to modify the steering linkages to make these workable for truly workable suspension if you wish.

This entails cutting the locating pins from the parts to fill the corresponding locating holes and when dry drill holes for the thin plastic rod pins (I used 0.6mm plastic rod) added to the appropriate places on the linkages. You then slip the pins through the holes and secure by heat melting the ends of the pins which results in fully workable steering. See images.

Another simple option is to assemble the steering as per instructions but to cut the pin from the front end of steering rod (part B20) and don’t glue the rod to part B10 on the axle assembly. This will allow the wheels to “steer” but the chassis side steering rods will remain fixed.

The front wheels have alternate hubs with subtle differences in the details such as rim bulge and number of lightening holes with both types seen in photos of the sWS so there is no real preference here as either can be used. The tyres are in six “slices” each which are sandwiched together for excellent representations of the tread pattern but you have to ensure the segments are put in the right order and also you should squeeze these together tightly when gluing to eliminate any gaps.

The hubs are a nice tight fit inside the tyres when assembled with the final wheels looking excellent with the well defined tread pattern; the only thing missing is any tyre side wall embossing but apart from that are very well done wheels.

Each drive sprocket is made up of three plastic parts and care is needed to clean up the mould seams inside the outer disc spokes and you need to watch the tooth alignment when gluing the inner and outer sprocket discs together.

There are two locating pins between the two sprocket halves and you should test fit these as the teeth only align with the pins one way, if you fit the pins the other way the teeth don’t align so make sure you get the two dish halves aligned correctly before gluing.

Added to the sprockets are etched step rings around the central hub with these having tread plate texturing on both sides for a good impression. It’s best to bend the etched part around a suitably sized drill bit shaft and join the end with a dab of cyanoacrylate.

The soldered ring can then be added to the sprocket hub with the fit being spot on making for a snug fit and this adds excellent definition to the sprocket hub.

As mentioned there two sizes of drive sprockets supplied in the kit and the majority of reference photos of the sWS show the larger sprocket with only one shot I found with the smaller sprocket. This does show both were used but it appears the larger is far more common, it also looks better IMHO.

The recent plans in the new Panzer Tracts book No.22-3 mittlerer Zugkraftwagen 5t (Sd.Kfz.6) and Schwerer Wehrmachtsschlepper  indicate the larger drive sprocket is a little over 1mm too small in diameter, this doesn’t sound a lot but could be the reason the Friulmodel metal sWS tracks (Set # ATL44) don’t fit well due the smaller tooth pitch on the undersized diameter sprockets. If you use the kit tracks this won’t be an issue so I guess it’s up to the modeller if this is something to worry about.

The road wheels are the early solid dish type with 5 small cut-outs and these are well done with excellent hub details and good dish profile. Assembly is quite straightforward but I did have to enlarge the locating hole on the inside of the outer wheel (parts A25) slightly to better fit over the end of the axles. You just need a couple of twists of a 1mm drill bit to enlarge the hole but be extremely careful you don’t drill right through the outer wheel hub in the process.

At the back are alternate 2 part idler wheels, the initial spoke type and the later solid dish type with references showing the spoke type are more commonly seen so check if you are building a particular vehicle as to the idler type used.

These are individual plastic links that are not workable but designed to just glue together with the track runs formed around the drive sprockets and idlers before the glue dries completely. Detail on the track links is very well defined but there are some small pin marks on the inside of the alternate links without the guide teeth but these seem to disappear after assembly and are not at all obvious on the links I glued together for this review.

While the links are not workable they are large enough for you to drill and add a 5mm wire pin at each side to make them workable if you wished.

The kit includes a large moulding for the front fenders and interior floor pan that includes a full driver’s compartment and this can be seen as the rear cab wall is not attached on this version allowing you to see easily into the compartment after assembly.

The engine firewall has details included on both the engine and cabin side with a separate horn on the engine side and separate instrument panel with decal dials, radio and small lever box with three very small levers added to the driver’s side as well as the three separate foot pedals and three gear levers for a fairly well populated compartment. The seats are in three parts each and the floor has subtle tread plate included and there is additional equipment added to the sidewalls such as junction boxes and an MP40.

The two forward visors have separate 4 part inner brackets which allow these to be positioned open or closed depending on your preference?

