Hello

I usually don't like to have too many started kits, but bad weather prevented me from painting my other builds, so I got something new underway on the weekend.

Full name of this one is is Heavy Uniform Personnel Vehicle Type 40 (often referred to a a Horch)

This is a Dragon kit where you get two in the box. This makes it excellent value $ wise.

This is only the 2nd Dragon kit I have built, as generally I dont care for the well known & mass produced tanks of WW2, which is mainly what Dragon produce, nice to see they have been releasing some more diverse kits last year.

I can see why Dragon kits are popular, very clean & sharp casting, & very little clean up needed. This kit is like a quick build - the body & chassis is cast in one piece, which is good.

Instructions are clear, and fit of parts is good.

There are two things that could be commented on. One is the sides of the vehicle. They are cast quite thick & there is no interior door details such as handles, the inside of the door surface is smooth. Luckily this model has the canvas cover so the lack of interior door detail will not be seen. (Kit 7421)

The cover is cast in clear plastic to allow the side window areas to be painted around which is a good idea, as their are 7 small window partitions on each side.

The other area is the rear of the vehicle. I have it from a good source that the rear door shapes (which are the same size and shape as the rearward side doors) are wrong. The vehicle should have large rectangular shaped doors. Apparently this is not the first kit to make this error.
I'm no expert on these vehicles, but trust the source, and have a set of plans with the correct rear shape, so have modified the back with plastic card and a bit of brass rod.

Some progress pics below

cheers
Neil

Hey Neil,

So you are at it again! Glad to see someone building this vehicle so that people can get a different spin or take on the kit. Don't know if you saw it, but I recently did a review of the Horch 108 here on Armorama. It is a simple kit but not without a potential problem or two for the less skilled modeller.

As for the actual name of the vehicle, that can be rather confusing. I did extensive research for the review and it's amazing that such a prominent subject is not covered very concisely anywhere. The bottom line is that there were numerous versions of this vehicle produced by three main manufacturers and numerous subcontractors. From my research even the Kfz. number varied depending on the intended use purpose. Best I can ascertain is that this Dragon kit represents one of the original Horch 108's. There is also some doubt whether the "Type 40" applied to this particular variant.

There may be a few predominate body styles but there were also numerous others. Not just with the body but also with the hood (bonnet). Here are gut a couple of images of body variations.

FOR DISCUSSION PURPOSES ONLY





Note the first image has rear doors similar to the Dragon (and several other manufactures in different scales) kit(s). Also, the lack of the exposed spare tire would strongly suggest that it's a later "1c" variant. With the second vehicle there is an additional door behind the rear wheel. Sorry if I got a bit carried away on this point but I have read numerous arguments/discussions on the subject on various sites and none were conclusive.

As for your build, it looks like you've got it together very cleanly. Your modification of the rear doors looks excellent. Will you be using the provided kit decals or find alternatives? I used the kit decals with the individual number decals and almost went mad. I'll be following this build with interest.

Cheers,
Jan

Sorry, Jan, but exactly on this first picture you posted it is very well visible these aren't the rear body doors but the rear SIDE doors, detached and stored OVER the rear doors which are always rectangular, on all types of Horch model 108 bodies. To omit the side doors on Horch 108 was common practice to speed access to the vehicle and to ease its leaving by the crew in emergency.
Just look at the picture again, the truth is obvious. Regretfuly it wasn't that obvious for Dragon, nor for Tamiya (because I suspect their old 1/35 kit with wrong rear was used by Dragon as main, not to say directly the only reference).

Hi Jan

I didn't know you did a review on this kit. I had a read and it was quite detailed & informative, you put a good effort into writing it. I agree with the minor issues and things to look out for in your review, & agree none present any obstacles or difficulties to the build.

I really should check other parts of this site more often, I only usually check this Forum & sometimes check out the Campaign forums. Just knowing that probably more than 90% of armour modellers do 1/35th scale doesn't encourage me to look around too much. As you recently observed, age and failing eyesight haven't moved me to a larger scale, and I'm past the half century.

I doubt very much that I will use the kit number plate decals. I would if I had no other options, but I can't see the point, when I have suitable spares, or I could make & print some on the PC.

About those rear doors.

First I have to say I have no emotional or intellectual stake in this. I don't mind if they are right or not.

I also have not read any discussion on the web or elsewhere about the rear doors.

A knowledgable source has advised me that the side doors could be removed to facilitate quick exit and entry by troops, and when removed they were stored hung on the back (over the existing rectangular doors), and this is what creates the odd angled door appearance on the rear.

In your first photo it does appear that there is a dark area on the side which to me suggests the side doors may be removed.

The side doors on the model are the same size and shape as the rear doors, which does also suggest that they are one and the same doors.

This is one explanation.

It may be the case that there were variants; one with square doors and one with angled doors.

I have below a picture showing one of these with a light flak mounted from Panzer Colours (Culver and Murphy). A picture in this shows rectangular rear doors. And two others from the autogallery.org.ru website








What does this mean for us modellers ? We have evidence of rectangular doors, and we may have evidence of angled doors (depending on how you interpret the photos).

For anyone modelling this kit, it also gives the option of cutting out the two side doors and leaving the rear as it is (as the side doors are cast hanging on the rear). This would be the case for a 'top down' build. This also means you have less interior detailing to add as two doors are removed.

The MAC 1/72 model of this kit has gone with the rectangular doors on their kit.

I hope this is useful for discussion.

Any other opinions, plans, pictures etc from anyone else is welcome, to help build knowledge which helps all of us.

cheers
Neil

I'm afraid it wouldn't be that easy, Neil. The rear doors on the kit are molded flush and look exactly like rear doors, not like something else stored over them.
Get the difference:

Nice progress Neil and I find it interesting what you did to the rear of the body. The ensuing discussion about those back doors though is another thing. I've seen tread_geek's review and from your preliminary build pictures it looks like something I might give a try. I also like the idea of two models as if one messes one up there is always the second! It's also very interesting to see two separate approaches to the same subject.

Regards,
AJ

Hi Neil!
It seems, that we share the same taste for braille kits, because I have the same kit under construction. Right now I'm addign last small pieces for exterior and then it's painting time. Interior and canvas are finished but canvas needs to be connect to body.
I think I'll use Cristal Klear for glueing canvas to body, just to avoid any nasty suprises. I mean, the ordinary glue could cause same effect as used with clear airplane cockpit.
What you others think? Othervise nice kit but I wasn't fully satisfied for the quality of it in some parts..

Hi Korpse

Very interesting model. I like this vehicle.
Hope you enjoy the build. Maybe we can see the next pictures in a few days???? ;-)

Cheers Daniel