Military Model Scene

Minitanks 1/87 models have been around for many years, I recall their early ones even sold under the Airfix label here in the UK back in the early 1960s. The scale has always been more popular in Europe than here in the UK but their wide range of models have grown over the years, and the more modern ones with some superb detail.

One of the main points about them was always that they came ready assembled, and just needed painting. Though I have a reasonable selection of their models which I have collected over the years I hadn't bought any new ones for a good few years. I recently spotted some at a very good price with UK importer Gaugemaster and ordered a few. Two of them I will feature here as both are WW2 era German trucks, the larger Mercedes L4500 and the smaller 3t Henschel 33. While I am sure many might know but they came as a surprise to me as they arrived as kit of parts, no longer pre-assembled. I am sure this has been a way of the business saving some costs as they don't need the labour to build them. The result is something I wished for years ago, to be able to get them as a kit of parts so you can paint various elements (such as inside cabs) before assembly. In this case I did spray paint the base colour of panzer grey before I built them. The tilts (which are removable) I have yet to paint and with the Mercedes, there are smaller parts to be glued on and these extra details also have yet to be painted. These include fine details such as width indicators, windscreen wipers, wing mirrors and turn indicators. The other piece you will see in the pictures is the triangular piece on top of the cab. Standing up it indicates it is towing a trailer and would have been folded flat if not.

The main parts all clip together so can be assembled without glue, though if you prefer you can glue them to ensure nothing falls off. The main thing is that these are lovely models and I have long believed that they deserve to be even more popular here in the UK.

Robin