Sturmpanzer II
90. Leichte Afrika-Division

First of all, this vehicle was never called Sturmpanzer II. It was also never called Bison II either, as it is sometimes referred to by model kit producers. Its official name was: 15 cm sIG 33 auf Fahrgestell Panzerkampfwagen II (Sf).

It was developed as a response to the need to provide heavy artillery support in highly mobile warfare. Panzer II was selected to fit the 15cm sIG 33 heavy artillery gun. This proved to be a big challenge, never to be solved completely and adequately. The prototype was first tested at Kummersdorf on 13 June 1940. Panzer II chassis was modified, by lengthening and adding one more axel (which helped to absorb recoil forces better and reduce the chance of tipping over) and widened by 40cm, which made more space for the crew. It was still very crowded and hard to operate, and only 10 rounds could be stored inside. The engine was not adequate for the increased weight and engine cooling was not adjusted for desert conditions.

Alkett completed seven 15 cm sIG 33 auf Fahrgestell Panzerkampfwagen II (Sf) in December 1941 and five in January 1942. They were all sent to Africa and assigned to 707.schwere Infanteriegeschütze-Kompanien. and 708. schwere Infanteriegeschütze-Kompanien. Both of these regiments were part of Rommel’s 90. Leichte Afrika-Division fought until the Axis surrendered in Tunisia in May 1943. Vehicles were arriving in Libyia between February and April 1942 and were plagued by all kinds of problems. The engine could only run for very short periods of time without overheating, sand was thrown by the tracks into the engine air intake and the engine would constantly break. And there were no spare parts delivered. Basically, the vehicle was a disaster, they just added additional weight to the gun so it was hard to move it around. All 12 vehicles were present in the El Alamain battles, where half of them were lost, and the remaining 6 fought until the war's end, surrendering in Tunisian in May 1943.

Ark Model kit is the same disaster as the vehicle itself.

It is really hard to build it into something decent without a fair amount of fixing, scratch-building, and AM parts. However, I must say that I enjoyed building it and fixing all the issues on some strange level 🙂

Accuracy-wise, I can not comment much, I didn't want to check the dimensions, because I couldn't do much about it anyway.

The model is painted with a combination of Gunze, MRP, Tamiya, and Vallejo paints and weathered with Mig's pigments. The Interior and sIG 33 gun are a bit better detailed compared to the rest of the vehicle.