Fachwerk Chapel - 9 resin pieces. Includes laser cut windows, window decorations, iron gate, decals, flowers, clear window sheet, and full colour reference pictures

The Outhouse - 7 resin pieces with choice of wooden roof or corrugated sheet roof, pin up posters & instructions

These are amongst a batch of new releases that we’ll post up over coming days.

Business Signs on Real Wood – France - 19 signs

Japanese War Flags WWII printed on real cotton - 33 flags

On the subject of flags Reality in Scale do a very nice set of cotton German flags too.

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DML’s latest addition to their Sturmgeschutz  range comes this time from their boutique brand range, Cyber-Hobby. Hopefully this heralds a regular DML Smart Kit representation of a Mid-Late ( or just plain late ) production, though if it does I really do hope they add the zimmerit needed for a proper late production StuG.III Ausf.G, as well as the rundumfeurer. This kit looks to build on the original StuG.III Ausf.G Smart Kit range with late style schurzen, (still in metal ), stowage racks, the topfblende mantlet and the side opening loaders hatches.

Now I’m all for Tamiya jumping into bed with CMK if it means the possibility of some of their OOP resin kits like the Henschel Type 33 D1, Schwerer Minenräumer Alkett, Sd.Anh.105 German Field Bakery, and some of their train locomotives being produced in plastic kit form ( but I’m not going to hold my breath ).

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Click images to enlarge ( opens in new window )

Their resin accessories range under the BitzKrieg name is available through the Quickwheel website, and so far is a small range focusing on movable suspension for the Pz.Kpfw.IV. Now their latest is a very nice looking selection of wheels for the Sd.Kfz.251/Sd.Kfz.11 range of vehicles which come in four different marking options ( Continnental, DEKA GRIP,  Dunlop, or Fulda ) and are available as either single wheels or sets of three.

Trucks were an imporatant part of the mechanised style of war that came about in World War Two, they were the key to getting supplies to the fast moving fronts where horses and carts just couldn’t keep up. But when it comes to making models they are nowhere near as exciting to build as a tank or an SPG so there just aren’t that many of them available in kit form. This one from Italeri is an older kit that has recently been supperceeded by a more recent offering by Tamiya.

This kit comes in a tray and lid style box and is an older one of Italeri’s kits. This particular kit is the newer production one which is cleaned up a little but is still the same kit as the older one which includes “3(t) Type S” in the kit title and different artwork on the box lid. You get two large sprues which in true Italeri fashion come loose in the box with no bags which probably keeps the price down but I do find frequently it results in loose and/or broken parts.Also included are eight vinyl tyres moulded in black and a small sheet of decals.

The moulding quality overall is good, with detail that is sharp, though there is of course the usual mould lines that will need to be removed. The plastic used is also quite a hard and brittle type so care needs to be taken when removing parts so as not to cause any cracks or splits.  The instructions are clear and easy to follow for the most part, and whilst they could be improved upon the kit is a fairly simple one so it’s hard to go wrong.

The chassis is fairly simple, with the frame moulded as a single piece. To this is added a reasonably good representation of the engine and transmission, drive shafts, differentials, springs etc. There is a lot of the smaller detail missing like bolt heads on the transmission and differential, brake lines, fuel lines etc, but other than that the detailing of the underside is quite good and includes the spare wheel,  gas tank, exhaust, battery box and steering assembly.

The wheels are the late style with eight lightening holes in each front wheel ( wheels pre-war had six ), with the tyres moulded as one piece each in vinyl which to be honest I’ve never liked as they are hard to clean the mould seam off and hard to paint. The wheels are also missing proper brake drums so this is one area where I do think a good set of resin wheels is a bonus as you overcome the drawbacks of vinyls tyres and get proper looking brakedrums at the same time.

The cab comes with a very basic interior and this is probably one of the kit’s major failings. The pedals in the footwell and the internal door detail are all moulded on with no real definition. If you use the two included figures this becomes lessof a problem as they obscure much of these areas but without them the inner door details in particular are quite apparent. Luckily the real vehicle is rather simple so these are easy areas to detail yourself. The floor of the cab does include decent enough looking treadplate detail but the cab does not come with separate doors so a little surgery is required if you want to model the doors open.  The dash is quite good though rather plain and simple, and no decals are provided for the dials, though again the real vehicle dash is also somewhat plain looking. 

The external side of the cab is sharply moulded though rather simple with no option to open the hoods, and the side panels are not separate parts. The radiator grille is moulded as part of the bumper and is tapered in a little too much at each side. This is a minor accuracy issue but if it bothers you it’s vey easy to correct. The headlights have the option of blackout covers or clear parts which are a bit heavy, as are the clear parts for the windows and windscreen, with the windscreen also having moulded on wipers. The tool mounts and mirror however are delicately made pieces, though they do require a little cleanup of excessive mould flashing.

