The Wehrmacht did not strictly differentiate among versions of the Sd.Kfz. 7 and its variants as to "early," "mid" or "late," though you can read a lot about KM numbers before the final design was settled on (some sources actually refer to the Sd.Kfz. 7 as KM 8 through 11). The letters stand for the manufacture by Kraus-Maffei, though other companies built this vehicle as well, and reflects the four evolutionary stages the design went throug. The changes mostly center on the Maybach power plant, which proved insufficient at first for the job of towing the large guns like the 88mm and 150mm howitzer, but also include things like the stowage bins at the rear, the front end and even spare tires affixed to the rear. But once the power plant was upgraded, the vehicle seems to have been pretty well stable in design from 1937 until the end of the war. The "late" designations are mostly to reflect vehicles constructed with wooden slats or load bed. Herbert A. reports 7/1 or 7/2 variants with wooden flaps instead of the wire mesh on this model, and I am sure he is correct, though I've never seen any photos showing that form of variant. There weren't a lot of the gunned versions produced (319 of the Vierling "quad" rendered here and 123 of the 3.7 cm PAK version that I believe was only produced with an armored cab and motor). If your German is good, you can find out a lot about the vehicle if you click here. Another good source for information is the Wings & Wheels publication Sd.Kfz. 7 In Detail. The model rendered by Trumpeter is most definitely an earlier variant of the 7/1 since the cab and bonnet aren't armored, but not truly early, since the gun has a shield on it, which apparently the earliest versions did not. It seems hard to imagine having a gun shield and an unarmored cab and motor, but so be it.

To bill_C Sd.kfz.7/1 early version Sd.kfz.7/1 early version Another late version of Sd.kfz.7, But not wooden cargo

Gaoyue, I appreciate these images which I have not seen previously, but I'm not totally in agreement with your assessment. My objections are mostly small and pedantic, but since we're discussing variants, I thought I should respond to your very informative post. First of all, there were no official designations by the Waffenamt ("Office of Weapons Procurement") designating different variants between "early" or "mid," to this sort of taxonomy is really just for us to determine when in the war something was produced so we might know how to camoflage it, etc. Is this image below an early 7/1 with an added gun shield or a middle one with gun shielf factory-installed? Don't know and it doesn't really matter. It's not a "late" version. This one is, of course, a "late" version because of the armored cab and radiator cover, as well as the different fender with its sharp angle bend. I'm not sure what you mean by a "different axle," as the photo doesn't show enough for me to see a difference. Do you mean a different hub cap? Same for the "different track," I can't see enough in the photo to determine any differences, and have never seen anything about different tracks being used later in the war. The Sd.Kfz.7 tracks were self-lubricating sealed pin tracks that performed very well in all conditions with minimal maintenance. I'm not sure why you say that, since this looks actually like a much earlier variant except for the sharp mudguard angle at the front. I can't find my copy of [i[Allied-Axis #21[/i] (reviewed by me here) that has the earlier versions of the Sd.Kfz. 7 under their Kraus-Maffei numbers, but it looks to me like this photo above has the spare tires mounted on the rear and no storage bins. Could it be a later version without the wooden sides? Yes, of course, but could you cite your references or other indications of why you say this is a late version other than the fenders and missing storage bins? Were the Germans producing the vehicle without the storage cabinets to save time & materials? I'm not doubting you, but you have asserted this is a late version and I just want to know how you came to that conclusion. Thanks in advance (TIA). And one last question: is Trumpeter planning on introducing late versions of the 7/1? Your late version prime mover has the sharp fenders, so it would seem to be easy enough. You could even steal a page from Dragon's sales techniques and include a 2 for 1 "smart kit" that allows us to build either the early or late version?

The Copyright on the sheet down to the right is 2008, so its probably a work in progress over time. Perhaps the 2007 sheets was supposed to go on something else that was scrapped...or its been planned a long time

Honestly, I fail to see what date the PE sheets have is of ANY relevance whatsoever....

We're parsing this like it was an ancient text or one of the Dead Sea scrolls! Apparently Gaoyue's photos have gone MIA.

To dear bill two kinds of hub cap, another two type of tracks Certainly, we can't simply say "early "or "late " version ,but we must differentiate named the KIT,

Gaoyue xiansheng, xiexie nin! I agree that we need names for kits, and I have no problems with Trumpeter using them as long as they are accurate. The kit shown at the Nuremberg Toy Fair says gepanzerte ("armored") and it's not. It's strictly a late war prime mover. I was on the plane to and from a one-day business trip yesterday (part of the reason I'm behind on my reviews) and I devoured the [i[Allied-Axis #21[/i] section on the Sd.Kfz.7 and have a better grasp of its intricacies now. I want to retract two things I said earlier: 1.) The 7/2 variant was produced without an armored cab & radiator cover (strangely they did not armor the engine compartment, which was vulnerable to even small arms fire); 2.) The final photo showing the angled fenders is probably mid- to late war with no stowage bins. Those bins were likely a luxury the manufacturers could no longer afford, though I should point out there were variations in manufacture based on the different factories that made this vehicle. Buessing NAG-made Sd.Kfz.7s, for example, have some ribbing along the trailing edge of the front fenders. Perhaps this is an example of a manufacturer's variant? The photos of the various hub caps and tracks types are interesting to fanatics like myself, but I suspect are relatively minor details to the average modeller. But I thank you for sharing them, as I'm always looking for more photos of this vehicle.

Yes Bill, the [i]gepanzerte['i] is wrong, It's someone's mistake.