The vast array of World War II German sets made by Preiser cover the Second World War in incredible detail, and that includes the transport, so it makes perfect sense to produce a model of this little but very versatile hand cart. The If.8 was small enough to be pulled by a single man, but was a very useful device for moving items of kit. This set contains kits for four such carts, and each has a variety of options. The cart could be pulled by hand using the T-bar, and this is the arrangement we have selected for our photograph. However it could also be coupled to a vehicle, or harnessed up to a single horse, and the accessories to do both are also part of these kits. The basic cart is shown above, but as well as being open it could have a cover, or just the frame for the cover, and both the frame and the full cover are supplied in the kit. If open then the contents could be almost anything, and Preiser have supplied pieces to show the cart full of canisters of two different sizes, plus they have included racks to allow a number of rifles or machine guns to be stowed, so there are an impressive number of possible configurations.

Preiser have long produced fabulous, finely detailed kits, and this one is as good as any. The small cart is beautifully intricate and detailed, yet the hard plastic used is perfect for the job, so the actual model is not particularly fragile. Each kit is basically just the body of the cart, the two wheels and whatever fixing is chosen, so they are simple kits to make.

Also included in the set are four figures as shown. These are all either pulling the cart or leading a horse, and come as shown - the only options are a choice of heads. Typical of Preiser, each man is an upper and lower body, a head and one separate arm, but the resulting poses are excellent and perfect for the task. The sculpting is good too, with good detail, and the men have been dressed in normal field uniform, including long jack boots. The usual sprue of accessories (see sprue image) allows a variety of kit to be placed on these figures, or anywhere else, as desired. Note however that there are no bases in the set.

Finally, the set includes two horses, so half the carts can be animal-driven. Everything here is great, with beautiful cart models, a lot of options (well illustrated on the box artwork), and everything is perfectly authentic. Unfortunately for fans of 1/72 scale, this kit is only available in 1/87 scale, so the cart (and everything else) is a fair bit smaller than they should be for our favourite scale. This is especially galling as the only other kit of this cart is by Valiant, and is as over-sized as this is under-sized. Nevertheless a great model from a producer that seems to churn out superb little kits with ease, and an attention-grabbing little piece that will add interest to any infantry diorama.