Review
A parcel arrived recently with the Gecko Model 1/16th scale German 7.5cm Pak 40 Anti-Tank Gun Early Production and a German 7.5cm Pak40 Ammo boxes with shells set. As soon as I looked in the box I knew it had to be built and my wife hid it until we took pictures of the box contents. I was so desperate to get started everything was put on hold and this started. If I had a complaint about what is supplied it is that some of the gates are huge and have to be tackled gently to avoid tearing the kit parts; however the detail is a thing of beauty with just a few small parts making me swear.
The gun kit itself provides you with a small number of shells and a couple of ammo crates in two designs. These cases go together easily and clean up was not a challenge. The shells themselves just need to be cleaned and secured to the base plate; I decided to leave the base plates secured in order to make painting easier for me. The dedicated shell kit offers more of the same as provided with the Pak 40 plus a few other parts. The additional parts offered are some fired shell cases and the metal shell container with the result that these make for a great combination.
The Build
I found following the steps for construction well laid out with just a few issues encountered. As I mentioned earlier there are some very large gates where a few parts are concerned which made clean up more difficult and required care when removing the parts to avoid damage to them. there are some very small pieces such as the loop holders for adding camouflage to the front of the main shield and yes I lost two without ever seeing them take flight. There some very small bolt head details that should be added and my eyes even in 1/16th scale just were not up to the task.
Progression went on a pace with me quickly hitting completion inside a week. The result of this progress was a very chuffed modeller who will be ordering two more of these models as soon as I have the pennies needed as I want this one in a small diorama being guarded, one attached to the back of the Gecko Model 1/16th scale Universal Carrier Mk.1 and lastly a gun in action with a crew. The fact I will be ordering two more of the guns and likely some ammo sets as well I hope tells you how much I like this kit and Gecko Models where's the crew as resin figures hurt the bank balance.