Bolt Action SdKfz 251/1 Ausf. D Hanomag

This will be a mini series of vehicle reviews from Warlord Games for Bolt Action, beginning with the SdKfz 251/1 Ausf. D Hanomag.

The Sonderkraftfahrzeug 251 was an armoured half-track personnel carrier, that was build in large numbers and used by the Wehrmacht, and the armed forces of Italy, Hungary and Romania. It was the base for many variants and produced by 4 different manufacturers, but never the less called "Hanomag" by both sides of the war.

This plastic kit is an enhancement of the already released Ausf. C, with little tweaks and more gadgets. It is a solid kit with two sprues, an instruction leaflet and a decal sheet.

This kit is no italeri scaled down kit, it is a proper own development, made with wargaming in mind and not a model kit. The kit now even has passangers included, but no longer a gunner. The hull is changed compared to the Ausf. C, the other parts are more or less identical.

Assembly is easy and fast, you start with the solid track sections and front axle, it is attached to the lower hull.

Next up are the seats, for the drivers and the passangers. Here you see one of the differences between Ausf. C and D., the D has a trapezodial shape at the back, the C is flat. After that you glue the lower hull onto the track section.

After that you close the hull with the upper part and add some outer parts above the tracks and the MG in the front and back.

I want to give you the comparison between a Ausf. D (left) and Ausf. C (right), primary difference are the "cheeks" in the front, as well as the shape of the back part.

The Hanomag will be used along with additional sprues and / or resin and metal parts for other variants, like the Flammpanzerwagen that will be reviewed as well. The Ausf. C already is used for the Pionierwagen and 251/10 3,7cm PaK. But i don't understand, why they didn't switched the bodies of the variants Warlord Games already offer (among others the 251/22, 251/20 and Stuka zu Fuss) to the plastic kit instead of the inferior resin bodies, that are more expensive to produce. Or maybe include them a 3-in-1 kit / additional sprue with several options. That would boost the number of sales for the chassis and lower the price / work load of the very manual process of resin casting. Maybe sales of this variants aren't that high and they want to put the already available casts to a good use.

I chose two of the four crew men, but as i find them stunty and stocky, i swapped their heads with some from the regular Grenadiers. They are a bit larger, but are more detailled.

And last but not least, the usual 360° view upon the kit.

Conclusion
Warlord Games wants 17 Pound for the kit, and offers it along with 30 Grenadiers in a bundle of 3 for 70 Pound. That's a pound cheaper than the Rubicon model (but lacks the tarps), and cheaper than the resin variants of other companies. It is easily and quickly built, has proper casting quality and no gaps. Can only recommend this kit.
It is a good thing, that they included a bit of stowage and the new crew, which is better than the ones that come with italeri but still not up to their proper plastic infantry kits.

The Ausf. D, that was produced from early 1943 is a good match for mid- and late war armies.

Bolt Action is a brand of Warlord Games.