I just pulled out a vintage Tamiya 251 Halftrack that my parents gave me for Christmas back in the 70’s. I want to paint the drivers area, and the troop section before i assemble the body. What’s the best choice for this? Was the front painted the same as Armor interiors to reflect better light? Also this version comes with a water tank between the driver/radio operators seats, but i don’t see this in many photos. when was this moved/eliminated? Thanks, Happy new year, Josef.
Very very early Sdkfz 251 half tracks (earlier than the Tamiya kit) had ivory painted driver’s compartments – just below the roof overhang. But the stupidity of that (increased visibility to eneny aerial observation) was quickly recognized all began to have all interior walls painted the same as the exterior surfaces. I’d imagine even the early ones got repainted. (This is the same reason why you should NEVER paint hatch interiors with the off-white or ivory of AFV interiors – only a handful of prewar German vehicles had that oddity – again discontinued very quickly)
The water tank is an error by Tamiya who based their model on an ambulance version – leave it off of your build.
Finallyi, the SdKfz 251 was not called a “Hanomag”. This is an invention of Tamiya. Hanomag was one of seven builders of the 251 SPW – Schutzenpanzerwagen or armored personel carrier. It’d be the equivalent of saying an M4A4 Medium tank was the M4 “Chrysler” tank.
Troops called it the “ess-pay-vay”, not the 251 or “Hanomag”
Roy, I thought the water cask was used on the SPW’s in Nord Afrika? IIRC, the one Tamiya used for their model was a /1 field modified to /8.
Wow, thanks Roy , That clears up what i needed to know. It’s a nice kit to build, and brings back some nostalgia from my childhood. It’s amazing to see how far models have come when you put it next to a Dragon kit, or see all the aftermarket stuff available.