German Schützenpanzer PUMA

Ryefield Model, 1/35 scale

Reviewed by Andrew Judson

Summary

F i r s t L o o k

Rye Field Model is a relative new player in the industry, although they have already released many excellent kits in that short time from WWII subjects including Tigers, Panthers, to the modern era with their series of Abrams and the amazing Breacher Vehicle. Now, here is another modern subject and a welcome one at that.

The current German Puma first came into official active service in 2015 after many trials until the powers decided this was to be the new replacement for the effective, though ageing Marder. It is planned to have 350 new Pumas delivered for service by 2020.

The vehicle is armed with the Rheinmetall 30mm auto canon, and also a 5.56mm MG4. Its powered by a 1090 hp engine and has the capability carry six fully equipped troops, ready to be deployed at short notice.

Now let’s have a look at the kit. Firstly you are presented with a decent-sized high-grade cardboard box, with some very nice box art of this vehicle. Upon opening, you will find 11 sprues of tan coloured plastic, one small sprue of clear, a single photo-etched fret and a length of copper cable, giving you a total parts count of 700 parts.

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Thumbnail panels:

There is also a sheet of decals, and an 18 page instruction sheet, well illustrated and what appears to be in a logical order. Within the instructions there is a colour profile paint guide as recommended by MIG AMMO.

The build starts with the turret, which is quite impressive, with very nice detail.

Next it moves onto the driveline, though ii did note, there are no details on the track assembly or amount of links required per side?

We then move onto the upper hull details and lastly the bar armour assemblies  that attach to the rear of the vehicle.

I think that this is going to be a very nice kit once built, though as mentioned, due to lack of track instructions, care will be needed in that area. I do like the fact that there are some subtle yet nice surface details with the anti-slip texture. Take care not to drown that in paint!

For all modern armour modellers, I recommend this kit as a great subject.

This is a welcome and clearly superior replacement for the old Revell kit. I like this one!

Thanks to Rye Field Model for the sample www.facebook.com/ryefieldmodel/

Thanks to Ryefield Model for the sample www.ryefield-model.com