Panda-Hobby 1/35 15cm sFH 13/1(Sf) auf GW Lr.s(f) Sd.Kfz.135/1 Kit First Look

By Michael Benolkin

First Look

Well into the middle of World War II, artillery was moved around the battlefield with tractors or horses, but the German Army had a problem with the inability of its artillery support to keep up with its armored forces. Someone came up with a logical solution of using the chassis of obsolete tanks or captured tanks and a whole new series of self-propelled artillery and anti-tank guns came online. This was also fortunate as the German Army would wind up eating their horses when conditions worsened in the field, but I digress... One such chassis was the French-built Lorraine tracked vehicle that would receive the PaK-40 anti-tank gun and become the Sd.Kfz.135 Marder I. German engineers created the Sd.Kfz.135/1 derivative by replacing the PaK-40 with a WWI-era 150mm howitzer for indirect fire support.

Here is the latest release from Panda Hobby, the Sd.Kfz.135/1 (or you can use the lengthy designation which spells out the heritage of this combination of systems) 15cm sFH 13/1(Sf) auf GW Lr.s(f). Molded in tan styrene, this kit is presented on four parts trees plus one fret of photo-etched parts, two sets of while metal track links, and a bag of track pins. This kit also includes a track jig to make the job of track assembly much easier.

Among the kit's features and options:

• Detailed lower hull
• Detailed suspension and road wheels
• White metal individual track links connected by metal pins (included)
• Detailed upper hull with photo-etched engine grille
• Detailed interior in the chassis and inside the armored shield
• Detailed radio set and fire computer
• Nice pioneering tools
• Positionable recoil spade

This is actually a simple build aside from the individual track links, but there are some nice details that will make this model stand out. There are also opportunities for the AMS modeler to have a little fun with this project by adding cabling and crew stowage to the model to help tell a story. This looks like a fun project!

Here is a list of paints Panda Hobby identifies for the colors of this kit and the equivalent colors from other brands (note that in the instructions, the detail colors are identified with GSI Creos colors, but the camouflage colors are identified using paints produced in China and we've substituted those colors with available equivalents):

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