Tamiya 1/48 German 3 ton 4*2 Cargo Truck off the production line

Modeling Subjects Armor
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This, of course, is the Opel Blitz without the badges. It’s a review build for a UK-based military modelling magazine, so I can’t say too much about it. However, the parts are moulded by Italeri, and it’s essentially their 1/35 kit simplified and scaled down. The major differences are that this kit doesn’t have an engine or crew figures.

Apart from some visible ejector-pin indentations on the inside of the cargo body, it’s a pretty simple and straightforward build. Some people might find it regrettable that the wooden parts have no wood texture, but it could be argued that in 1/48, this wouldn’t be visible. The cargo body tilt, however, is particularly nicely-moulded.

Because the plastic parts are moulded by Italeri, you can only buy the Tamiya boxing outside of Europe. In Europe, you can find it in a Supermodel box, along with the ex-ESCI 1/48 Henschel Hs.129. In the States, it can be found for $26.50, and in Japan, 2000 Yen, but in the UK, it’s a less-than-bargain £19.99 (though you do get the Hs.129 with it), and this may mean that sales would not be as great as you might expect from a 1/48 Opel Blitz which, obviously, has huge diorama potential.

Here are some piccies. The model can be completed with tilt erected

or folded:

Painting was mostly Tamiya acrylics, with light weathering using a burned umber oil wash, Conte Crayon dust highlighting, and Tamya weathering powders for a sublte ‘dirtying up’. I still haven’t fully worked out how to get the best out of my new camera, so the piccies are not as good as I would like. I’m getting there, slowly…

Cheers,

Chris.

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Nice work on the scaled down softskin Chris. [tup]

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I like the weathering Chris. Cool camo too.

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Thanks, guys.

I kept the camo restrained because

i) I don’t like to over-weather review builds, the prime purpose of which is to demonstrate the merits (or otherwise) of the kit and not the merits (or otherwise) of my weathering skills and

ii) I’m probably going to use this model in a diorama some time in the future, so will need to weather it to fit in when I do.

As to the camo, yes, it’s quite a neat scheme isn’t it. I particularly liked the single thin Rotbraun stripe on one side only of the Olivgrun bands. It’s one of the kit finish options, a Gebirgsjager machine in Bologna, Italy (home of spaghetti bolognese) in late 1944-early 1945.

Other finish options are a Luftwaffe machine in Panzergrau, a DAK machine in Sandgelb with Olivgrun splotches, and another in Panzergrau, but this time with green squiggles all over. I was very tempted by the latter.

Remember, though, that over 70 000 Blitzes were produced, so you could make up pretty much any camo that you liked!

Cheers,

Chris.