S-Model

Sd.Kfz. 253 Le Beob. Pz.Wg

Picture from Henk of Holland website, used with permission.

History and version

The Sd.Kfz.250 or leichter Schützenpanzerwagen (roughly translatable as light rifleman armoured vehicle, where we can only assume that the "light" referred to the "vehicle" and not to the "rifleman") first appeared in prototype form in the spring of 1940 and was based on a shortened Sd.Kfz.10 chassis (by removing one road wheel). Two other variants on the same shortened chassis existed: the Sd.Kfz.252 le.gep.Mun.Trsp.kw. (ammo carrier) and Sd.Kfz.253 le.gep.Beob.Kw. (observation vehicle). Around a 100 of the former were produced, while 250 Sd.Kfz.253 were accepted between October 1940 and June 1941 [1]. Mass production of the Sd.Kfz.250 only started after the production run of the Sd.Kfz.252 and 253 had finished.
A little known fact is that two slightly different versions of the Sd.Kfz. 250 Ausf.A existed: one based on the design of the Sd.Kfz.253 (minus the roof), known as Sd.Kfz.250/Z, and one with a design that was specific for the Sd.Kfz.250, known as Sd.Kfz.250E. While the difference between both might seem superficial, close examination shows that there was almost no part or angle left unaltered.
After November 1941 only the Sd.Kfz.250E was kept in production until the arrival of the Ausf.B (or "Neu"), which had a completely new body.

While not directly applicable to the Sd.Kfz.253 reviewed here, the differences between the Sd.Kfz.250 Ausf.A with 250/Z Aufbau and that with 250E Aufbau are listed below.

The kit

The kit comes with two identical sprues, a small decal sheet and a small fret of PE, sufficient for two vehicles.

Pictures of instructions, box, decals and PE parts from Henk of Holland website, used with permission. You get 6 front tow hooks, while 4 are sufficient.

Casting quality is very nice with crisp detail, no flash, but rather thick sprue gates. The tracks are better than some we have had in the past from S-Model, but some modelers might still want to create some open areas between each track pad. Some modelers have already done exactly that. While the running gear is a simple affair (and with age, I've come to appreciate that), S-Model didn't need to have put all their roadwheels at exactly the same angle, as they did with their Kettenkrad, and as a lot of other manufacturers giving "easy assembly" roadwheels have done for that matter.

I initially started building the kit, using just enough parts and work to be able to give an assessment of the accuracy of the kit. Interior detail is not included. As the circular hatch can be built in an open position, you might want to add some scraps of plastic in there, unless you fill up the hole with a crew figure. All the other doors and hatches in the kit would need a fair amount of work to open up.

The single marking option is probably meant to represent the vehicle from 2 Pz.Div. seen on page 29 in [10]. In which case it would need a cross and tactical sign on the rear plate as well. As S-Model gives enough decals to do that, this is not a problem.
Plenty of spare decals are given without instructions on how to use them, but, sadly, licence plates are missing.
The DAK palm trees can be used, as a small number of Sd.Kfz.253 made it to North Africa, including this example fitted with a frame antenna.

Accuracy

Judging from the activity on different fora, people are interested in learning about the accuracy of this kit, so I did a quick staff check and built the kit in a rather rudimentary fashion (i.e. not adding all the details and not yet gluing or cleaning up all the parts). More points will be addressed below.

Measurements were made against plans in [1], noting that the 250/Z and 250E bodies do not have the exact same dimensions. (The /Z was somewhat longer, for instance.)
As there are no plans of the Sd.Kfz.253 in [1], I used those of the Sd.Kfz.250/Z as a proxy, as apart from the roof and interior lay-out both were identical.

