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Background

Before World War I armies across the world were looking for new means to transport their equipment. Horse drawn buggies and carriages did not have the weight capacity or range that was needed. Therefore Germany made many prototypes for motorized vehicles during WWI. None of them were ever mass-produced, as problems with the steering systems were never solved. But in the years after World War I the Reichswehr developed 6 half-tracks, the 1,3,5,8,12, and 18 ton. The eighteen-ton was the heaviest German half-track ever to be produced by the Germans during WWII. Manufactured by Farzeug - Und Motorenbau (FAMO) it was able to pull, as its title says, 18 tons of equipment.

Photo by Bill Wolfe

It was also equipped with a 7 ton winch, and a flatbed capable of carrying 2 tons. The most common variant was the F3 version (the one produced by Tamiya) and was primarily used for tank transport. This was a very valuable asset for the Germans as recovery in the railroad lacking Russian battlefields was very difficult, and the FAMO was one of the only ways tanks could be salvaged. Recovery was done by hooking tanks up to a drawbar and towing them back for repairs. Recovery was also accomplished by use of the Sd. Anh. 116 flatbed trailer. However as the war dragged on German tanks became very large and very heavy. For tanks such as the Tiger and Panther 3 half -tracks were used, although it could be done in a pinch with two. For tanks such as the Ferdinand 5 half tracks were necessary! But for the German army the FAMO or "Bull" as the troops called it, was one of the best resources available to them.

Building the Bulls

This is a close-up look at how two modelers - John Daniel and Phil Novak - approached building the Tamiya 1/35 Sd. Kfz. 9 Famo.

Having more models than time to build them, it takes something special for John Daniel to push a project to the front of the queue. The Tamiya Famo was such a model; it begged to be built. "It's big, German, and has interleaved road wheels; it couldn't look any more German than if you designed something from the ground up," explains Daniel.

He painted the exterior with a base coat of Tamiya Desert Yellow, using Tamiya Dark Green and Red Brown for the camouflage pattern. The model was almost completely assembled prior to painting and no primer coat was used. Although he built it with the bumper, most Famo's did not use one.

Photo by John Daniel

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