Schwerer Wehrmachtschlepper (Armoured sWS) Chapter 1: Whats in the box?

This is the 2016 ‘2in1’ Bronco kit #CB35214. It was the last release of a series of sWS variants that were based on the original Great Wall Hobby(GWH) mouldings stretching back to 2009.

The vehicle has a very streamlined and basic shape but raised detail is sharp and the armoured cab thickness is nicely rendered to scale. Although there was a small degree of mould offset on a few smaller parts there was no flash and very few pin marks present. It is also nice to see well thought out sprue gate connections, making removal of small delicate parts easier to accomplish cleanly.

The all-plastic sandwich design of the front wheels is most welcome, as is the addition of plastic options to replace many photoetch parts. Unlike the GWH boxings Bronco added a comprehensively designed engine. Although nothing will be seen if the engine hatches remain closed it is a nice feature that many modellers will utilise. The tracks are of the individual link type and although not workable they look to be of good quality. The Bronco kits also include a host of cargo accessories that include Jerry cans and fuel drums.

 

The Schwerer Wehrmachtschlepper (sWS; "Heavy Military Tractor") was a German World War II half-track vehicle used in various roles between 1943 and 1945. The unarmoured models were used as supply vehicles and as tractors to haul artillery. Armoured versions mounted flak guns or a 10-barrel rocket launcher (Nebelwerfer). Fewer than a thousand were built before the end of the war, but production continued after with an improved model in the Tatra plant in Czechoslovakia.

There are a few surviving sWS out there, but they all appear to have undergone restorations of which many have not been authentically carried out. They are nevertheless a good general source of information.

Most of the original released GWH kit variants were actual production vehicles, but no photographic evidence exists that either the armoured searchlight (UHU), or the armoured cargo version was ever built. Also, although images do exist of the 2cm Flakvierling 38 fitted to both armoured and unarmoured sWS's, it was never acknowledged as an official production type. There is a period image of a sWS mounted Flak 36 but by the time the sWS was in production the 3.7cm flak 43 was considered the more appropriate weapon.

This kit gives you options to build a supply ammo or armoured cargo version. I decided to build the supply ammo version and used the Nuts & Bolts 41 book: Bussings schwerer Wehrmachtschlepper (sWS) and Variants as a reference guide. This book has a nice feature clearly showing all the design changes from prototype to production series by way of colour coded CAD scale images.

Whilst there are many photographs of the production type supply ammo vehicle it does appear research by GWH used a prototype to base their original mouldings on. Although Bronco added extra parts to many of the versions they later released, they did not update any of the larger mouldings. So, to produce an accurate scale representation many of the production vehicle features will need to be added or reworked. 

Most visual of these include the front bumper bar. The prototype bumper bars tapered in at the ends whilst the production series vehicles had a simplified straight bar.

The side vision ports are of different sizes. The two side vision ports on the kit are identical when in fact the production type had a much smaller port on the starboard side. 

Other features that were updated included the cargo platform supports and rear panel components on the chassis. The front lights and a redesigned fuel filler cap were also updates seen on many production vehicles.

A factory fresh supply ammo prototype example. This one was fitted with a Notek light 

 

The platform support layout appears to have changed through production although photographic evidence in this area is thin on the ground. The prototype version above had a metal support layout and reference material in the N & B book states the platform sat a little higher than on the production series. But how the support structure changed in shape or between variants is unclear. 

The clear images of the prototype vehicle above show metal supports and clear daylight can be seen between chassis and platform. Yet in many images of production vehicles these appear to show a solid horizontal beam (see the two images below) from front to rear. It may well be that only vehicles originally intended to support flak guns had the reinforced metal supports, whereas supply and tractor versions only required solid wooden beams. 

The cargo platform support layout included in the kit, although of the metal design, does thankfully have the platform sat at the lower height of the production series.

 

Below is a captured wooden bodied cargo variant and it clearly shows a solid wooden support separating the platform from the chassis rails 

The chassis rear panel in the kit is of the prototype design. The production series had a step added to the offside. In addittion, only one in four production sWS’s ever received a winch, but even when not fitted the holes in the rear panel still remained. 

The image below is a wooden bodied sWS but clearly shows the production vehicle rear chassis panel layout 

 

The fitment of both Notek and Bosch headlights are seen in period images.

The prototype fuel filler cap was simply screwed into the top of the tank and was obviously difficult to fill under the platform bed. An extended ‘S’ shaped funnel extending rearward was added to production vehicles.

Very few war time images exist of the interior on the supply ammo variant, so details in the cab area are still up for discussion.

An oddity in this kit boxing is that although a rear of cab bulkhead part is present on the sprue, it does not call it out to be used for either variant. This bulkhead part is utilised on all Bronco flak gun variant kits so the upper cab moulding does have location witness marks  for it to locate. Looking at period images it appears that a section of the cab roof, just behind the transverse strengthening bar was cut out to provide additional clearance for the flak guns. This area was then covered by canvas on a rectangular frame. I am not 100% sure if all sWS variants had the shortened roof, but on the flak gun kits you are instructed to remove the access off the roof moulding with the aid of more witness marks, and then add the bulkhead part. On the supply ammo variant in this kit the instructions have you simply remove all witness marks.

Shortened cab roof with a prominent lip at the rear but no canvas frame present

 

Another issue Great Wall Hobby made in this area, and one that Bronco did not remedy, is the mistake of adding oddly angled folded crew seats against the rear interior walls of the cab. According to the N & B book what you are seeing in the image below (red arrows) are not seats but brackets for rifles. The two black areas in the image on either side are cut-outs in the bulkhead to which these small arms were placed. It is difficult to 100% asertain what they are for certain, but it is clearly evident that any seat with a backrest inclined forward would not have been practical. 

Unfortunately the framed canvas obscures the rear roof line in the image below so whether a cut out was present on this vehicle cannot be confirmed 

The N & B book CAD drawing below clearly shows the issue that the kit manufacturer misinterpreted regarding the rifle racks and cut outs either side of the rear bulkhead. The drawing also shows a small inward return to the cab armour at the rear where it meets the cargo bed framework. This is not replicated in the kit or in the period image above. 

 Chapter 2