 Tamiya 1/35th German S.gl.Pkw. Steyr
Typ 1500A Kommandeurwagen
kit no. MM-235
MSRP $30.00 click on thumbnails for full image HISTORY Early in WWII, the mechanized units of the German army had many victories using the "Blitzkrieg" tactics. These victories were due to both the fighting units at the front lines and the strategies of knowledable commanders. To transport these high ranking officers from place to place, various vehicles were necessary. One of these vehicles was the Kommandeurwagen, produced by the Austrian company Steyr. It's design was based on the military transport vehicle, Steyr 1500A/01 (the subject of another Tamiya kit). It was produced in accordance with the vehicles standardization program known as the "Schell Programme" of 1940. It was designed using the chassis of the 1500A truck, the 1500A/01, housing an eight-cylinder, eighty-five H.P. gasoline engine, and a four forward/one reverse gear transmission. It had front wheel tortion bars, and a rear leaf spring suspension. The army was impressed by its maximum high speed of 100km/h on paved roads and it's excellent running. The Steyr firm was ordered to produce a modified version for command use. In contrast to the eight passenger capacity of the 1500A/01, the Kommandeurwagen, designed for more comfort, could only seat five. All the seats were leather and one front seat could be folded down into a bed. Thus the Kommandeurwagen was used as transportation of the "elite" in the German army and was used from Russia to North Africa. THE KIT Parts consist of four trees of 181 parts in light tan good quality plastic. The parts are in several cello bags. The hood is in a cello bag by itself, as is the firewall part also. A tree of clear parts gives all the window glass. However, no clear headlight lenses are given as you get the headlights as the slitted black-out driving type. Mesh screen material is provided for the air intakes in the hood. Tamiya shows on the instructions that they also make a P.E. set for these hood screens. three figures are included. The driver, front seat passenger, and a new officer figure for the back seat (that is not included in the earlier 1500A/01 kit by Tamiya). Instructions consist of 10 pages with 13 assembly steps. Extras in the kit include rear fender jerry can racks with the jerry cans, a rabbit ears telescope w/tripod and tripod carrying case. Alternates to the vehicle are for a closed or open trunk, with a spare tire inside. Windows can be positioned up or down. You can use either the folded or erected canvas top provided in the kit too. Decals are for three different license plate numbers and several styles of fender pennants. No division or tactical marks are provided. The excellent box art painting is a good reference guide for finishing the model. Other paint schemes are depicted on the side panels of the box also. To compare this new kit with Tamiya's earlier Steyr car, you get totally different soft vinyl windows that have to be punched out of a die-cut sheet in the first kit. This one has them as clear styrene parts. The seats in each kit are different, as is the body work...only the chassis, engine hood and wheels are identical. Eduard makes a P.E. set that is designed for the earlier Steyr kit. It is set no. 35196. I want to thank HobbyLink Japan for this review sample. |             
|
