The German Army relied heavily on horse drawn transportation, and scenes in photos of the horse drawn German Field Kitchen seem to epitomise the German forces, especially in Russia. So this kit from Academy makes for an interesting scene of one part of the backbone of any army, the folks that feed the troops.
This kit, like many of the earlier Academy kits is a direct copy of the Tamiya equivalent though Academy have attempted to go one better by providing a display base. It comes in a small tray and lid box on four dark yellow sprues and consists of the field kitchen, supply limber, two horses and a driver. The mouldings are good other than some minor spots of flash, needing only minor cleanup of the mould seams. Fit is good and the kit goes together quickly and easily.
The kitchen is made up of a number of parts representing the oven parts. The firebox doors as well as the ash pan doors at the bottom can be posed open or closed and comes with two old style wooden cart wheels which are well represented. The limber is a simple arrangement whose doors are moulded shut. It also has the same two large wooden cart wheels as the cooker part.
The horses are moulded as two different horses which is a nice touch considering how often kits with horse will just double up the horse mould. One has “hairy” feet for want of a better description and that just looks wierd. Other than that they aren’t that bad with just the usual odd looking manes and tails which seem to be nigh on impossible to do realistically in plastic. The driver is a very simple figure with soft detail who comes with a poorly moulded Kar98K rifle, so he would be better replaced.
You also get a number of cooking accessories such as milk cans, a bucket, a ladle, several mess tins, a lantern, two large food containers and two smaller serving bins.
There are no decals included but you do get a sheet of precut dark brown strips to use to make the reins and harnesses for the horses. This is a nice touch giving a better result than moulded on harnesses.
This is an older kit but still a good one and other than the figure still looks good made up straight from the box.
Click thumbnails to enlarge images.
