Sd.Kfz. 263 - 6 rad

Manufacturer: MarS (KitNo. 7208)

by Augusto Versiani -

I do not need to repeathere an evaluation of the kit, since it can be seen in a review in another place in this site, andI agree entirely with it. I must only add that I noticed twoimperfections that can be credited to poor quality control duringpacking. Instead of two braces that hold the antenna on the towerI received only one. On the other hand, they included two barrelsof 20mm cannon (not used in this version). Also it lacked theback hook and the machine gun that had to be used in thisversion.

This is only my secondexperience with a kit in resin; the first one was the Alby Steyr,and I must say that this model from Mars was much more difficult.Practically all the parts, including the small ones, comeattached to resin blocks. The hull and the chassis in particularwere very difficult to separate. Follow some photos of thedifferent ways that I used for this tedious operation. Itconsumed great part of the time for the assembly.

The assembly of thechassis and the axles was time consuming and the rank of thewheels was laborious as the wheels do not come with a locatinghole, and each hole must be drilled manually. It can compromiseits final alignment.

The solution that I foundwas to make bigger holes than the tip of the axles, fill themwith white glue and, after waiting until they started to dry,install the wheels and line up them. A delicate job, but itallowed all of the wheels to touch the ground evenly.

As I said before, I lackeda brace for the support of the antenna, so I used the 20 mmbarrels for this end, and the result was good.

The antenna was a littlewarped in the front part. The final assembly of the antenna wasO.K. but I must inform that it is sufficiently fragile. I stoppedcounting the number of times that I broke it. But the disruptionsalways happened in the joints, and were possible to repair.

The front headlights didnot have braces, thus I made new ones with steel wire.

The lateral headlightswere far too large and therefore I substituted styrene rod. Therearview mirror on the right mudguard is in the kit but theinstruction does not make mention it. I used brass wire to makeits support as well as the antenna guides.

The front wheels were toofar inside the mudguards, but I accepted it as the axle was toofragile to try any correction.

The painting was done withTamiya acrylic paints and an oil wash, and final touches werewith pastel chalks. The decals are from TL Decals, as well as theone of the flag for air recognition, which was applied onaluminum foil.

Conclusion:

The details of this kitsomewhat compensate for the difficulties in the separation of theresin blocks, and the final result attracts attention for thegeneral quality as much for the size of the proper kit. Eventhough we will soon see versions of this model in injectedplastic, I doubt that they can reach the quality of this model.

Recommended for those whoalready have experience with kits in resin.