German Hanomag Sdkfz.251/1

Tamiya 1/35 n: 35020.

In 1938, the German Army decided to develop an
armoured personnel carrier on the basis of the 3-ton half track
(HL-KL-9p). Hanomag Hannoversch Machinenbau (AG) in Hannover was
ordered to develop the running gear and Bussing-NAG in Berlin was to
develop the superstructure to be armoured. Design work was hastened on
the model of existing armoured cars and a prototype was completed at the
end of 1938. The Germans tested the prototype in the Kumahsdorf
Proving Ground and accepted it for mass production. Thus was born the
Armoured Personnel Carrier Hanomag Sdkfz 251/1 which, we may safely say,
was a synonym for the German mechanized corps that showed activity in
all battlefields throughout the war.