Maquette 1/35th
Hi-tech 'Limited edition'
15cm Heavy Infantry gun
SIG 33 AUF. PzKpw. I Ausf. B
'Bison'
KIT NO. 3508

MSRP $62.95
Greatmodels Price: $50.35

By Ray Mehlberger

HISTORY

The turreted version of the Pz.Kpw.IB light tank was much used in the opening stages of WWII. By 1941, replacement by larger vehicles more or less assured that the Pz.Kpw.I would be phased out. At first slowly, but later more quickly, so that by end of 1941 it had disappeared almost completely as a combat tank.

About July of 1941, Alkett in Berlin-Spandau started to produce a self-propelled gun version which carried the type 33, 15cm heavy infantry gun (schwere Infateriegeschutz). This weapon, complete with carriage and wheels, was mounted on the Pz.kpw.I Ausf.B chassis and was enclosed on three sides with a 10mm armored shield. This solution, however original it may have been, produced a vehicle with a very high silhouette of 3.35 meters and it was a rather good target for enemy anti-tank gunners.

The chassis was overloaded, as the weapon alone, ready for action, weighed 1,750 kg. With a four-man crew the combat weight was 8.5 tons! This machine was used in both the Polish and French campaigns and later in Greece and Russia also, where it gave some useful high-angle support fire for armored assaults. 38 of the turreted Pz.kpw.I ausf.Bs were so converted and in service were designated as '15cm SIG 33 auf Pz.kpw.I Ausf.B' and were also known as 'GW' or 'Geschutzwagen I fur 15cm SIG 33'. .

WHATS IN THE KIT? (click on thumbnails for full image)

This is a MULTI-MEDIA kit consisting of plastic, white metal, and resin parts.

First you get the old Italeri kit of the Pz.Kpw. I Ausf. B. These parts have the raised letters 'Zvezda' on the bottom of the hull parts. Talk about mold trading!! All the parts are there to build a turreted version. These parts consist of two medium gray sprues - 159 pieces in all. A lot of these parts will be relegated to the spares bin, as the 'Bison' version did not have a turret or a lot of the same stowage that the turreted one did.

There is tree of rubber band type treads. On this same tree is the perforated muffler cover - also molded in rubber. Years ago I put a Pz.Kpw.I B turreted kit together by Italeri, and found that this cover would crack when you tried to curl it around the muffler and glue it in place - so beware. However, there are white plastic individual links included - these links number exactly 200. It will remain to be seen if that is enough to do the two runs!

The decals in the kit are designed for the turreted version of the Pz.Kpw. I. Only the white outline type German crosses and the division marking for the 10th Panzer division can be used from it for the markings. You will have to come up with an alternate for the three digit number shown on the front of the tank on the box art and the individual alphabet letter on the sides.

The instructions are what I consider the weakest part of the kit. Maquette has taken the Italeri instructions, from the old Italeri turreted version kit and shrunk them down in a xerox machine. This caused them to become broken up and inky. I find them to be only useful to assemble the running gear. They should have been totally re-written for a 'Bison' version. I intend to use the plans out of my old Italeri Pz.Kpw. I B turreted version kit because they are larger and clearer. Maquette also deleted a lot of the text off these plans, that was on the originals. This wording gave you a blow by blow numbered sequence of how to assemble this model. A second, four page, instruction sheet is new to this kit. It has two pages that show five-view line drawings of a 'Bison' and a inky war time photo of an actual 'Bison' serving with the 10th Panzer Div.

The last two pages of these instructions show exploded drawings of the SIG 33 howitzer assembly. However, these are a little vague as they do not show where parts wind up on the weapon all that good or their orientation to each other in some areas once glued on.

Maquette's contribution to this new kit is the resin and white metal parts that make up the shields and the SIG 33. There is a cello bag with white metal parts that include: torsion bars, drive shaft, transmission, driver's control levers, driver's seat back, gun barrel, and numerous parts for the SIG 33 howitzer. (approx. 50 parts here). Another cello bag contains the resin parts. These include: driver's seat cushion, recoil tray for the SIG, breech, fighting compartment shields, wheels , spokes, and trail for the SIG 33 etc. (approx. 15-20 parts) The white metal gun barrel appears to me to be oversized when compared to the ELEPHANT brand turned aluminum barrel that I bought recently. The resin is pretty flawless and I detect no surface bubbles in these light tan parts. Care will have to be taken with some of the resin and metal parts as some of them are pretty small.

No history, or painting guide is included on the instruction sheet. However, the box art is very well done and can be used as a guide.

References on the 'Bison' that I found in my home library were few. I found a nice picture of one in Squadron's 'Panzer Colors II' book. However, the caption under the picture on page 29 says that it is a 'Bison' operating with the 2nd panzer div. In Greece !! Later there is a color drawing of this same vehicle on page 47 that says it is shown in Russia??? A typo?? A few pages were also found in my old Waffen Arsenal book on assault guns too.

I have always liked the looks of this salty little vehicle and look forward to building the kit. I want to get some decent pictures to help me with the assembly of the SIG 33 first though.

I recommend this kit to armor modelers that have had some experience with other multi-media kits. It is definitely not for a beginner.

Many thanks go out to Greatmodels Hobby Shop for providing this review sample.