Added to the fenders are the pioneer tools with moulded on clips, the two front head lights with separate base and two part light, the width indicator posts with a mirror on the left post plus the Notek light with etched bracket.

Under the left fender is a three part exhaust muffler with the end of the short pipe hollowed out for a better appearance and two bumper bars are added to the front.

The engine compartment shell is a one piece moulding with separate panels for the Driver’s visor plate, roof and the fixed and opening engine bay panels plus the large front armour plate.

There are two small armoured “wings” added to the front plate and you should test fit this to the engine compartment to ensure these are glued at the correct angle.

All the panels fitted perfectly without the need for any trimming and the central engine doors can be shown open or closed if you wish with Great Wall just releasing an engine/transmission set for their sWS kits (set #L3522) that can be added if you wish?

One notable detail on the engine doors is the 4 large vent louvers on the left door are moulded open for a very good appearance although using a sharp #11 blade to open up the louver holes more will enhance the appearance better. The two part roof hatch is free of inner pin marks and can also be shown open or closed as can the driver’s visors as mentioned above.

The fit of the upper armoured cab to the lower fenders is very good with small locating pins resulting in no filler or trimming being required. Added inside the cab shell are two rear bulkheads leaving a crew space for moving between the cab and rear platform and this requires you to open up a locating slot in the floor before hand as shown in the instructions.

As mentioned the rear cab panel is not fitted to this sWS version but this leaves the bevelled edges of the side plates exposed and you may want to “square” these off by adding a thin plastic strip. There is not a lot of info available on the sWS 3.7cm FlaK43 but some images indicate a rear plate was fitted with a large opening leaving just the outer and top sections as a sort of frame while another (and the PT plans in book No.22-3) show the rear completely open and the roof trimmed back to just behind the roof hatch. As we are not likely to get more info than what is currently available I guess you have to make a judgement as the appropriate rear plate configuration.

The rear tray bed is one large section moulded perfectly flat thankfully without any warping and has fine tread plate on the top and ribbing on the underside. Added to this are the underside mounting frame and the rear storage compartment and forward crew seat and the side fold down sides with plastic frames and etched mesh panels.

The latest 1:35 plans in the new Panzer Tracts book No.22-3 book show the rear platform the same width as the armoured cab, yet available photos show the rear platform narrower than the cab fenders as depicted in the kit, so for mine I don’t have a problem in that regard.

The same plans show the length of the rear tray some 7mm longer than that of the kit tray, most of this length being in the cargo compartments mounted on the back of the tray but again the available period photos aren’t conclusive and the kit doesn’t look severely out of proportion compared to the same photos.

The side mesh panels are 3 separate segments per side and you should take care to fit these correctly, the mesh itself has quite pronounced detail on one side but the actual “mesh” on German half tracks isn’t mesh in the normal term but more like the slat armour bars seen on modern armoured vehicles so the etched mesh is a compromise in any case.

Fine etched chains are provided to attach the side panels in the up or down position as required along with the rear mounted tail light and number plate mounting.

The large rear storage box assembly has 11 parts with the two side panels and box and lid parts but the instructions aren’t that clear on the assembly and care and dry fitting is needed to get the parts located correctly, the box lids can also be shown open or closed as you wish?

The bed has indented locating points for the FlaK 43 triangular base and you need to drill a further three holes for the base; these are marked on the underside of the bed to ensure you drill in the right spot.

The assembled tray fits easily to the rear of the armoured cab and onto the chassis making the final fitting quite straightforward without any trimming required.

The gun itself is in two halves with a separate top cover and rear detail which all fit together neatly without any problems and added to this are the gun shield mountings with the front cross member attachment. The front shield is then attached to the mountings.

The barrel is in plastic with the correct length and flash suppressor size but this is not fully hollowed out and the neck and suppressor holes are only indentations. Replacing this with a metal barrel will improve the appearance of the flash suppressor considerably but given the size of the flash suppressor it is possible to drill out the holes for an acceptable appearance should you not want to but an AM barrel?

The 37mm flash suppressor before and after
drilling the holes to improve the appearance.

The main gun mounting is in two halves that trap a small pin for the sight mounting and you should be careful not to glue this while fitting the halves together. There were no problems with the fit and added to the mounting is the two part circular gun rotating mount which is fitted from either side of the main mounting allowing it to rotate and again there were no problems fitting these parts.

