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In-Box Review
135
Unimog S 404, LKW 1,5 to gl

by: Harald Haensel [ DUKW ]

introduction
In 1954/55 Daimler-Benz developed a special military version of their famous Unimog truck. The truck was named Unimog 404S and took part at the competition for the new 1.5 ton military off road truck which the German Bundeswehr wanted to introduce. Because of its extreme off-road capabilities, the Unimog 404s was selected and ordered in large quantities. It was named LKW 1,5t gl (4x4) by the the Bundeswehr. That means: Truck, one and a half ton off-road, all wheel drive. A total of around 25000 units of all versions were build for the Bundeswehr between 1955 and 1972. The most common was the cargo version with 14223 build vehicles.


The kit
The kit comes in a solid card box with colour photos of an assembled and painted kit as box art. The parts are well packaged in a couple of plastic bags and secured with foam chips. There were no broken parts in my kit. The risk of broken parts seems to be very low, cause the flexibility of the resin they use is comparable to polystyrene. Thin parts can be bent to acute angles.

The box contains 113 resin parts, moulded in light grey resin, one sprue with clear lenses for the headlights, one set of PE parts, a piece of clear plastic for the windscreens, and a decal sheet.. On top of all the you also get an outstanding printed instruction sheet. It nearly reaches the level of top plastic kit makers.

First, all parts are listed with name, quantity and drawings of the parts followed by some general building advice. The construction of the kit itself is shown very clearly on five pages. Different angles shown help you place the parts right. Although the part list is only in German, the rest of the instruction is bilingual German / English. Colour recommendations are given too.

The moulding and the detail on the parts is extremely good. The casting blocks are placed as helpfully as possible. There is nearly no warping. Only the side walls of the cargo compartment are bent a little bit, but because of their flexibility it will not be necessary to make them straight. Glue them to the body and that’s it. The side walls look like very difficult to cast parts. There are a few air bubbles you can find, and a little flash, at the mirrors and the mirror carriers. The PE set offers parts like radiator grill, windscreen wipers, brush guards for the head lights, the “ Mercedes star “ and some other small parts. Very well made too.

The kit offers some options to build. You can choose to show it with open or closed cab and cargo bed because the two good looking tarps as well as the seat bench for the cargo area are contained in the kit. No easy decision. In addition to that, the doors of the cab and the side walls of the cargo box can be shown in open or closed position, the windscreen can also be folded down. The front axle is not steerable, but to convert it will be no big deal.


Decals
The kit contains wet transfers. Decals for three German Bundeswehr units are provided:

Kompanie Panzergrenadierlehrbattallion 92 ( 5th Platoon, 92nd motorized training infantry battalion)
1. Kompanie Panzergrenadierbattalion 351 ( 1st Platoon, 351st motorized infantry battalion )
2. Kompanie Jaegerbattalion 113 (2nd Platoon, 113th light infantry battalion )

The sheet offers decals for dash board instruments and MLC too.


Conclusion
One of the best, if not the best, resin kit I ever got in my hands.
If you want to try your first full resin kit, I would suggest this one. Highly recommended.
SUMMARY
The Unimog 404S is the latest release of Perfect Scale Modellbau. The kit is very well researched and shows all features of the original vehicles as it was used by the German Bundeswehr.
  MOLDING:95%
  DETAILS:98%
  CASTING:90%
Percentage Rating
95%
  Scale: 1:35
  Mfg. ID: 35009
  Suggested Retail: 98€
  Related Link: Perfect Scale Modellbau
  PUBLISHED: Aug 06, 2006
  NATIONALITY: United States
NETWORK-WIDE AVERAGE RATINGS
  THIS REVIEWER: 73.00%
  MAKER/PUBLISHER: 87.69%

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About Harald Haensel (dukw)
FROM: NORDRHEIN-WESTFALEN, GERMANY

I live in Germany east of Cologne. Models I already build since my childhood. Thus approximately 35 years. My emphasis are armored and wheeled revocery vehicles, engineer stuff as well as soft skinned trucks. But I even like to build things of mainstream.

Copyright ©2021 text by Harald Haensel [ DUKW ]. All rights reserved.



Comments

Excellent review of a very tempting kit. Now where did SWMBO hide my creditcard? Cheers Henk
AUG 05, 2006 - 07:04 PM
Great Review, and more than interesting subject. If I´m not wrong, this is the 2nd resin release of the UNIMOG, a spanish manufacturer also make one.... Cheers PS: I want 10 of those...
AUG 06, 2006 - 07:39 AM
The spanish maker "Das Werk" has anounced one, but it is not on the market jet. I have heared it will be available in September. A pic of the master does not show a real Bundeswehr vehicle. The walls of the cargo area are different. This type was used from 1971 onwards with a revised version of the Unimog. But these vehicles were fitted with a more powerfull engine and the cab of the Unimog 406. I think the Perfect Scale kit is the best coice for everyone who wants to build a german, belgium or dutch vehicle. Happy modeling Harald
AUG 06, 2006 - 12:00 PM
You forgot to mention Chile my friend... :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) its stated in Perfect Scale web site.... Cheers
AUG 06, 2006 - 06:27 PM
I was not shure about this statement, but after your confirmation i will correct my statement: I think the Perfect Scale kit is the best coice for everyone who wants to build a german, belgium, Chilean or dutch vehicle. Happy modeling Harald
AUG 06, 2006 - 07:04 PM
I am pleased to inform you that the Unimog which will be released by DAS WERK has also the cargo bed side walls as seen on early models of the German Army and other countries. The model which is shown in the website is a preproduction model. Some of you will remember the first time the model was shown I already mentioned some things had to be changed. Best regards, Jorge Lopez
AUG 07, 2006 - 01:54 AM
   
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