STOEWER Kfz 1 typ 40

By Faustnik -

Manufacturer: AL.BYMiniatures (Kit #702)

Contents:

- 12 Parts moulded inyellow Resin

- Packed in a transparentbox, typical of AL.BY offerings.

- No decals, Assemblyinstructions or painting information

Evaluation:

Good quality of castingsand details even if this is, to my knowledge, the very firstcomplete kit from AL.BY, so a classic in their lists.

I find some areas ofimprovement in kit, like the moulded tarpaulin with the body,already removed from my specimen, which is asking for a new onemade from thin copper wire and paper tissue. The front fendersand tow hooks are missing, so unless you want a heavily"weathered" vehicle, you have to make them.

I personally think thatthe side walls are on the though side, but a little of sandingcould do the trick. Some work is also needed in the interior, tocomplete it, so you will need some good photos. Just look at someof the offerings from Schiffer Pub. To have an idea.

Some care is helpful inthe junction of the axles with the wheels, as only a small areawill be in contact, so creating a eventual weakness and abreaking point if are to use your model in a lot of expositionsor wargames. In my kit I simple drilled a hole on the rear of thewheel hub and another in the axle, and use a small pin toreinforce the joining.

As any resin kit, somecleaning of the parts is needed. In my specimen there were no airbubbles and no warping of parts is visible, but I needed to fill,with some Miliput, the top of the rear compartment, after theremoval of the tarpaulin.

Overall:

This type of vehicle wasin use from 1936 till the very end, even if the production endedin 1943 (Stoewer/BMW/Hanomag), after some 13000 produced. Interms of colours and use, almost all fronts had a Kfz 1 Stoewer.One particular point, if you are a diorama builder, is that ituses, as a option, 4-wheel steering, as all the wheels couldturn, reducing the turning radius.

Even if this particularkit reproduce a late model, in production from 1940 on, it couldbe easily adapted to any version or builder, as they areexternally identical. You could easily convert this model in to aKfz 2 radio version or maintenance vehicle with 3 doors insteadof the usual 4.

As far as scale isconcern, using the available data (Bart VANDERVEEN and Geof LACEY[Scale Plans G82 & G83] the overall dimensions is very nearthe 1:72, with less of 0,35 mm of error.

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