Recently I visited
The Gameskeeper in Oxford, where they have a large range of Bolt Action.
After an interesting chat with the proprietor and the regional rep from Warlord (thanks guys), I bought the Opel Blitz and a King Tiger (plus another pack of Guards Armoured Division decals).
The kit can be built either as an Opel Blitz, or as the halftrack Maultier.
Here are the sprues
Instructions, decals, cards and a passengers sprue. There is also a sheet of clear plastic with the window outlines printed on it.
I had previously bought the Tankograd book on the Opel Blitz, which came in handy.
The kit went together reasonably well. The instructions do not make it clear that the bonnet/roof has to be assembled while the radiator grill and bonnet sides are not set, as there is an overhang on the radiator grill that the bonnet top has to go under. My original intention was to leave the bonnet top and roof off to allow access to the cab interior. This was not possible, so I just left the doors off.
William Killian for scale.
I used the high sided panels as I was going to use the canvas roof.
I assembled the canvas cover with the rear curtain down. I also did not glue it to the body.
The wheels were not glued in place so that I could spray them separately. The whole thing was undercoated with Citadel Chaos Black. The body colour was Citadel Mechanicus Standard Grey,
Rear view showing the closed rear curtain.
The underside (including the wheel arches) was muddied up with Citadel Stirling Mud textured paint. The underside was then painted with Vallejo Burnt Umber (my default mud colour).
The wooden parts of the load bed were dry brushed with Vallejo Old Wood. Army painter Strong Tone was then washed over the underframe and the wood.
The canvas was dry brushed first with Army painter Golem Stone, then Citadel Terminatus Stone. It was then washed with Citadel Seraphim Sepia.
The seat was painted with Citadel Steel Legion Drab and the starring wheel with Citadel XV-88. Once painted. the doors were added. I did have a go at installing the windows, butI could not get the clear plastic cut to the correct size (there is a tiny overlap inside the window to attach it to, and that was well past my skill level).
The metal work was lightly dry brushed with Vallejo London Grey.
Overall, it is a nice kit. The option for the half track version is nice (and I have some plans for the track unit).
The two disappointments were that you could not get into the cab to paint it once assembled (the Rubicon slide moulded cabs can be kept separate during painting) and the printed windows. Additional copies of the prints would help the less skilled builder.
