It is the Italeri 1/48 Kfz 385 Tankwagon. It is also referred to by its more common name, the Opel Blitz.
I plan to build this in the Panzer Grey colour scheme with the wheel rims being a dark iron.
I will make it with back doors open so the detail in the back i.e. pumps pipes are all visible. Today I will have a look at the kit contents and do a brief history of The Opel blitz. Also I have started the build so those pictures will be aded as well
Here are the details of the kit.
Kit name: Italeri 1/48 Kfz. 385 Tankwagen
Product Number: 6604
Kit History: The kit was released in 2010 and is based on Tamiyas Opel Blitz kit released in 2008 but with a new sprue for the Fuel Tanker.
Marking Options: Three marking options for 3 different colour schemes of unkown German units.
Scalemates link: https://www.scalemates.com/kits/101878- ... opel-blitz
A bit of history on the Opel Blitz:
Opel Blitz (German for "lightning") was the name given to various German light and middle-weight truck series built by the German Opel automobile manufacturer between 1930 and 1975. The original logo for this truck, two stripes arranged loosely like a lightning symbol in the form of a horizontally stretched letter "Z", still appears in the current Opel logo.
During the years preceding World War II Opel, a subsidiary of General Motors (GM) since 1929, was Germany's largest truck producer. The Blitz name, found in a prize competition, was first applied to an Opel Truck in 1930.
By 1934 there were four base versions offered of the 1 tonne basic model along with fourteen versions of the larger 2 and 2½ tonne trucks. Under the terms of Nazi economy and the German re-armament the authorities ordered the construction of theOpelwerk Brandenburg facilities in 1935, where until 1944 more than 130,000 Blitz trucks and chassis were produced. The medium-weight versions originally were equipped with aflathead 68 HP petrol engine coming from the 1930 GM Buick Marquette, replaced in 1937 with a modern overhead valve 75 HP straight-six engine also used in Opel Admiralpassenger cars. This engine was very similar to Chevrolet engines from the same period, to the point that disabled Blitzes abandoned by fleeing Germans could be easily put back into operation by advancing Allies using Chevy/GMC and Bedford parts.
From 1939, the reliable Blitz 3.6 three-ton version was used in large numbers by the German Wehrmacht armed forces throughout World War II. Derived variants included an elongated version and the four-wheel driveBlitz A. To cope with the bad road conditions and the rasputitsa mud seasons on theEastern Front, a half-tracked Maultier (mule)SdKfz 3 version was built using tracks and suspension based on the Universal Carrier. Among others, these were used as service vehicles for the Messerschmitt Me 323 military transport aircraft. It is also claimed that Opel, a subsidiary of GM, used forced labor to reap unprecedented profits.To what degree GM controlled Opel at the time is subject to debate, but it is clear that GM did in fact play a role in giving Nazi Germany the Opel Blitz truck.
The light basic model was manufactured asBlitz 2.5 in Rüsselsheim until 1942 and again from 1946, equipped with the 55hp Opel Super 6 engine. On 6 August 1944, theOpelwerk Brandenburg was devastated by anRAF air raid. Furthermore, until the end of the war, about 2,500 Blitz 3.6 trucks were built by order of Minister of Armaments Albert Speerat the Mannheim plant of the rival Daimler Benz AG, while the production of its ownMercedes-Benz L3000 model had to be discontinued. After the war, the facilities in Brandenburg were completely dismantled at the behest of the Soviet Military Administration, while Daimler-Benz in Mannheim resumed building the Blitz 3.6under the designation L 701 until 1949. The last 467 medium trucks were again assembled by Opel in Rüsselsheim until production finally discontinued in 1954 without a successor.
Box art of the kit:
Paint schemes. I am going to do a version of the one in the middle in panzer grey. I wil have the rims painted Tamiys XF 84 dark iron and the canopy painted a khaki colour.
Kit contents. A look at the sprues decals and clear parts.
The undercarriage
The tyres and rims are seperate parts... makes painting alot easier.
The fuel tank parts
Decals
Clear parts
I will post up the recent build pics soon.
