Tamiya's 1/35th kit no. 235
GERMAN STEYR TYPE 1500A
S.gl. Pkw. Steyr Typ 1500A
Kommandeurwagen

By Larry Martinson

Introduction

Upon opening the Steyr Kommandeurwagen box, I was greeted with one of the cleanest molding jobs I've ever seen. I haven't built any of the newer Tamiya kits lately, so I knew I was in for a treat.

You will have to excuse me about the lack of history for this vehicle. Anyway, it was included earlier in the inbox review that appeared in the magazine. I don't have any reference books on this car.

In a nutshell, the steps are easy to read and understand – a usual for a Tamiya kit.

Before I started building, I decided I wanted to depict a gray vehicle that has been repainted with the later earth yellow scheme. This required me to paint a lot of the parts gray before assembly.

STEP 1

This involved the painting and assembly of the engine and frame of the car. They even supply the shocks seperately for the front suspension. When painting, according to the instructions, you will notice they refer to several shades of black. This was done with some other colors mixed in as well.

STEP 2

In this step you finish the drive-train and you put the exhaust system together. Tamiya should be commended on the excellent fit of the exhaust pipes to the manifolds. I did not have to force fit or use some of those 'SPECIAL' four letter words about them.

STEP 3

Here you assemble the wheels on the rims. They went together beautifully. There was a small mold seam on the tread of the tires, but this was sanded off easily. I would like to warn you of the small, black, poly cap bushings, which you put inside the tire/rim. They are small and they don't give you any extras in the kit. I left my wheels off the frame for ease of future painting here. The rims were painted gray on the backs and earth yellow on the fronts.

STEP 4

Assembly of the floor pan and trunk is covered in this step. You start by installing all the shift levers, emergency brake, and what I would say is the high and low range levers since this vehicle is four wheel drive. I then put the inner trunk walls on. Caution is needed because of the hinge mechanism, which is part of the left- hand inner fender. If you choose to have the trunk lid open you use the hinge. If you chose to have it closed you cut it off. Last of all, you put on the outer trunk body. I left mine loose for ease of painting again.

STEPS 5 & 6

In these two steps you put the trunk lid on, the hood, and the windshield is done also. In step 6, you also put the windshield wiper motors on the windshield and you install the plastic mesh material in the grill and hood. Tamiya makes a photo-etched set for the grill of this kit, that is sold separately, if you do not like the mesh in the kit. In this step you need to decide whether you are going to have the top up or down. If you opt for down you attach the sun visors to the windshield.

STEP 7

This step consists of assembling the two front seats and the installation of these, and the rear seats also, in the passenger compartment. The front seats have a bit of detail on them. The seat back adjustment levers are given. The interesting thing I learned about the front passenger seat was that it also served as a bed for the officer. The back of it would fold down flat with the back seat. The inside of the passenger area and the inside of the trunk were both painted gray at this time for the early paint scheme.

STEP 8

All you do in this step is attach the car body to the frame. No problems encountered here!

STEP 9

This step was a bit busier than most of the previous steps. You attach the grill, lights, fender flags, and jerry cans. I have another little warning in this step. Tamiya tells you to put parts F-12 on the bumper. These are the square shaped plates. You will put a checkered decal for these. Be aware that not all of the Steyrs had these, so decide whether your vehicle needs them or not.

STEP 10

This step involves the assembly of the three figures and some of the extra equipment that comes in the kit. The figures are nicely done and have crisp, fine details. On the other hand, I had some nasty mold seams to contend with and the General (figure in the back seat) has an ejector mark on the back of his head.

STEPS 11 & 12

In these two steps you put the doors together and you choose the positions of your windows. Either up or down. I was going to have some doors open, but the door hinges were not strong enough to allow this to be done. At this point I painted my Steyr earth yellow with green tiger stripes and some brown ones too. The paints I used were the new Modelmaster acrylics. I washed the vehicle with Testors thinner and rubber color mixed together. I let this dry, for a few days, then dry-brushed. After a coat of dull-coat, I installed the windows with watch crystal cement. This glue does not haze clear plastic.

STEP 13

This step is where you put your top on or not. I think that Tamiya has molded a real good effect into the top provided in this kit, so I used it.

I did not keep track of the time I spent on this kit, but I can say that it almost falls together on its own! I would like to thank Ray Mehlberger and Hobbylink Japan for the opportunity to build and review this excellent kit.