introduction

With the release of the AFV Club kits as well as the several resin kits and conversions, there has been some interest on this vehicle. Strangely enough, not much reference was found other than a few articles since it is overshadowed by its armored kin, the Sd.Kfz. 251 series.

The scale plans are done by John L. Rue and the book is authored by Dr. Nicolaus Hettler.

It is broken down into sections. The inner front cover has four photos of the late version AFV Club model superbly rendered by Mario Eens. There is a color archival photo on the title page followed by bilingual text covering the variants, several sketches of the mark logos, seven tables, and a modelers section ending with acknowledgements.

By going over the many photos in this section, I was able to see 31 archival photos of which only one was not the Sd.Kfz 11 yet there were several of the late model which one book stated no other photos existed of it in German use! What a collection! Dr. Hettler has shown an eye for detail and the photos capture so many of the vehicles and their idiosyncrasies that one is left smiling at the depth of research.

These photos are mostly clear, definitely rare, and quite useful in seeing these halftracks in use and repair. The photos of vehicles during tests are revealing of details that would otherwise be hidden.

Four color profiles by David Parker follow. David Parker has used John L. Rue's plans to create them. The markings are interesting and some weathering was added to a few of the profiles. A nice touch is an inset photo showing the actual vehicle on which the profile is based.

Scale plans follow and they cover a variety of vehicles. These are drawn by John L. Rue and cover:
p.79 top drawing: Hansa-Lloyd HL kl2 (prototype) - Left side view
p.79 bottom, page 80 top & center: Hansa-Lloyd HL kl3 (prototype) – Four view
p.80 bottom: Sd.Kfz. 11 le.Zgkw auf HL kl5 Fahrgestell – Left side view
p.81 top: Sd.Kfz. 11/2 - Left side view
p.81 middle: Sd.Kfz. 11/3 Left side view
p.81 bottom & p.82: Sd.Kfz. 11 mit geschlossenem Fahrerhaus und Munitionsabteil auf HL kl5 Fahrgestell - Five view
p.83 & p.84 top & middle: Sd.Kfz. 11 le. Zgkw auf HL kl6 Fahrgestell – Six view
p.84 bottom & p.85: Sd.Kfz. 11/1 Nebelkraftwagen für 10cm NbW 40 – Five view
p.86 & p.87 top: Sd.Kfz. 11/2 mittlerer Entgiftungskraftwagen auf HL kl6 Fahrgestell – Five view
p.87 middle & bottom and p.88 top & middle: Sd.Kfz. 11/3 mittlerer Spruhkraftwagen auf HL kl6 Fahrgestell – Five views
p.88 bottom and p.89: Sd.Kfz. 11/4 Nebelkraftwagen für 15cm NbW41 – Five view
p.90 & p.91 top: Sd.Kfz. 11/5 Nebelkraftwagen für 15cm NbW 41 und 21 cm NbW 42 – Five view
p.91 middle: Sd.Kfz. 11 mit Ganzmetall Fahrerhaus - Left side view
p.91 bottom: Sd.Kfz. 11 Pionieraufbau frühe Ausführung
p.92: Sd.Kfz. 11 Pionieraufbau späte Ausführung
p.93: Sd.Kfz. 11 DGzRS Deutsche Gesellschaft zur Rettung Schiffbrüchiger – Four view with three scraps
p.94 & p.95 top: Sd.Kfz. 11 Späte Ausführung mit Einheits-Fahrerhaus und Pritsche – Five view
p.95 middle and bottom plus P. 96 top & middle: Sd.Kfz. 11 mit Holzpritsche auf HL kl6 Fahrgestell – Five view
p.96 bottom & p.97: Sd.Kfz. 11 Abschluss Ausführung – 5 view
p.98 top: 7,5 cm Pak 42 auf 3 ton Zugmaschine
p.98 center: 7,5 cm Pak L/70 in le.F.H.43 (Hp) Oberlafette auf 3 ton Zugmaschine
p.98 bottom: 8,8 cm Pak 43 auf 3 ton Zugmaschine Entwurf 2
p.99 top: 10,5 cm le.F.H. 18/40 auf 3 ton Zugmaschine

The plans are excellent in showing details but the first two shown on page 79 do not exhibit the torsion bar road wheel arms which all the others do. My favorites are the ones with the howitzer mounted and the vehicle used by the German Navy. It has a civilian type body and used rockets to get lines to stranded sailors on the coast.

The third part covers surviving vehicles. Here, there are 124 museum photos included of which most are in color. These cover many of the variants and I am especially pleased that the German Navy variant has been photographed inside and out.

Pages 144 and 145 highlight Tony Greenland’s beautiful models of Soverign’s and Azimut’s kits and show how well they stand up to AFV Club’s latest offerings.

This book is highly recommended, even at its price in the US, for every German armor library. It has all you would need to detail and correctly model the various variants of the Sd.Kfz. 11 and about the only thing missing are notes showing the simplifications made during production such as dropping the bump stops for the road wheels and so on.

You can order the book directly from Nuts & Bolts (pay using Paypal, recipient = [email protected]).

conclusions

This book from the Nuts & Bolts team is a great release on several accounts. David Parker has applied his pleasing style to the series. Another benefit is that there are color photos included (of the museum items).