“Stuka zu Fuß”, Sd.Kfz. 251/1 II with heavy Wurfrahmen 40
ESCI 1:72 Scale Vehicle Review
The ESCI 1:72 scale “Stuka zu Fuß”, Sd.Kfz. 251/1 II Ausf. C, with 28/32 cm heavy Wurfrahmen 40, multiple rocket launcher. The side-mounted packing crates could contain 300 mm or 280 mm Sprengwurfkörper high explosive rockets, or 320 mm Flammwurfkörper incendiary rockets. This medium armoured personnel carrier still has the old tracks made of soft plastic, which were replaced by better tracks made of polystyrene on the occasion of its 1988 re-release (ESCI 8344).
Reloading the Wurfrahmen 40 was a time-consuming process, requiring the dismounted crew to remove the fired crates and attach loaded crates to the launch frame on either side of the vehicle. While the rockets where spin stabilized, accuracy was less than that of tube artillery.
It is important to remember when buying second-hand ESCI models, that kits from the 1970s were still equipped with polyvinyl tracks. These older model kits were revised between 1984 and 1988 and released in the newly introduced “Red Box” packaging, which contained beautifully detailed polystyrene track segments and individual track links to replace the troublesome polyvinyl tracks.