Some conclusions and observations:

• Regarding the overall dimensions, the kit is closer to 1/75-76, and there is probably little we can do about that. The engine deck, doesn't taper enough, resulting in a wide nose at the top, but as the maximum width of the nose plate is actually underscale, this gives a head on view of the nose that is off. (The differences between the narrowest point and the widest point being too small.)
• While the tracks are roughly the correct width and length, they suffer from the same problem as the MK72 offering of the Sd.Kfz.250 Ausf.A, although to a lesser extent: the tracks extend too far to the rear of the body. In the MK72 kit this was due to the tracks being too long, in this kit it is because the body is too short. The first roadwheel might also be a bit too close to the drive sprocket, which is also a problem in the MK72 kit.
  On a positive note, the kit has the correct number of track pads per side (38) and lacks the beaded edges on the fenders, as it should.
• The scale difference in the rear plate can be solved more easily, by just cutting the bottom of the plate to the right of the rear door.
• More annoyingly, the front wheels are vastly underscale, and it shows.
  For the record, Ace kit wheels are 12.0mm, Esci wheels 10.8mm, while the wheels in the Modell Trans update set for the Esci kit are 11.5mm.
  To add insult to injury, the hub detail of the front wheels is not correct for the Sd.Kfz.250/252/253, being closer to that seen on the Sd.Kfz.222. To solve the hub problem, wheels can be taken from S-Model's Pak36, which comes with one of the Kettenkrad kits and the Chenillette UE with Pak 36 kit. Using the latter would be the preferred option, as it doesn't need the wheels that come with the kit. Unfortunately, this will not solve the diameter problem, as they are exactly the same.
  Note that S-Model reacted to this mistake and has given correct wheels in later releases of this kit.
  
  Pictures of the new release. I completely forgot where I got those.
• Another avoidable mistake is found in the front visors. These are domed in the kit, which is correct for the 250E, but not for the 250/Z. Those in the 250/Z (and thus the Sd.Kfz.253) were flat with a double slit. If you are wondering, those in the sides should be domed, and they are.
  Note that S-Model reacted to this mistake and has given correct visors in later releases of this kit.
  
  Pictures of the new release. I completely forgot where I got those.
• The Sd.Kfz.253 had a licence plate on a plate below the nose. Neither the plate or decals for the licence plates are provided.
• A small detail that needs to be added is a tube for the exhaust on the left side, and a domed cylinder for the muffler underneath.

Front wheel as supplied in the kit. Upper hull not glued in place.

Front wheel from Chenillette UE used instead. Upper hull not glued in place.

Nose plate damage due to glue working its way between the lower and upper hull. Entirely my fault.

Upper hull not glued in place.

Construction

About ten years after initially reviewing this kit, I decided to build it, based on a picture on page 50 in Part 1 of [2]. This picture represents a vehicle from 191 Sturmabteilung in March 1941 in Bulgaria, with a field modification consisting of an MG and armored shield.
I also decided not to fix all dimensional issues and details of the kit, only the ones mentioned below.

The kit fits very well, and one might argue that it fits too well, as the real specimen had an armored body where the upper hull hung slightly over the edges of the lower hull. As this would have been a pain to do, and as this feature is only really visible under certain lighting conditions, I let it be.
I did fix the slope of the lower rear plate, by cutting it loose and sloping it more upwards. I also removed a sliver from the lower right edge of the upper rear plate (next to the door).
Note that some vehicles had a step added to the rear plate, which I didn't go for.

Most of my time building this kit was spent on scratchbuilding somewhat acceptable front visors, as my kit was from an early batch, before S-Model fixed them. I am still not fully satisfied with the result, but it will have to do. The tiny bolts around these visors were not added.

