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Built Review
135
German staff car type 82E
German staff car type 82E
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by: Federico Collada [ FREDDIETELLO ]

Introduction

The Volkswagen Type 1 was the answer to the Adolf Hitler’s requirement for a cheap, simple and mass production car affordable to the average German. Although the Project was developed by Ferdinand Porsche back in 1934, it was really based on the Bela Barenyi car designed in the 20s.
In 1938 the Volkswagen factory was built in Fallersleben in Lower Saxony to start mass producing the new car. After 210 units built the war caused production to turn to the military requirements. During the war only a bunch of the civilian version called Type 60 were produced for the Wehrmacht officers and the factory concentrated in producing the Kubelwagen, Schwimmwagen and the military version of the type 60, mating the Kubelwagen chassis and the Type 60 body. This special version was produced from 1941 and improved the off road capability increasing the ground clearance and traction but lowering the maximum Speedy to 80kph. Inside the car was Spartan with only the necessary equipment and even the Kubelwagen seats were generally used.

The Kit

RFM is providing some interesting kits lately. This previously unreleased Type 82E is a good example of their good quality standard with finely detailed plastic parts, a few photoetched elements and easy following instructions.

The soft card box includes an inner little box protecting the plastic body. The rest of the parts are sealed in a bag together with the small PE fret, the decals and the vinyl tires. The Light brown plastic parts show very nice retail and resemble those form other producers like Meng, Tamiya, etc. The Windows and lights lenses are obviously procured in transparent plastic and, as a bonus; the kit includes sand tires if you want to depict a DAK Vehicle.

Building the Kit

The model is made of few parts and the whole building processed can be fulfilled in an hour or so.
The instructions guides us through 13 steps clearly illustrated and with few parts evolved in each of them so this part of the job is very amusing and trouble less.
Step 1 to 3 – Build the lower part of the chassis and choose whether you want to use the standard off road pattern tires or the sand ones.
Step 4 – Build the Engine and place it at the car back.
Step 5 – Add the levers and seats, unfortunately the kit only includes the Type 60 seats and not the more common Kubelwagen ones.
Step 6 and 7 – When building the front trunk and the dashboard you will have to choose again if you want to depict a DAK Vehicle.
Step 8 – Add the Windows, maybe you want to save this step to the end.
Step 9 and 10 Add the exterior details to the body.
Step 11 – Close the car and add the fenders.
Step 12 and 13 – place the front and rear bonnet. The kit give us the option of leaving both bonnets open but the truth is that both plastic parts have very evident mould marks inside and the hinges are very summary so you will have to work them a little if you finally decide to show the engine and trunk inside.

The painting options are illustrated at the back of the box, three schemes provided by Ammo for which the decals are included, none of them is identified but the license plates belong to the Wehrmacht.

Conclusion

This is a lovely rendition of an iconic vehicle that can be a perfect weekend project. The nicely detailed parts make any aftermarket almost unnecessary and the few mould marks can be perfectly hidden if you leave the car closed. Checking some of the unused parts makes me think of other versions of the Volkswagen coming up soon.
SUMMARY
Highs: Good overall detail, optional parts.
Lows: A few mould marks to work with, Kubelwagen seats are not included.
Verdict: Lovely kit, advisable for any soft skins enthusiast.
  Scale: 1:35
  Mfg. ID: 5023
  PUBLISHED: Sep 14, 2019
  NATIONALITY: Germany
NETWORK-WIDE AVERAGE RATINGS
  THIS REVIEWER: 72.50%
  MAKER/PUBLISHER: 89.40%

Our Thanks to Rye Field Model!
This item was provided by them for the purpose of having it reviewed on this KitMaker Network site. If you would like your kit, book, or product reviewed, please contact us.

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About Federico Collada (freddietello)
FROM: ALICANTE, SPAIN / ESPAñA

Copyright ©2021 text by Federico Collada [ FREDDIETELLO ]. All rights reserved.



Comments

This may be of interest to those of you planning to build this kit: http://www.kvh-pressburg.szm.com/history.html I think you will find it a treasure trove if you have never seen it before and build WWII dioramas set in Europe. Apparently Peter Dinklage had his own personal Ju 52/3M; I did not know that.
SEP 14, 2019 - 01:58 PM
Oh, and based on what I know as a VW enthusiast I am not entirely convinced by the interior of the trunk and will do mine shut. I see more of these with the spare leaning back in that front space at the bottom with the more cylindrical fuel tank behind the spare. The tank in the kit just seems too 'flat' IMO. And even if you fix that, you'll need to recreate the hood support. Extra fuel tanks look better in the back or in a bracket welded to a fender or the rear quarter panel anyway. Just wanted to throw that out there... ****ADDENDUM**** Just remembered I have the Tamiya Kubelwagen repair set with the engine and set of tools for a basic tune up. I was originally trying to snag another Tamiya VW and do a diorama of exactly that scenario based on my years owning a '69 Type 2 bus. But as I was likely buying this kit anyway I do wonder if the two might mesh.
SEP 14, 2019 - 02:11 PM
Otherwise, externally, this is accurate for an end of war vehicle?
SEP 14, 2019 - 02:28 PM
For all intents and purposes it looks close enough that the differences come down to minor adjustments as production went on. Volkswagen was noted for making continual adjustments as a vehicle was in production, but changes weren't usually noted unless that began to affect a tolerance outside of it's allowed range. If this required enough parts to be remilled to keep it all relative that would note it as an update, or patch in modern terms. A lot of the changes were in the engine and suspension. Others were based on feedback suggesting features or asking changes/deletions of problematic ones. Anyway, short answer gone astray, yes this is good enough enough for government work, both civilian and military. Just don't open the trunk...
SEP 14, 2019 - 02:46 PM
I built the it and it’s a nice kit. It does have the low transfer case lever which I removed. Dan
SEP 15, 2019 - 01:06 AM
Didn't see this one coming from RFM and while pleasing I wonder how this compares with the CMK version (?) I built years ago. I shamelessly stole the engine compartment from Dragon's Kubelwagen and outfitted it with desert balloon tires. Wonder if RFM will later offer the four-wheel drive version as well? Perhaps a new Kubel? So many possibilities once the chassis is available.
SEP 16, 2019 - 12:50 PM
I think it's head & shoulders over the Revell kit. the Tamiya repair scene engine only has the "top half". I thought I could do the same for another project, but ended up building it in an open crate to represent a recently shipped replacement engine. nice detail on what is provided.
SEP 16, 2019 - 09:37 PM
definitely; thanks.
SEP 16, 2019 - 09:38 PM
   
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