Sd.Kfz. 251/22 Ausf. D

william wise
I bought this kit off Evil-Bay a while back and was a little put off that the seller started the cannon it took me a long to time to figure out that he put the cradle together backwards once i realized the problem it wasn't to hard to fix it. This is the first Dragon Sd. Kfz. 251 i worked on and the fit between the upper and lower half is not very good, but the kit is very detailed.

Hunter Cummins
Welp, now you made me want to get one lol
looks nice so far

Fabian D.
Concerning dragon 251ers, that "fit" is feared by many😉

william wise
the fit issue was a little unexpected, I should really use this site for the reviews before starting kits 🤔, but nothing a bunch of rubber bands and clamps couldn't cure

M.Julian Marles
^yeah I have I think about seven DML halftracks...grrrr..oh well

John Van Kooten
Hey William, cool project! I love German half-tracks! 👍

Honestly speaking, I think the fitting issues are related to parts being ejected to soon from the molds, while they were not sufficiently cooled down. That one reason why parts warp.
The ones I have built did not have any issues. But I have also checked the Sd.Kfz 251/22 kits currently in my stash and they all seem to have a proper fit of the lower hull + side panels + upper hull (tested by using liquid tape). I don't see any gaps. I have also checked some other Dragon Sd.Kfz. 251 kits from my stash and they seem fine as well. Maybe it's just bad luck that you are having this issue?

Also, if you go do some reading of reviews, please also still do your own research 😉

For instance, most people believe what was said in the PMMS review about the PaK shield having its cuts on the side too far upwards. This one right here:

perthmilitarymodelli..agon/dr6248const.htm

This is NOT true!! The Dragon PaK shield is (also) 100% correct!

They (the PMMS reviewer) should re-consult their references, properly this time, because there were versions where the shield was actually cut that high (right up to the middle bolt on the gun shield).

The reason for this cut-out was that when the gun was elevated the shield would hit the side walls of the half-track. Hence they cut a piece out so the gun could elevate to its maximum elevation without getting stuck between the sidewalls.

For reference, here's some photographic evidence, where you can clearly see the cut-out DOES go all the way up to the middle gun shield bolt:

[img1]
[img2]
[img3]

M.Julian Marles
Thats very helpful..and yes like DML associates that write glowing reviews, there are also those that go out of their way to make Dragon look bad. Another example would be the Academy M3 Honey that got totally lampooned by a respected reviewer, who had incorrect references. As John said, do your own research and weigh that against the reviwers 🙂

John Van Kooten
Indeed! People are simply putting too much trust in other people's words. You never know who the person on the other end is and how much he / she actually knows. That is why I ALWAYS add references and proof to anything I write. I don't make things up or guestimate. What I say is extensively researched (by me!) and although I am just human and can make mistakes, I think what I say is usually true 😄 but even so, if you want to know for sure, always do some digging yourself 🙂

Your welcome, Julian, glad it was useful info 👍

Phil Marchese
The whole kit review concept in this industry is a casestudy in business ethics. from a consumer standpoint kit reviews should be considered paid endorsements or if by editors or staff, an advertisement. Beyond that, forums were actual experienced modelers comment become word wars with all the treachery and sabotage of any war.

Mike Kryza
I'm in - this will be an interesting project. 👍

Lionel Marco

I agree with the interesting project!