Andy King presents the first half of his build review on MiniArt’s Sd.Kfz. 234/2 “Puma” Schwerer Panzerspahwagen in 1/35th scale. See how he builds up the no-interior version in part I today…
Build Guide Pt. I: MiniArt’s 35th scale Sd.Kfz 234/2 “Puma” (no interior kit)
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Sd.Kfz. 234/2 “Puma”
From MiniArt
1/35th scale
Kit No#35419
The Subject: Sd.Kfz. 234/2 “Puma” Schwerer Panzerspahwagen
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The successor to the earlier Sd.Kfz.231/232/233 ‘acht rad’ (eight wheel) armoured cars, the Sd.Kfz. (Sonderkraftfahrzeug) 234 series was based on the new ‘ARK’ chassis and powered by a Tatra V12 diesel engine. The 234 series first appeared in 1940. Its prototype was due to begin trials in the year 1942, but due to excessive noise, a new engine (the Tatra 103), was created instead. The 234 was manufactured from mid-to-late 1944, until the replacement by the newer version with an open-topped turret armed with 20mm gun. Puma served on the eastern and western fronts of the war until 1945. This subject is in the background. Kfz. The middle ground is an Sd. Kfz. 234/3 8-Rad and an unrecognized armoured car in the background.
Although the 234 series has been kitted before by Dragon and Italeri, these are over thirty years old (the Italeri kit is probably nearer forty), and now MiniArt has brought us a brand new tooled family of the 234 variants. MiniArt sent me the limited-interior version of the Puma kit for review. It comes with twenty grey plastic sprues, an etched metal sheet, and some nicely printed decals. The moulding is excellent with very little flash on any of the parts. However, if building the full interior version, there will be some obvious mould-pin markings on the interior of the hull.
The box contents…
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Before we get any deeper into the build however, I have to mention that it is ‘possible’ to turn the wheels for the steering but if you want to go down that rabbit hole then the process would start here as you would need to remove the locating pegs on parts Ca34 so that you could move them to match the positions of the wheels front and back. The steering was something I considered, but ultimately decided not to do because it would take too much time and be too difficult for this review. MiniArt has moulded small locating holes into the floor, which are used to match the sides of the hull. I removed these as they were a hindrance and prevented a proper fit. %20from%20Das%20Werk%20%20(15).webp)
The next thing was to fit the hull sides so I glued the front of the hull (part B15 into place first then fixing one side at a time from the front to the back…%20from%20Das%20Werk%20%20(3).webp)
…,finally gluing the rear hull plate (part A3) into place before gluing the hull side to it, repeating the process for the opposite side. For strength I ended up using superglue and accelerator.%20from%20Das%20Werk%20%20(5).webp)
With the hull together, the rest of the interior parts were added. The top of B32 was glued in place, but it isn’t visible and interfered with the rest of the interior parts. I cut off the bottom half. The actual fit of the lower hull wasn’t brilliant and needed some gaps filling.
Moving onto the upper hull, MiniArt provide clear parts for the three visors and I was toying with the idea of having them open but in the end I closed them as the actual fit wasn’t the best. The front hatch also needed to be closed, after some sanding. The louvres for the rear engine deck can be displayed open or closed and the fit was OK but there was some flash present on the open louvres that needed trimming before being fixed in place.
Without the engine you can see inside but black paint hides a lot.
Next we come to the suspension, and looking at the instructions it does appear quite daunting and complicated – more so if you are attempting to turn the wheels as the track rods (parts Da13), the pillars they attach to (parts Ca4, Ca5, Ca25 and Ca26) all require their positions altering to suit. The large locating bolts at the end of the drive shafts, part Da19, will need to be removed in order for you to turn the wheel hubs. It was easier to glue the top wishbones first before adding the lower ones. I also found it best to glue the top wishbones first before adding the lower wishbones.
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Although I used Tamiya liquid cement to glue them in place, once I was happy with the positions of all four suspension units, superglue and accelerator was then used to speed up the drying time and to give the suspension some strength. After the first suspension unit was added, I used a ruler to align the hubs. I had already glued them earlier. However I should have done it at this point as there were some alignment problems. After the track rods and suspension supports were attached (parts Da13 and Ca8, Ca9 and Ca10), it was time to finish the lower hull. The fit was awful around the front as the upper part of the hull had a slope on its mating edge. This left a large gap which needed to be filled, and was made more difficult by the interlocking joint as on the actual vehicle. The wheels
Once I had cleaned the hull, I assembled the five-part wheels. The Puma (along with other members of the family) were fitted with various tyre types although MiniArt provide just the one for the main wheels (DEKA) and a Continental for the spare.
Anyway, if you follow the build sequence they go together fairly well but I would recommend drilling out the locating holes first. The way I did it was to dry fit the wheels together THEN glue them, holding them together with clothes pegs or clamps until set, I also found it useful to mark the part numbers on the insides.
Gluing those wheels together – A mini guide:
Firstly you glue the wheel hub (part Da1) into D5 then follow the assembly sequence, noting that parts D4 and D2 have a slight camber. The wheel hub is glued into D5 first, then you follow the assembly sequence. Note that parts D4 and D2 have a slight camber. First, the wheel hub had to be glued in place.
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Part D3.
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Part D2 is added, this is all it takes to make these tyres successfully.
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Part D2 is added, this is all it takes to make these tyres successfully.
Finally part D1 (the rear of the tyre). The gap in the middle was filled using plastic rod, and the weld beads were applied with pyrogravure.
Once the gaps had been filled the pioneer boxes and tools along with spare wheel holders on the back of the car was added.
After the gaps have all been filled the kit supplied tool clamps and other accessories are added. MiniArt provides etched handles to the tool clamps moulded into the pioneer tools. Purists may add their own, but I found the ones supplied in the kit adequate. It was also difficult to clean and remove the aerials. It is difficult to reproduce the tube-like’star antenna’ on 1/35th scale. The flat “star” is provided as an etched part. The steering guides, rear-view mirrors and other parts that are attached to the hull have been removed until they can be painted for safety. I will probably replace these with wire replacements…
A look at the hull from both sides after construction.
Lastly, we come to the turret and my original plan was to have the two hatches open, however there was not enough detail included (it is a no interior kit after all), especially around the breech – plus the fact that the hinges are far too small meant that I glued the hatches shut.
I did attempt to make new hinges from brass strip but gave up as they were not working out. The replacement hinge is made of brass strip.
You will see that the replacement hind made out brass strip.You’ll see this replacement hinge.
You’ll see it made from the brass strip.The other turret detail were also glued in and I added cast lines around the mantlet using heat stretched sprue. It is best to replace the smoke dischargers as the size of the lower part of the unit can affect the fit. Even down to the brake on the muzzle, I thought it was pretty decent for an injection-molded item. So, I kept it. The instructions do not mention that part L24 must be attached to the right-hand side of the Turret. The turret needs to be sanded down a little bit before it can fit into the hull. The kit was not bad but there were some things that needed attention. I did not expect this on a freshly tooled model. Also, the three-part fenders should have been done as one unit. My recommended fix will hopefully solve the fit issue with the front hull.