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Okay, I must admit a
fascination with WW II Volkswagens. I'm a
wheeled military vehicle fan - and American
armor modeler - by hobby trade, but these
vehicles are hard to resist. To date, I've
built more VW Kubelwagens than Willys MB
Jeeps - but I'm working to correct that...
Tamiya's retooling of this
light field car is wonderful, and you can't
just build one! The basic model kit doesn't
call for a great deal in additional
detailing to satisfy even the hardcore
miniaturist - and it makes the perfect
weekend relaxation project. You might see I
needed a lot of relaxation by building three
of them.
This is an excellent model
kit and subject for a novice to military
vehicle modeling too. The many different
schemes exhibited by the German Armed Forces
in WW II, plus the ease of assembly and
magnificent detail already present, allows
any modeler to render a nice piece in the
end. Actually, it's difficult to ruin this
model. The basic additions I added to all of
these models were electrical wiring, brake
lines, engine wiring, MV Products Lenses
behind the headlight covers, mirrored
plastic for the rearview mirrors, and
selected equipment and other gear to make
the vehicle more interesting. All are
painted in Tamiya acrylics - my usual - with
pastel weathering and camouflage patterns.
My first VW Type82
Kubelwagen was a Hasegawa model kit - which
has long since been lost to moving. I
haven't been able to find photos of it to
upload here thus far. Shown above is my
second VW Type82 Kubelwagen. This one is
marked for service in France, late in World
War II. Before Tamiya's Engine Maintenance
Set came out, I scratched together my own
engine to put in the bay. Many years later,
this Kubelwagen would join my Tamiya FAMO
and Sd.Ah.116 Trailer in this scheme and
time period.
The third VW Type82
Kubelwagen I've built. This is another
Tamiya kit - with Hasegawa balloon tires
mounted. This was some time before the
recent Afrika Korps VW Type82 release by
Tamiya. Yes, I've got that one on the
workbench somewhere awaiting completion too.
This Kubel has the Tamiya powerplant in the
engine compartment.
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Tamiya's
fantastic Schwimmwagen at the rear deck. The
light rusting of the Muffler is done with
Tamiya Flat Black as a base color, and a
light overspray of thinned Tamiya Flat
Brown. A Warriors resin Helmet, SMA Ladle,
and some Verlinden German Infantry Equipment
lie in the rear seats. I added nylon mesh to
the Grill openings on the rear deck of the
Schwimmwagen. The leather seats are painted
Tamiya Flat Brown, and lightly drybrushed
with oils to simulate wear and sun fading.
The
wood effect on the Paddle and the Shovel is
done with Burnt Umber oils over a base coat
of Tamiya XF-60 Dark Yellow acrylic paint.
Done properly, the parts look like wood. The
rear view mirror is mirrored .010" sheet
styrene. Air Valve Stems are simple lengths
of .010" brass wire trimmed to size. The
miniature is weathered with pastel browns
and oranges. The markings are Italeri
water-slide decals.
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