Hi Kent, I take your point there. I wasn't kidding when I say I think that only Bill and Myself actually care about the trailers. Overall it looks like a good kit. If it was the only one on the market I'd buy it ( I probably will anyway as I love Jerry's halftracks ). As regards the trailer it has the Sd.Ah.52 chassis and the Sd.Ah.56 top which is wrong. Either trailer on t's own complete is correct. I'll buy it as I'll simply rebuild the box as a complete Sd.Ah.52. To be pedantic the gun is possibly wrong too as there's no record of the Sd.Kfz.6/2 with a 3.7cm Flak 37, just the earlier Flak 36 but I'm realistic enough to know one could have easily been upgraded. But those two points aside it's a good looking kit and as I said if it were the only one I'd buy it in a heartbeat. But Bronco has one that looks equally good and better in places ( the spare barrel box is correct ), doesn't have a trailer but Bronco do a standalone Sd.Ah.52 kit that is very good and it does have the FlaK 36. But you're right that we do sound like we're panning it without good cause and I do apologise for that. I guess my moan wasn't so much at the kit itself but rather at Trumpeter. They released this trailer a year ago with their Sd.Kfz.7 kits and it was pointed out then that it was wrong ( in some threads that got quite heated in the debate between those who cared and those who didn't ). One of Trumpeters people took part in those debates so they were aware it was wrong but they chose not to correct it. I understand the business reasoning behind that, like you say 90% who buy it won't care. But at the same time I've seen other manufacturers who do take feedback on board and make changes so for me it was more a case of if they don't care then what else don't they care about ? Can I trust any of their research ? And do I give my money to a company that isn't interested in doing the best they can, or do I give it to someone like Bronco who I see as doing a much better job of bring to the market fresh ideas. And I apologise in advance for the detour down an old tangent away from the subject at hand for those who just want to go buy and build and not get caught up in the endless debates over seemingly trivial shortcomings.

Dean, only the most casual modeler will be upset at your pointing these things out. I care about the correct trailer because, as you have pointed out, once it gets into production, it tends to stay there. Putting the right box on the right chassis shouldn't be that hard, but apparently Trumpy's management has decided it's not worth fixing the way they supposedly went back and fixed some of the problems with the Sd.Kfz.7. DML is one of the better manufacturers are upgrading its kits, for which it gets high marks from me. Imagine if they'd stuck with their earlier versions all these years the way Tamiya has? They fall down, though, because they don't include a trailer at all. Trumpeter has been steadily improving its product, but I suspect that once something is in production, the financial incentive of correcting it is simply too small. After all, look at the size of the AM resin upgrade companies-- the only ones that attract real critical mass are those offering conversions to vehicles that don't exist in kit form. So why spend $$$$ when your kits sell anyway? Tamiya has shown that. But even Tamiya deserves some props, especially its airplane division. They've just announced the first accurate P-51 Mustang D in 1/32 scale, and if it's like their Zeros and Spitfires, it will be a welcome addition to the hobby. I guess it just shows that no company has a lock on accuracy. Finally, as to the correct "mesh." I don't believe it's possible to produce it in styrene, and even the PE makers have shied away from tackling the issue. The Griffon upgrade is accurate, but it's expensive and a $%#^@#%&$%#$ to build. Kamizukuri has its laser-cut paper, but that's still something of a partial success. This is one that will have to wait for a technological breakthrough in resin or styrene.

It's nice that they include a trailer but it's still the same hybrid 52/56 trailer that they included with their S.Kfz.7 kits. It would have been nice if a year after having that pointed out endlessly that they could have done the simple alteration of changing the box. I like the look of the Bronco one better, even without the trailer as their stand alone trailer kit is worth it ( I might have bought half a dozen already ). But knowing me I'll still get one of these just because I'm a sucker for german halftracks.[/quote] Changing the box wouldn't have fixed the trailer for this release. The Sd.Ah. 56 carried 2cm ammo for the FlaKVierling 38. the proper trailer for this release would have been the Sd.Ah, 57 which carried 3.7cm ammo. Externally they were identical, internally they were not. Trumpeter's box is fine for a Sd.Ah. 56/57 it is the frame that is wrong. The Trumpeter trailer is a mix of Sd.Ah. 52 and Sd.Ah. 56/57 as you said having a frame of a 52 but box, wheels and fenders of a 56/57. Now having said that, at least you get a trailer unlike the Dragon kits. But Trumpeter was made aware of accuracy issues with their Sd.Kfz. 7 series with their first release (as well as this trailer) and they still have not fixed any of them as far as I know. Roy

Trailer aside, the vinyl tires on Trumpy 1/2 tracks have to go: Replacement wheels with the "uncommon" tread. Replacement wheels with the "common" tread.

Thanks for the review Bill! I do have one question, why aren't these replicating a flat side and bulge in the sidewall to them as they make ground contact? - Jeff

Properly inflated tires have no bulge only underinflated tires have a bulge. Roy

What Roy said. The road wheels for Jerry 1/2 tracks didn't carry a lot of weight. I'm sure Frenchy will post some photos making a liar out of me, though.

If you compare tires on large trucks and on typical cars, you might also see another clue about the lack of bulge on those old 1/2 track tires... They were (are, on restored examples) the older-fashioned straight-wall truck tire. These truck-type tires have substantially stiff and thick side-walls and don't bulge when properly inflated. Much of the weight-carrying capacity of these tires is provided by the sidewalls, and the air serves more as a cushion or shock-absorber. Many (maybe most) modern passenger car tires are "radial" tires with softer side-walls. These radials actually bulge out a little - by careful design - when they are properly inflated. The air serves as both load-carrier and shock absorber; a non-bulging radial is an over-inflated radial and may not perform as planned... Interestingly enough (to me, anyway ), the Germans quickly found that the standard "straight sidewall, truck-style" military tires did not serve very well in the loose sand of the north Africa desert... and switched to those nice wide and bulgy radial desert tires one sees on DAK kubelwagens! That, and they learned to deflate and soften tires so that they would bulge and conform to float on the soft substrates rather than dig down into it. Something probably not too important for those rather lightly-loaded tires on German 1/2 tracks. Cheers! Bob

I was under the impression the radial tyre didn't come out onto the market until after the war.