Dragon 1/35 PZ.SFL.IVB 10.5CM LE.FH18/1, SD.KFZ.165/1 AUSF.A

Features

Turret:
- Newly tooled Pz.Sfl.Ivb turret with accurate sharp
- Authentic weld seams on turret
- Newly tooled mantlet w/realistic bolt details
- Turret supports realistically reproduced
- Top edges of turret mirror those on real vehicle
- Incorporates toothed turret ring inside turret
- Turret side hooks especially designed with undercut detail
- New slide-molded spare-track rack with fine detail

Gun:
- Newly tooled gun barrel
- Gun with full breech assembly
- Gun breech and recoil guard fully reproduced
- Gun details finely represented by photo-etched parts
- Slide-molded muzzle brake

Upper Hull & Engine Deck:
- Completely new upper hull with fully detailed engine deck
- New spare road wheel rack made from photo-etched parts
- Driver's hatch can be assembled open/closed
- Driver's vision port can be assembled open/closed
- New tooled fenders with detailed tread pattern, hinge and bolt detail
- Slide-molded fender supports newly tooled

Lower Hull:
- New 2-direction slide-molded lower hull is superbly detailed
- Bolts and rivets delicately represented on hull bottom
- Muffler is multipart assembly
- New design for hull rear
- Detailed towing-eye brackets with separate parts
- Accurate transmission and steering-brake access hatches can be assembled open/closed

Suspension, Wheels & Tracks:
- Newly tooled 520mm road wheels exhibit crisp detail for Pz.Sfl.IVb
- Realistic parting lines on rubber tires
- New idler wheels with detailed parts
- Convenient Magic Tracks
- Realistically reproduced suspension is new

Early in WWII, German units relied on towed howitzers like the 10.5cm le.FH.18. Various proposals were made for a self-propelled version, with Krupp offering one based on a modified Panzer IV chassis. Named the Pz.Sfl.IVb or Sd.Kfz.165/1, its open-topped turret contained a 10.5cm le.FH.18 howitzer that was capable of only a 70� traverse by hand. A test series of eight vehicles was produced in November 1942 and they were combat tested in Russia. However, production was eventually cancelled because the administration decided they wanted carriages with all-round traverse. In the event, the le.FH.18 was successfully mounted on a Panzer II chassis in the well-known Wespe variant.

Dragon has produced a fine new 1/35 scale kit of this rare and novel self-propelled howitzer. Just as the original prototypes were especially constructed, so Dragon’s scaled-down kit has a preponderance of brand new toolings. Of special note is the correctly shaped turret. This was based on detailed research so as to reproduce it with the correct proportions and dimensional accuracy. Though the lower hull and running gear look similar to that of a Panzer IV, they are in fact heavily modified. For instance, the Pz.Sfl.IVb has six enlarged road wheels each side. This kit fully represents the nuances of this unusual artillery piece, and no effort was spared on creating this kit. For those modelers wishing to have an accurate Pz.Sfl.IVb 10.5 cm in 1/35 scale, Dragon is the only name in the game!