Basic Information
The box set comes with 5 half tracks, 1 to each sprue. I saw the box for about $25 from several vendors at Fall In, which makes them pretty cheap! The sprues come with stowage and several passengers in different positions. No decals are provided. There is also no option to make a 251/10.
The details on the vehicle are very sharp - much more sharp than resin or lead. I did find that the crew is not so sharp - but, it is just crew. There was very little flashing on the casts, and the plastic made clean up a breeze where it was required.
Assembly
Since these are really just little models, there is quite a bit of assembly to do before you can prime. I chose to create 3 groups of pieces: the top, the bottom and the tracks. It seemed to me that this would make painting the crew fairly easy.
As I put the models together I broke 3 of 4 of the MGs - they are VERY thin. I was able to glue one back together, but had to use a spare Battlefront MG in place of another. I am guessing that the others will break pretty quickly.
The only word I can think of to describe the assembly process is "fiddly". I kinda have ham-hands, so I really needed a set of tweezers to assemble these things. It took me about 15-20 minutes to assemble each model.
The Painting
I painted these up very much like the other half tracks I did. Everything went well and I cannot complain. I actually thought that the plastic tracks were very well done, with crisp detail - much better than lead.
Conclusion: 3 out of 5 Donkey-Fausts
These are ok. One must make the time/money decision on these. For me, I don't think that these are worth it. I have more money than time. I do not want to spend the time in assembly or the time that I think will be required to fix broken MGs and such. However, I am a 40 year old guy who wears a tie to work every day -- this equation may be different for some of my younger or miserly commanders!
For me, the German Panzergrenadier Box Set is better - it costs about double, but you get 4 halftracks with the 251/10 option AND a platoon of awesome Grenadiers. To me, it is worth it.
The Good:
- Cheap!
- Same size as Battlefront models
- Lots of stowage and bits
The Bad:
- "Fiddly" Lots of assembly time
- Broken MGs everywhere
- No decals
- No 251/10 Option (Editor: Now available in a kit)
- Passengers are kinda lame sculpts
Here is a pic of the Battlefront (212) and the PSC (224) models together:
The box set comes with 5 half tracks, 1 to each sprue. I saw the box for about $25 from several vendors at Fall In, which makes them pretty cheap! The sprues come with stowage and several passengers in different positions. No decals are provided. There is also no option to make a 251/10.
The details on the vehicle are very sharp - much more sharp than resin or lead. I did find that the crew is not so sharp - but, it is just crew. There was very little flashing on the casts, and the plastic made clean up a breeze where it was required.
Assembly
Since these are really just little models, there is quite a bit of assembly to do before you can prime. I chose to create 3 groups of pieces: the top, the bottom and the tracks. It seemed to me that this would make painting the crew fairly easy.
As I put the models together I broke 3 of 4 of the MGs - they are VERY thin. I was able to glue one back together, but had to use a spare Battlefront MG in place of another. I am guessing that the others will break pretty quickly.
The only word I can think of to describe the assembly process is "fiddly". I kinda have ham-hands, so I really needed a set of tweezers to assemble these things. It took me about 15-20 minutes to assemble each model.
The Painting
I painted these up very much like the other half tracks I did. Everything went well and I cannot complain. I actually thought that the plastic tracks were very well done, with crisp detail - much better than lead.
Conclusion: 3 out of 5 Donkey-Fausts
These are ok. One must make the time/money decision on these. For me, I don't think that these are worth it. I have more money than time. I do not want to spend the time in assembly or the time that I think will be required to fix broken MGs and such. However, I am a 40 year old guy who wears a tie to work every day -- this equation may be different for some of my younger or miserly commanders!
For me, the German Panzergrenadier Box Set is better - it costs about double, but you get 4 halftracks with the 251/10 option AND a platoon of awesome Grenadiers. To me, it is worth it.
The Good:
- Cheap!
- Same size as Battlefront models
- Lots of stowage and bits
The Bad:
- "Fiddly" Lots of assembly time
- Broken MGs everywhere
- No decals
- No 251/10 Option (Editor: Now available in a kit)
- Passengers are kinda lame sculpts
Here is a pic of the Battlefront (212) and the PSC (224) models together:
Our friends from View From the Turret also reviewed the Plastic Soldier Company halftracks recently- check them out here: http://viewfromtheturret.com/2011/11/07/plastic-soldier-company-sdkfz251d/
Models provided by The Plastic Soldier Company