Added to the mounting is the large side shield moulded nice and thin without any pin marks to contend with.

The lower gun platform has a separate central plate with nicely embossed detail and additional small details added to the platform including the gun travel lock that can be positioned in travel or firing mode depending on your choice for the model?

Added to the gun are the left side ammo feed tray and the side mounted box made up of 7 parts that fit together perfectly without any gaps but mounting this on the cradle will need care as there are only two small mounting points.  The kit provides four 37mm round clips that can be fitted to the ammo feed chute or mounted on the box as you wish.

On the right side is the lower two part tray and the traverse and elevation hand wheel mounting which has two of the smallest plastic parts for the star fasteners you are likely to find and extreme care is needed when handling these or they will disappear. There is also the side spent shell exit chute made up of three parts that fits into the opening in the gun mounting.

There is a nicely detailed main sight that will move with the gun when elevated if you are careful with the glue as well as the two gunner’s seats that fit together without any problems although these assemblies will need care as the parts are quite small.

The main gun shields are in plastic and moulded in a uniform thickness (thinness) without any pin marks to contend with. The instructions indicate to trim a little off the shield top corners for the vehicle mounted gun which shouldn’t be a problem.

The side foldable shield sections and the sight doors are separate parts and can be fixed in the extended or closed position depending on the kit finish. There are small plastic securing latches and the gunner’s foot rests to add to the inside of the shields with the assembled shields fitting easily to the lower cradle mountings.

The final item for the gun is the large mesh spent shell container fitted to the right side during firing and this has plastic frames to which is added very fine etched mesh and annealing this with a candle flame will allow a less rigid and more realistic appearance once assembled.

The three legged platform matches available photos well for size and the fact that each leg is a different length with the lifting hooks on the end of two legs being separate parts. There are additional smaller etched details to be added but everything went together quickly and easily ready for the gun to be fitted. A small underside bushing attaches the gun to the platform permanently to allow easy traverse but you need to make sure this bushing (part N9) is not glued to the platform if you want the gun to traverse.

Great Wall Hobby provide an etched update set #L3516T for this kit that includes full brass shields and set #LB3514  with a metal 37mm barrel plus numerous other companies producing metal 3.7cm FlaK43 barrels should you want to add further detail?

These are the usual exploded view line drawings which are clear and easy to follow, I didn’t notice any miss numbered parts or other bloopers but of course you should study these carefully before assembly to eliminate any problems.

The small decal sheet is well printed in black & white with a two WL number plates, two data blocks, 5 instrument panel dials and a selection of number 1-0 in two different sizes to allow you to create any n umber plate you wish. The one paint scheme provided on the colour painting guide is in overall dark yellow.

The quality of the kit is very evident with the basic sWS vehicle featuring some excellent details such as the driver’s compartment interior, armoured cab and the rear tray with etched sides as well as being mostly dimensionally acceptable overall. There is very little cleanup required and the fit of the parts very good overall with the front wheels and running gear/track being especially well done.

The FlaK 43 is also very nicely done with a high standard of moulding and part fit although you may want to replace the plastic barrel with a metal barrel to improve the appearance.

Overall this is an excellent kit of this version of the sWS used from 1943 through 1945 and will build into an attractive model without any major problems.

Rating 8.5/10.

Click on thumbnails for larger view


Detail Images

Büssing's schwerer Wehrmachtschlepper (sWS), armored and unarmored variants Nuts & Bolts Vol.41	mittlerer Zugkraftwagen 5t (Sd.Kfz.6) and Schwerer Wehrmachtsschlepper Panzer Tracks No.22-3	Halftrack Vehicles of the German Army 1395-1945 Schiffer Military History ISBN: 0-88740-758-7	German Medium Half-Tracked Prime Movers 1934-1945 Schiffer Publications ISBN: 0-7643-0263-9
Flakpanzer IV Wirbelwind (Sd.Kdz. 161/4), Ostwind & Kugelblitz Nuts & Bolts Vol.25	Flakpanzerkampfwagen IV and other Flakpanzer projects from 1942 to 1945 Panzer Tracks No.12-1

Thanks to Lion Roar/Great Wall Hobby for the review kit.