The rear cargo bed is also very simple being just the sides, ends, floor and three bench seats. There is no option to position the tailgate or sides in the folded down position though theywould be very easy to modify if you wanted to have them down. There is no woodgrain detail, though as these parts were usually painted it isn’t really necessary as it wouldn’t be seen on the actual vehicle anyway. Again areas like the hinges and latches are over simplified and could do with better detailing but they’re better than some I’ve seen and are passable for a simple OOB build and easy enough to replace with scratchbuilt ones for a more detailed build. There is also the option of a deployed canvas tilt which is actually quite a good looking one. If the tilt isn’t used there is the option of four tilt bows moulded as a single piece in the stowed position with an optional rolled tilt. If however you wanted to add the bows in position with an open tilt or a partial one then you’d need to make your own.

The figures like most of Italeri’s attempts at figures are best not considered as anything more than rubbish bin filler. In this case they are massively undersized, stiff and unanimated, and completely dull in the detail department. If you’re going for the manequin in a truck look they’ll be fine, but if you’re going for the real people look, look elsewhere.

Decals are included for four different vehicles though no identification is given for any of the unit markings.

Italeri, now working with Tamiya, have begun re-releasing their older kits with cleaned up mouldings and better plastic so hopefully this one will get the same treatment as it’s only real downside is the quality of the moulds, which could use a general sharpening up all over, and the lack of the smaller details. However as it is this is still a good little kit that makes up into a very presenatable little model of a vehicle that was seen everywhere throughout the Second World War. Tamiya’s kit is without a question the better of the two Opel kits available in 1/35 though the Italeri offering is usually a lot cheaper ( often as much as half the price of the Tamiya kit here in NZ ). It will benefit greatly from some good basic modelling skills to add the missing details so you can still arrive at a very good end result without having to throw great wads of cash at AM bits for it.

Click on the images to enlarge ( opens in new window )

Also check out the Opel Blitz Walkaround HERE

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Well we’re on target for getting a primer coat on by the weekend, let’s hope the weather holds. The engine bay has been painted and installed. It was painted in a cartoon style with heavy highlights which has paid off as now that it is installed the view through the grilles clearly shows the fan outlines plus enough variation in the engine side to give the appearance that was desired, that being it looks enough like an engine without being detailed enough to see that it has been made from scraps and painted in five minutes.

I’m now working around filling in all the little areas of zimmerit, I just need to finish off the glacis and vision block plate which I’ll do tomorrow. I’m doing these areas using Mr. Surfacer as it allows you to get into small, tight areas with a brush. I find the best way is to apply one coat and let it dry, then two more thicker coats and when those are close to dry add the indentations in the same manner as with the clay. Once that’s done hopefully Friday I’ll get a primer coat on which will allow me to pick out any areas that ned addressing prior to a base coat.

The commander figure has also been 90% completed. His coat has been resculpted around the arms, the belt detail picked out and the shhepskin seams added. He’s had an undercoat which allows me to pick out rough areas that need a bit of a sanding touch-up ( and also highlighted the fact that I completely overlooked the mould seams on the Stg.43 ). Which now is no longer an Stg.43 but has been backdated to an Mkb.42, the prototype predecessor to the Stg.43/MP43 that went to field trials in Novemebr 1942 with 11,000 odd being combat tested throughout early 1943.

And this is where me being me I got sidetracked. I didn’t lie the plastic ammo box I was going to use as stowage so I decided to build my own out of basswood strips ( for those who have never used it it is far superior to balsa as it doesn’t fur up and it has its own grain ). Much research later and I ended up building four early style and one late style crate. As the late style allows the shells to show I had to actually build the complete crate and the shells do actually fit. I still have to add hinges and latches but I’ll do that after I’ve stained them.

And that’s where a simple build that got complicated got even more off track. I didn’t like the look of all the crates stacked onto the small ammount of engine deck left exposed by the schurzen so I came up with the brilliant plan of adding a trailer ( the diorama I have planned is a group of vehicles in a scene during the retreat after Korsun ). I wanted to go with something that encapsulated the feeling of a unit in retreat carrying everything they can in whatever way they can so I’ve used one of the Masterbox hay wagons which I will modify to have a tow ring and to which I will add an assortment of fuel drums, ammo crates, jerry cans, ammo tins, personal gear etc. The photos just show me playing aroundwith stowage ideas.

So that’s where it’s at. All going to plan primer on Friday. Then it’s just the painting while I work on the wagon and the figures and then eventually the diorama base which is envisioned as a group of vehicles waiting at a partly destroyed wooden bridge across a waterway with a lot of snow and ice.

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