Great Wall Hobby L3513 – German WWII 200l Oil Drums
When it comes to finding something to stick in the back of a truck to give it a nice full load the ubiquitous oil/fuel drum always seems to be the go-to guy and there are many offerings out there, some better than others. While it may at times be suitable to just go for the cheapest to add bulk there is always the occassion when the better drum is needed. So are these ones from Great Wall Hobby ( aka Lion Roar ) the better ones to go for ?
This kit comes in a medium sized open ended type box containing two matching dark yellow sprues which give you a total of eight drums and two pumps. The moulding is excellent with sharp, clean detail, no flash, and close to non-existant mould seams. In fact the only real clean-up needed is the sprue attachment points and the seams formed once the drum halves are joined.
The instructions are printed on the rear of the box in simple line diagram style together with a very simple painting guide advising you to paint them either German Grey ( dunkelgrau ) or Dark Yellow ( dunkelgelb ). Being dated 1943 and 1944 I would have expected them to all be dark yellow but I’m not expert enough to say definitively that they stopped painting drums grey at the same time they stopped doing it to tanks.
The eight drums are comprised of three distinct types, six have the large stamped reinforcing rings, with four of these also having the two sets of three smaller stamped reinforcing rings. The other two have the larger welded rings. All eight have the top and side caps which are supplied as seperate pieces. These are all the same so you don’t need to watch which one goes on which drum.
The drum lids likewise carry three distinct sets of markings though all are labelled “Kraftstoff” ( fuel ), “Feuergefährlich” ( flammable ), and “200L”. Four are marked with a large “Wehrmacht” ( German Armed Forces ) and the date 1943, two are marked with a smaller “Wehrmacht” with the date in the format B43, with the last two marked “Heer” ( Army ) and the date 1944.
The fuel pumps are very well detailed with seperate handles which are very delicate. No tubing is supplied for use with these which would have been a nice touch as even the cheap Academy set includes this. That aside though they are very nice looking pieces.
Conclusion. So is this the best set out there ? Well if it isn’t then it’s certainly up there with the best. These are on a par with several resin sets that I have and have more flexibility with the inclusion of the pumps which can be used easily in place in the drums so very highly recommended.
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