Transgressions
There are very few injection moulded kits on the market of German and Allied trucks, not including resin kits which usually cost around the Euro 70. The other option that existed apart from the Mercedes l 3000 S from Italerie was the Opel Blitz. Despite the age of this kit it is nonetheless very good quality.I took the OPEL Blitz kit as a base for the Mercedes and then made a few "cosmetic" changes. The chassis is that of the OPEL but neither versions are exactly to scaled proportions.
The longer wheel base was created by attaching the front axle to the front third of the leaf springs! The driver's cab had to have a plate to connect the door directly up to the frame work. The list of the errors could indeed go on and on.The penance
The first bit of hard work was to extend the vehicle's framework so that the wheel base reached 121 mm as it should be in the correct scale measurements. Then the doors were cut out and marks and burrs were removed.The cabin floor must be widened now on both sides so that no holes between the existing floor base and doors are visible. P.E parts were used for the pedals and the instrument panel. Also the kit's original instrument panel is too short and requires reworking.
Inside I supplemented the wood reinforcement framework and tinkered with plastic shirt collar stiffeners to create a new windshield. Opening of the radiator grille for the use of P.E parts was somewhat difficult because of the small openings and limited working space.
The quality of the radiator grilles saved me from too many troubles. After
I built the cab with the doors, hood and radiator grille, I dedicated myself
to the engine compartment.
The trial
My original intention was to have the vehicle in Africa and to ommit the entire hood cowling as was often done and is seen in many pictures in North Africa in WW2. To do this however I needed picture references of Opel Blitz motors. Picture references were very difficult to get however but I finally succeeded thanks to the assistance of an Internet friend (Thank you very much for this!). The wiring and the scratch built fuel injection system was the largest challenge in this area.
A shine in heavens
I used resin wheels which i received from Wolfram thereby replacing the very bad quality Opel wheels. The other changes were:- exchange the exhaust pipe with a copper tube which can be extended
- extension by 1/3 and adjustment (OPELS) of the muffler
- supplementing the brake assembly
- exchange the spare tire mounting plate by using aluminum sheet metal
- changes to the whole on the left vehicle side
- complete scratch building of the load tray (OPEL had a much more shorter one),
- assembly of the P.E toolbox and attachments on the correct (!) side of the vehicle
The absolution
After all these terrible experiences comes the painting stage. This, however, is another story...(Part 2)© Juli 2002 Schachinger
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