Italeri

1/72 Kfz.305 Ambulance

Kit Number: 7055

Reviewed by  Chuck Bush, IPMS# 42838

MSRP: $18.00 Web Site: www.modelrectifier.com The 3 ton Opel "Blitz" was the workhorse of the German military in World War II. From 1937 to 1944 over 140,000 were built. They were used in a wide variety of roles, from cargo and troop carriers to gun platforms, breakdown trucks, and ambulances. Italeri has favored us with the re-release of the ESCI kit of the Kfz.305 Ambulance. Laying the sprues from the two kits side by side shows them to be identical. The kit comes in an end-opening box with a color painting of the vehicle on the front and three very nice 4 view paintings on the back of the 3 vehicles which the decal sheet covers. The 34 plastic parts are molded on 2 sprues. There are no part numbers on the sprues, but there is a parts map on the instruction sheet. The molding is very crisp and there was no flash on my review sample. The decal sheet covers 3 vehicles. A small sheet of clear acetate in included for the windows of the cab, and the instruction sheet has templates for cutting the windows.

I built the model in three sub assemblies. First was the cab. Interior detail consists of the seats, which are molded into the fender unit, a dashboard, which cannot be seen on completion, and a steering wheel. The upper cab is made up of 8 parts and, with patience, goes together nicely. There is too much of a gap around the engine compartment, or maybe it's just a matter of taste. I left off the shovel and pick as they both looked really out of scale to me and they are shown just glued to the hood sides. I found pictures on the web of vehicles without them, so I left them off. Second, the house body. This is a box made up of of 8 pieces. The rear doors could be left open, however, there is no interior detail. Again, patience is the key here. There are no locating pins so getting everything to stay in place can be a challenge. Last was the chassis, consisting of frame, springs, transmission, and wheels. There were no problems here, everything fit well. There are small injector pin marks on 2 of the tires and removing them would cause lost detail. I painted the model German Gray with field green seats and Grimy Black tires. I applied a coat of future, added the decals, then another coat of future, then a coat of Testors Dullcote. The decals went on without a hitch and snuggled down with a dab of Micro Sol. This was a fun build and, with a little care, anyone with a few kits under their belt will do fine with it. Thanks to MRC Academy and IPMS for the review kit

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