Hello all…while in Denver last week I picked up Italeri’s SdKfz 234/2 Puma. Wondering if anyone has built this kit and how it went for them…any pitfalls or things I should look out for?
Thanks…
its a good kit
just take it easy and it should be ok
Built this, and its sister vehicles, a number of years ago. Very nice kits I must say.
As with most Italeri offerings, there are a couple of sinkholes and knockout pin holes, but other than that, they go together very well.
Enjoy the build and don’t forget to post pics of your progress.
Goes together well, but expect to use some putty to fill gaps where the top and bottom hulls go together and a couple of the road wheel halves may be slightly warped - a common complaint from guys who have built this kit. Not exactly accurate to scale in places, but that’s only a worry for rivet counters.
Don’t be tempted to scrape off the seam line on the sides of the main suspension arms (there is a slightly wavy line down the sides) as this is actually to represent the casting separation line on the real thing - funny, cause the rest of the kits suspension has been produced in a way that looks nothing like the real thing.
The wheels are not accurate for the real thing, but replacements can be obtained from Tiger Model Designs if you want them. They even produce different tread patterns in the set just like you see in pics of the 234 series, particularly on the common pics of the captured vehicle 1111 (which is a decal option if I remember correctly).
I have the 234/1, 234/2 and 234/3 unbuilt although I did build a 234/2 Puma several years ago. If you want to go nuts on superdetailing your kit, see if you can locate a copy of Ground Power No.74 July 2000 as the detail pics and diagrams are superb (you have to be able to read Japanese for the text though)