Introduction

The light armoured cars of the German Army in World War 2 served well at the start, but their effectiveness waned as the war went on. During the campaigns in the East these light armoured cars lost their high mobility and so becoming lightly armoured easy targets for the enemy forces. The light armoured car did however prove effective as an occupational element and surprisingly in North Africa where their speed and mobility could be used to great effect. This offering from ICM depicts the radio car version of the Sd.Kfz.261 radio car in quarter scale or 1/48th scale for our younger modellers. 1/38th scale armour has a limited following, but for the 1/48th scale aircraft modeller it is a real plus, it is also of course a big plus for those with big plans and little space that want more detail than that offered in 1/72nd scale.

Contents

This offering is supplied by ICM in their now usual robust packaging that does a much better job than average of protecting the contents. Inside there is an instruction booklet with a small decal sheet tucked away inside. There is also a single re-sealable plastic bag containing the sprues, rubber tyres and photo etch; Yes I said photo etch! An examination does not highlight any major concerns to worry me, there are a few ejector pin marks that will ideally be tackled by the modeller such as on the underside of the wheel arches.

Review

This offering from ICM is devoid of an interior, but don’t let that bother you too much as what is included is worth consideration. The underside of the vehicle has received a good deal of attention such as we have come to expect from ICM. The suspension and drive are all supplied with the model and despite the simplified moulding of singular pieces the level of detail is pleasing to me. A very nice inclusion here for the modeller by ICM is the choice of vinyl rubber tyres or injection moulded wheels, so both camps should be happy with this offering.

Looking at the vehicle itself it is interesting to see that ICM has taken steps to mould doors and hatches separately, so if you have something in mind and can hide the fact that the interior is devoid of detail there are options. I like the level of detail that has been offered here by ICM as it is a good level of detail for the scale while providing the modeller with a quick build and options.

The radio assembly for this offering is nicely presented and suitably scaled. The photo etch supplied with the model is nicely done with well defined bending points. Again ICM has supplied the photo etch with the ability to have the covers open as long as you can fill the space. This model is basically the same model as Kevin Brant supplied a build review of back in December 2017 and so I will provide a link to that build.

ICM has provided four finishing options for this offering in the locations listed which are as follows:
Ukraine August 1941
Russia November 1941
Tunisia March 1943
Belarus October 1943

Conclusion

This is a great little model with a good number of geographical location options. The 1/48th scale aspect will not appeal to everyone but it is a great addition for those who like the scale and the aircraft modellers. The details of the model are in my opinions accurate and it only really suffers in that all those openings and nothing inside.

Links

Build review of the Sd.Kfz.260 German Radio Communication Vehicle by Kevin Brant