Panda-Hobby 1/16 Pz.Kpfw.38(t) Ausf.E/F Kit First Look

By Dave Manter

First Look

The Pz.Kpfw 38(t) was designed by CKD (Praga) in 1938. The first 150 tanks were produced for the Wehrmacht as the Pz.Kpfw 38(t) Ausf. A from May to November 1939. The success of tests with the first production vehicles led the Wehrmacht to order a further 325 tanks.

The Pz.Kpfw 38(t) tanks were used by German, Hungarian, Romanian, Slovakian and Bulgarian armies at the initial period of WW II. They were also exported to Sweden, Switzerland, Peru, Iran and other states. The Pz.Kpfw 38(t) had excellent technical characteristics such as speed, armor protection and very high reliability. The Pz.Kpfw 38(t) was the best light tank at the beginning of WW II.

WOW! A Pz.Kpfw 38(t) in 1/16th scale! The Panda kit consists of 275 parts molded in grey styrene, 7 parts molded in clear styrene, 204 individual track links (plus pins) molded in brown, 32 detail parts in photo etch and a turned aluminum main gun barrel. Decals are included for 4 vehicles. They are:

• Pz. Regiment 25 of the 7th Pz. Division, Russia, 1942
• Pz. Regiment 204 of the 22nd Pz. Division, Chimea, 1941
• Pz. Regiment 204 of the 22nd Pz. Division, Chimea, 1941
• Pz. Regiment 25 of the 7th Pz. Division, Russia, Winter 1941

You also receive a full color painting guide and artwork by Eric Chan.

The instructions are well written and the drawings are nice. The construction is broken into just 18 steps and should be easy to follow.

Detail on all of the parts is great and the molding is crisp. Flash and seam lines are minimal. The main gun and the machine guns are molded with hollow muzzles. The main gun does feature a full breech as well.

Test fitting of the main parts show that fit is really good. The track links also fit well and should remain workable after construction.

For a look at this kit built-up, look here.

Recommended!

My sincere thanks to Panda-Hobby for the review sample.