ICM 1/35 le.gl.Einheits-Pkw (Kfz.1)
By Chris Banyai-Riepl
Overview
The light cross-country standard passenger car, or leichter geländegängiger Einheits-Pkw, was a German vehicle produced by Stoewer, BMW, and Hanomag from 1936 to 1944. Initially the vehicle incorporated four-wheel steering in addition to its all-wheel drive, but that proved to be excessively complicated and unreliable. Adding to the maintenance problem was the fact that all three manufacturers used their own engines, making engine repairs and swaps challenging.
Even after undergoing some simplification updates, the le.gl. Einheits-Pkw remained too complicated and difficult to manage, and in combat it proved to be too heavy and too vulnerable. It was replaced by the Volkswagen Kübelwagen after roughly 13,000 were built.
The Kit
I believe this is the first instance of this vehicle in injection plastic, and at first glance it looks like ICM has done quite a nice job. The kit is molded in a medium gray plastic, with a single sprue of clear parts and a small decal sheet. The detail throughout is crisp, and there's plenty of it. With four schemes provided on the decal sheet, and many more that would require minimal markings, this kit should make for a great addition to either the shelf or a diorama.Construction starts with the small bits and pieces, which includes a complete engine. This is very nicely done, with nearly thirty parts making up this assembly. About the only thing left for the modeler is the ignition wiring, which means that many will want to open the hood on this kit.
Moving on to the suspension, the wheels are split into right and left halves, with a separate rear hub piece that itself has separate suspension attachment points. The suspension and drivetrain are both suitably busy and detailed, adding another forty parts to the kit. And we're not even to the main chassis yet! A separate gas tank, complete with a full length filler tube, fits into the chassis assembly, along with all the suspension and engine bits. On top of the main chassis comes a separately molded floorboard, which allows for better detail to be molded in all of these parts (and also simplifies the cleanup of ejector pin marks). Next up is the body, and once again we have multiple parts for what many other manufacturers would provide as a single piece. The engine hood/front fender assembly has eight pieces and is engineered to make it fairly simple to open up. The firewall/dashboard assembly is also nicely detailed, and the decal sheet provides the instrument faces. The front windscreen has separate clear parts from the frame, which allows the modeler to paint the frame without having to worry about masking off the clear bits. Also separate are the windshield wipers. The interior has some simple seats that accurately capture the shape of the originals. Separate brake, clutch, and gas pedals and a two-piece steering column/wheel assembly add to the interior detail. The rear seat is a full width bench, provided in two pieces, while the rear body is a simple box made up from multiple pieces, including separate doors. Like the front windscreen, the side windows have separate clear parts from the framing. The canvas roof is provided in several parts. My rudimentary research showed photos without this roof, but I am not sure if it folded up or was simply removed. Details for the exterior include a spare tire, gas cans, and a shovel. The decal sheet provides markings for four options, and even then the sheet is pretty small. These vehicles did not have much in the way of markings. All four are painted similarly, with the body painted in panzer gray and the canvas cover in a grayish green. All four are from the Eastern Front. The first is from I/JG 51 in Belorussia, July 1941. The second is from Panzergruppe 1 Kleist in the Ukraine, July 1941. Third is one from 11 Pz. D., also in the Ukraine in July 1941, while the final one is from 16 Pz. D. in the Don area in June 1942. The main decal differences revolve around the license plates and the minimal unit markings found on the fenders.Conclusion
For those who like something a little different on their armor shelves, this kit definitely delivers. The level of detail, coupled with the straightforward assembly, should result in a fun build that will look quite nice when finished. My thanks to ICM for the review sample.