Revell AG 1/35 scale Panzerhaubitze (PzH) 2000

Manufacturer: Revell AG (Germany), distributed by Revell-Monogram, 8601 Waukegan Road, Morton Grove, IL 60053-2295, 847-966-3500.
Kit: No. 03040
Scale: 1/35
Price: $39.25
Comments: Injection-molded, 182 parts, decals.
Pros: Good fit, accurate dimensions, first kit of an impressive subject.
Cons: Some parts a bit heavy for the scale.

Wow! It's huge! What is it?" That's been the reaction of nearly every person who has seen this model sitting in my office. Built from Revell Germany's kit, it's a model of the German army's newest self-propelled howitzer, the Panzerhaubitze (PzH) 2000. It may be unfamiliar to most modelers, as might the Revell Germany label - distribution of this brand in the U.S. has been hit-and-miss.

Revell's PzH 2000 kit scales accurately and includes several optional parts, including a choice of a two-piece plastic barrel or a turned aluminum barrel. (It does not include the supplementary roof armor, though.)

The kit is well engineered, the fit is excellent, and many parts lock firmly into place. However, some small parts are relatively thick, and many of the grab handles, as well as some suspension parts, are molded on.

I generally followed the assembly sequences recommended in the instructions. Watch the orientation of the return roller mounts - they look like they will fit oriented any one of four ways, but they don't. I recommend installing only the inner return rollers before installing the tracks. I painted the suspension, wheels/ tires, and tracks before joining the lower hull to the upper. The tracks are easy to work with and fit well, but they're not the most crisply molded I've seen.

I filed down several detail parts that go at the rear of the hull, including the rear steps, the center light bracket (part No. 29), and the mud flaps. I left most of the upper hull details, including the headlights, mirrors, warning lights, driver's windows and hatch, and engineer tools off until after painting the hull. I used the aluminum barrel; it needed a bit of sanding to remove the grooves left from the turning process.

Only two things stood between this being a 20-hour kit and the 45-hour project it became - the three-color paint scheme and my (foolish?) decision to rework some of the kit's heavier details. I removed the molded-on grabs (except for those on the turret doors) and replaced them with steel wire. Dissatisfied with the molded-in dimples on the basket that mounts to the front of the casement (81-83), I drilled through all the depressions in the mesh (about 200). The finished basket looks really trick, but it was a five-hour job in itself.

With those steps complete and the basic vehicle assembled, I primed and preshaded the hull and turret, using a Tamiya dark gray on those areas I wanted dark, and Model Master Acryl Steel on those I wanted light - mainly raised areas, panel lines, and edges. Then I applied the green, black, and brown camouflage, using Tamiya's new NATO colors. Following that, I did a bit of post-shading with lightened versions of all three and airbrushed on a bit of mud.

The kit decals went on well; I used Polly Scale clear acrylic flat to hide the clear film. Once I had the decals on and the tools and other details installed, I applied a wash of Grumbacher burnt umber oil paint thinned with Turpenoid. When that dried, I dry-brushed the entire vehicle with burnt sienna and medium gray oil paints, then added dust via pastel chalks. I sprayed Tamiya Flat Black around the engine exhaust grille on the left side. Finally, I painted the windows, tail lights, and other glass with appropriately colored enamels - and yes, the windows really are metallic blue. (I did not add the orange reflectors to the sides, the red reflectors to the hubs, or the red-and-white decals to the front fenders, as I wanted more of an in-service look, and I haven't decided which unit insignia to apply.)

I got most of the information I used from the Army Technology website (army-technology.com) and the PzH 2000 site (pzh2000.com). (Did you know that a PzH 2000 can fire 12 rounds per minute, or that its shells can travel as far as 40 kilometers? Yikes!) In fact, it was after one visit to pzh2000.com that I began to suspect that I had not followed the painting instructions closely enough - it appears that the camouflage is factory-applied, and all vehicles get the same scheme.

Overall, I'm pleased with this model. It's big - the hull is a good inch longer than that of an M48 Patton. The basic kit is sound enough for relatively new modelers, and it's scaled well enough that a more experienced modeler can use it as the basis for a superdetailed model. Plus, it looks just plain impressive when it's done.

Terry Thompson