You can get this kit in two forms:

• Kit no. 7275 German Sd.Kfz.9 (18t) Half-track & Sd.Ah.116 Trailer
• Kit no. 7249 German Tank Transporter Sd.Ah.116, which is just the trailer without the Famo (for those who already have a Famo kit).

This review is for the trailer only; see the review of the Famo here. Although it seems strange, the trailer is definitely a kit in its own right. Built by the A team & in the more familiar grey plastic, the Trumpeter kit has 3 main sprues with 89 parts, plus 10 vinyl tyres, decals, rope & chain.

The A sprue mainly covers the suspension and mudguards, it has beautiful fine details with no sink holes or miss-aligned pieces. The most impressive moulding is the wood grain pattern on the planking parts of the pieces on each of the sprues.

Those modellers with good dry brushing skills will be able to pull the detail out on these wood pattern moulds really well.

Sprue B is the axial, steering wheels & added details,  here again you can find good fine moulding of the parts, the spades looks very finely moulded & are almost too thin (like they're from a ICM Krupp Protze kit). There are a few large injection marks on the undersides of quite a few pieces, some of which will be a bit of a pain to remove, mainly on the inside of the mudguards.

The third smaller sprue just has the frame and beautifully moulded wooden planking deck bed. Both top & bottom with no injection marks and has the 10 wheel hubs for the 10 vinyl tyres.

The last plastic piece is the little "Cab", a cute 5 sided piece that could only have been made with "slide mould technology". Looking at the detail of it, it suffers a bit with the struts for the tilt being too heavy and no cloth detail or creases on the tilt itself. They would have been better moulding them as 2 separate parts, as I would be tempted to slice the tilt off & thin it down & glue tissue over it to give it more detail, or in the case of when used in a hotter climate remove the Tilt altogether. The "Cab" will stand out on a finished model, so will need some work to give it a 'Cloth look'.

Although the surrounding area is out of focus, you can see the only "sink" marks in the whole kit one on each side, plus the thickness of the Tilt and struts.

The vinyl tyres are nicely modelled and have the same diamond tread seen on their Famo kits. Some tyres have a small centre seam which may create an issue if trying to remove.

In another bag is a piece of cotton which is just 30cm in length (but slightly heavier than the normal type), to use as a winch cable behind the "Cab". Plus a nice 5cm light chain to use as a "tie down" on the back of the flat deck.

The decals are mainly the red and white striped width indicators for around the mudguards & warning signs used around the Trailer and 3 unit symbols with their own number plates.

• StuG unit Abt 237, with 3 horizontal "Buccaneer" swords in white on a Black Crest.
• StuG unit Abt 190, with a White Bison on a Red Crest.
• Herman Goring Workshop Bttn which has a Black "K" on a white circle.

Because this Trailer was used on all fronts throughout the war, you have 2 choices:

1.  Whether you want to paint it plain Dunkelgrau RAL 7021 or Dunkelgelb RAL 7028 with camouflage!

2.  What Panzer type you want to put on top!

A strange thing is Trumpeter don't seem that keen for you to use their own Stug III's kits for your trailer to "carry" as they have not supplied matching units on their decal sheets?

Artwork from the Box side showing a late war camouflage. 

See http://www.afrikakorps.org/german.htm for a photo of an early war paintjob in gray plus a few other Famo & Sd.Anh.116 pictures. 

Conclusion:

Pro's - Very good moulding & details especially the wood planking pattern

Con's - The plain looking Tilt has no features & generally unliked vinyl tyres.

This is a very recommended kit & will work with either the Revell or Trumpeter Famo (I don't believe there is any other type of vehicle the Germans used to tow this Trailer) but its nice to see more 2nd line, "Support" vehicles being made by the plastic manufacturers.