1/35 HobbyBoss Sd.Kfz.254 Saurer

[Mickc1440]

Great work on this one Dave it's looking superb. I've only ever seen pics of the box art before, what purpose did the tracks serve? was it for getting the vehicle through mud etc?

 

[MikeC]

Dave,
Beleive it or not, that is a really interesting vehicle once you spend time looking around it. And you have done it justice, well done
Cheers, Mike.

 

[Dave Ward]

Mick,
tracks wear out pretty quickly on roads, but give excellent traction off road. Wheels are optimal on roads, but not very good traction on mud. This was an attempt to get the best of both worlds - but at the expense of complication - and there must have been a limitation on the overall weight a system like this can take. There were a few other examples of this style, but not many! Not very practical apparently..................
Dave

 

[Jakko]

The Austrians built a number of vehicles like this, most of which ended up in German service from 1938 on of course. Only this one, the RK 7, also known as the Sd.Kfz. 254, went into real production, but there were also about fifteen RR 7 artillery tractors, which were converted into mittlerer Instandsetzungskraftwagen (Sd. Kfz. 254) supply vehicles by the Germans — not to be confused with the mittlere gepanzerte Beobachtungskraftwagen (Sd. Kfz. 254) which is what Dave has been building here.

 

[Fernando N]

Very nice result you got from this fiddly one Dave, most interesting looking running gear.

 

[Dave Ward]

Now finished, pictures in the 'completed' section
Dave

 

[MikeC]

Cheers Dave,
Will take a look.
Mike.