Minor modifications are as follows:

• I replaced the front wheels with those from an S-Model Pak36
• I sanded down the edges of the rear fenders to make them just a little more angular
• I modified the mounts of the front headlights
• I scribed a panel line on the engine deck, towards the front, even though I am not sure if this vehicle had the three-part engine deck
• I removed the lower plate that protects the front suspension. Pictures show that many vehicles had these plates removed (lost ?), damaged or replaced. It is this plate that would hold the front licence plate, if one were included in the kit
• I added a small tube for the exhaust on the left side, and a domed cylinder for the muffler underneath.
• I glued the individual outer roadwheels at slightly different angles to give a more natural look. This means that the outer and inner parts of these roadwheels are no longer aligned, but I considered that to be the lesser evil.
• I only used half of the PE part for the rear convoy light (PA3), as otherwise there would be detail on both sides, which isn't correct.
• I (unintentionally) broke the shovel when removing it from the sprue and decided to replace it with one from the spares box.
• I lost the small jack and ended up scratchbuilding a new one.

The last modification I added was scratchbuilding the MG shield and adding an MG from the spares box. Wanting to leave the hatches open, as they have some nice detail on the inside, but not wanting to add detail to the interior, I decided to add a figure to the hatch. The presence of the MG and hatches created a headache as very few figures wanted to fit, but I ended up with a figure and pose that looks quite attractive to me.
Note that the circular hatch on top could rotate on the real vehicle. This kit doesn't offer that option; modifying it yourself would be a bit of a challenge.

Decals came from the spares box, matching the one in the picture as closely as possible.

Comparison with the MK72 Sd.Kfz.250 Ausf.A.

We previously reviewed the MK72 offering of the Sd.Kfz.250 Ausf.A, which represents the 250E body. That kit is nicely detailed, but also has some scale issues. We already mentioned some of them above. Comparison with this kit teaches us that cross-kitting might be an option to arrive at a more correct Sd.Kfz.250 or 253:

• The tracks of the S-Model kit are closer to scale, and might fit on the MK72 kit.
• The front wheels of the MK72 kits are better, and might fit on the S-Model kit.
• Other exchanges might be possible, and we would be interested to hear from our readers if someone attempts to cross-breed both kits.

Conclusion

This could have been a show stopper, but there are some errors that might easily have been avoided. On the other hand, apart from the front wheels, rear end of the tracks and look of the nose plate, most scale issues are not really noticeable to the naked eye. To S-Model's credit, later releases of this kit included corrections regarding the front visors and wheels.

This kit would also be a good start to build a Sd.Kfz.250 with the earlier body. One would "only" need to remove the roof and add interior.

For those that like to stray from the beaten track, we gladly share the following pictures. Inspiration might also be found here.

Sd.Kfz.250 Ausf. A (and 250Z Aufbau) with Panzer I turret. Picture from EBay auction-used for discussion purposes.

Sd.Kfz.250 Ausf. A (or Sd.Kfz. 253 ?) with 250Z Aufbau with a very peculiar position for a frame antenna. Picture from EBay auction - used for discussion purposes.

References:

[1] Panzer Tracts 15-1, leichter Schuetzenpanzerwagen (Sd.Kfz.250) Ausf. A & B, T.L. Jentz & H.L. Doyle.

[2] Sd.Kfz.250 Alt-Neu Archive Part 1 & 2, Total Detail, Martin Kögel.

[3] Sd.Kfz.250 Vol I & II, Wydawnictwo Militaria 173 & 231.

[4] Sd.Kfz.250-251 at War, Trojca, W. Trojca, K Münch.

[5] http://vincesgallery.smugmug.com/History/SdKfz-250-Alt

[6] Sd.Kfz. 250, Miltar's kits Hors série N°1, MK Editions

[7] Die Halbketten-Fahrzeuge des deutschen Heeres 1909-1945, W.J. Spielberger, Band 6 der Reihe Militährfahrzeuge, Motorbuch Verlag

[8] SdKfz250, Ground power special issue, Delta Publishing

[9] Schützenpanzer , B. Culver & U. Feist, Ryton Publications

[10] Panzer Colors II, Bruce Culver, Squadron/Signal Publications

Preview sample purchased by the author.

S-Model kits can be purchased from

Article Last Updated:
11 January 2015
24 December 2016
29 May 2025