Description
The Sd.Kfz. 250 was a light armoured half-track, very similar in appearance to the larger Hanomag-designed Sd.Kfz. 251, and built by the DEMAG firm, for use by Nazi Germany in World War II. Most variants were open-topped and had a single access door in the rear.
The initial design had a multi-faceted armoured body constructed from multiple plates, which gave good protection against small arms fire but was both slow and costly to manufacture, and resulted in a cramped interior.
Production of this early version stopped in October 1943 with some 4,200 built and the complex body-shape dropped in favour of a neue art (new version) with flattened crew compartment sides made from a single piece of armour. This greatly simplified manufacture but in both variants the level of protection was minimal – rifle-calibre small-arms fire and shell fragments would likely be stopped, but heavy machine guns, anti-tank rifles and virtually any form of artillery could perforate the Sd.Kfz. 250 even at long range.
Sd.Kfz. 250/8 leichter Schützenpanzerwagen (7.5 cm) – support variant armed with a 7.5 cm KwK 37 L/24 gun and an MG 34.
Sd.Kfz. 250/10 leichter Schützenpanzerwagen (3.7 cm PaK) – reconnaissance platoon leader’s variant with 3.7 cm PaK 35/36. This was the same as the antitank gun used in a towed mode early in the war.
Set consists of 7+7 fine metal 1:600th/3mm scale miniatures.
Producer: ‘Oddział Ósmy’ sc Marcin Kaźmierczak i Tomasz Kołuda, ul. Piotrkowska 107, 90-425 Łódź, Poland
