The 10.5 cm leFH 18 (German: leichte FeldHaubitze 'light field howitzer') was a German light howitzer used in World War II. Kit has fully rendered carriage,  split trails, thin gun shield, hollow gun barrel with detailed muzzle brake, ammo case and photo-etch details. Also includes 5 gun crew figures with separately molded weapons and equipment. Model may be assembled in your choice of firing or transport configuration. Painting guide and markings for Unidentified Unit Western Front 1944.

Artillery is often termed ‘the king of the battlefield’. Germany widely used such calibers as 7.5cm, 10.5cm and 15cm during WWII, and these weapon systems were sometimes mounted on vehicles and sometimes towed. Dragon has a very wide range of 1/35 scale German artillery kits, from the diminutive 3.7cm PaK 35/36 all the way through to the monstrous Leopold. Missing from the range so far is the 10.5cm leFH 18/40 (a German abbreviation for leichte Feldhaubitze, or ‘light field howitzer’). It was a development of existing standard divisional field howitzers. The leFH 18/40 wasn’t widely introduced until after the Battle of Stalingrad in 1943.

Dragon’s newest 1/35 scale artillery kit features this self-same 10.5cm leFH 18/40, as well as a complementary set of crewmen. The kit is highly detailed, including additions such as the torsion bars that ran between the newly produced wheels of the gun carriage. Modelers have the choice of displaying the gun in firing mode or in transport configuration. Certainly the inclusion of a set of five crewmen will help create a dramatic scene of the German artillery piece in action. Modelers have been looking for a kit of this subject for quite some time, and with this leFH 18/40 artillery piece an important gap in the WWII artillery family has now been amply filled.

Review by Cookie Sewell at missing-lynx.com:

• Advantages: Provides a nice centerpiece and details for an artillery diorama; well done gun and carriage.
• Disadvantages: Nothing major noted.
• Recommendation: Highly Recommended for all German and “Redleg” fans.