Here I look at two offerings from Gecko models that compliment each other perfectly in the form of a German 7.5cm Pak 40 Anti-Tank Gun Early Production and German 7.5cm Pak40 Ammo boxes with shells set in 1/16th scale.
This model subject and the ease with which it goes together for the most part made building the model an enjoyable break from life. The quality of fit is good and the locaters which are positive help a lot. the result is something that will have many of its brothers alongside soon. Best model I have had my hands on this year in every regard.
And, importantly, it is cheaper than another 7.5cm Pak 40 on the market. Sol and Jeff Shiu both do a crew for this, pick your poison.
I am looking at a 5 man crew from 3D-Gizmo
It is about $10 cheaper then the Das Werk kit, but does not offer the same options. The DW kit includes three different types of wheels and has 4 ammo crates, 8 ammo canisters and 10 shells, versus the 2 crates, zero canisters and 8 shells in the Gecko kit. So overall, quite comparable from a cost perspective.
Due to the comment about Das Werk I decided to go out and purchase the model as I do like this gun and am pleased with the result I got with the Gecko Models offering.
An examination of the model was generally pleasing offering the option of a turned metal barrel. Photo etch is restricted to the firing plate of the shells, another plus for some. Construction however turned into a battle of wills and at the moment the model has won. On removal from the sprue I found a number of the fine parts had invisible cracks meaning the part fell apart as it was removed. Assembly lacks positive mating surfaces in many areas making accurate assembly a task where I jumped ahead to make sure I got it right. The Elevating archs of the weapon are too thin in my opinion and result in what I believe is an accuracy issue. The parts seem to have been moulded with a bevel to make ejection from the mould easier resulting in filler being needed where substantial moulding faces meet.
This offering 2 types of shell to Gecko’s 4, both have storage and Gecko has offered the additional ammunition containers and shells if required. Both offer metal barrel options and so a draw there. I feel despite using photo etch parts that Gecko Models offers a superior mould quality and so fit of parts is better and in many cases much more positive. The cradle bed in both models fights you due to how thin it is but I will give Das Werk a win here as they offered a single locator at one end which helped. I know that presently Das Werk offer the later variant of the gun with the wheel options which I like, but this battle so far means I will be waiting for Gecko to release additional offerings.
I hope you find this helpful.