Panzerspähwagen 30(t) Tatra OA vz.30
Another issue of the “September 1939” series from First To Fight brought us a miniature of the Czechoslovak Tatra OA vz.30 armoured car, this time in a German setting. As usual – 1:72 scale. Let's take a look.
Overview
The kit in question, marked with the catalogue number PL1939-95, looks fairly typical for the series – distinctive box with rather nice artwork plus an A4-size leaflet, which I mention here for the first and the last time.
The most interesting thing is of course the content of the cardboard box – bit of plastic and a small sheet of decals.
So we have the same sprues as in the ninetieth issue (also reviewed here), enhanced by one small frame with elements specific to the vehicle configuration presented on the front of the box.
Plastic parts
The largest and thus most noticeable part is the car main body, on which some of the exterior equipment has been reproduced.
The front, featuring hood details, needs to be supplemented with the cabin front armour plate (part 8).
Plus vehicle's factory lighting (15, 16) and front wheels mudguards (20, 21), which could use a bit of polishing.
On them lands a set of headlights (3, 4) and outline markers (2, 5), which, together with the turn signals (6), occupy the “F” frame that makes its debut in this edition.
Rear of the vehicle gets auxiliary towing hooks (12), teeny weeny back light (13) and a hatch (14), which goes onto the recess seen on the main body part.
Vehicle's small turret sports machine gun port and bunch of sight-holes.
Top hatch (9) comes as a separate part, as well as the base (19).
Mentioned earlier ZB vz.26 machine gun (or rather part of it) can be found on the “C” sprue, together with the depression angle limiter (which is rather thick, as expected).
Lower parts of the vehicle are built around the floor part.
Which is complemented by a bunch of suspension and exhaust components (5, 6, 7, 17, 18).
The whole thing will rest on wheels, six of them.
Externally transported equipment (spade, rescue boards for overcoming difficult terrain) is supplemented by a separately moulded container (11) for an anti-aircraft base of the additional machine gun. Which by the way can also be found on the sprues, the gun that is.
Just like the Notek lamp and the hull machine gun, which won’t be used this time.
Provided, of course, that one decide to build the configuration proposed by the publisher (which, incidentally, I have not been able to confirm photographically).
Decals
Apart from the plastic parts, the box also contains a small decal sheet with German markings.
Quite unassuming, to say the least.
Manual
Typical assembly and painting instruction is not included in the kit. A small drawings acting as a substitute for such are traditionally placed on the back of the box.
Those can also be found in the accompanying brochure (which I shouldn’t mention again, oh well…), in a slightly larger format. As usual, however, the purpose of some decals we will have to figure out ourselves.
Summary
A small kit of a slightly lesser-known armoured vehicle that doesn't suffer too much from the simplifications imposed by the nature of the “September 1939” series. Just like the first edition from issue 90.
MMXXII