Francios' double build of the new Revell Typ 82E with Volkssturm kids in a nice diorama

After his complex but very nice Cougar MRAP build we had here on TMN the other day francois was looking for something quick and easy to build. He found it in Revell’s new 35^th scale VW Beetle kit. But what about a setting for it? Well he has to make things harder for himself. See what francois thought of the new Beetle kit and the Masterbox figures to go along with this late WWII vignette…

Double Build review:

German Staff Car Type 82E

1:35th scale

Kit number 03247

individual parts 66

Product Link

 

Masterbox Figure set:

"Volkssturm. Ammunition to the Frontline"
Masterbox Models
1/35^th scale
Kit no# 35167
3 grey sprues
1 Photo Etch Sheet
Available from Masterbox's  Distributors Worldwide.

After my very long journey with the Panda Models Cougar, I needed something easy and…fast. By chance, a bunch of Revell kits arrived at Nico’s door the very next week, and that little beetle caught my eye immediately.

This type was introduced early enough to see service in WII which will surprise some..

Only around 600 units of this ‪VW Type 82e were manufactured. It was built on the KubelWagen off road chassis and featured a 4-cylinder air-cooled engine (985cc 23.5hp, as of March 1943 new 1131cc 25hp), had 4-wheel independent suspension and was capable of 80KM/H.

Most people will not notice the slight changes to the body shape from the "Beetle" we all know and love - but the windows on the rear are a dead give- away for the earlier lineage of this type

Opening the box, you have just two sprues with just 66 parts, 

All parts are very well moulded, you will just need to clean the large circular (pretty odd) injection mark on the roof.

This pack includes of course the clear parts. So it’s indeed pretty simple as a building project. The clear parts very clear but a little bit on the thick side… it would not be difficult to replace those by clear acetate, as I did for the driver’s window…

 The kit promises several nice features, a one-piece body with a pretty good representation of the interior cabin, clear glazed parts for the curved windows plus authentic decals for three versions one camo’ed, one black and one dark yellow.:

 German Army (Wehrmacht), 1943-1945

 German Army (Wehrmacht), Berlin, 02.05.1945

German Army (Wehrmacht), 1943-1945

I chose the last one, because it is a little challenge to paint a uniform vehicle and give it some life.

You saw the box design changed, and there is also a new style of instructions. You get a full colour booklet and for a change all steps are very clear, and in my opinion this is a big plus, as the old painting and marking diagrams were not always very clear, but not anymore, thanks Revell.

 

So is this kit accurate?

I am no specialist of the subject, but it sure looks like a beetle. Shape looks good, interior looks good, what else could you ask for? For a simple kit like this, it is enough for me right now - Let's get to work!

Construction starts with… the interior of course. Everything just clicks perfectly, it is very easy and fast, in just a couple of hours it is done.

Painting is done using the very clear colour instructions, using only water based paints. A very extensive decal sheet allows you to have a good representation of the dashboard, even if not a lot will be visible when finished.

Next,you glue the upper half of the car and let’s have fun with the painting process.

I used a mix of Tamiya and Revell paints for this car, often using my own paint mix (basically for the dark yellow).

Here are the painting stages:

First a solid primer, I used the excellent alclad 2 grey primer, which I recommend you use as it holds and is thin enough to not clog the details of the kit, then a coat of dark yellow, followed by lighter and darker colours to give the paint a more “3D” look on the model and emphasize the contours of the lovely curves of the VW Beetle. This stage is important, especially with a monochromatic vehicle.

I have added a fair amount of gloss varnish to the paint, so clear coat won’t be necessary.All this has been done during the evening, so you can say it is fast :)

Let the paint dry for the night, and in the morning before going to work I applied the decals. As usual with Revell, those are very thin, and once dry don’t leave any visible film. I have to say that I really like Revell decals, in my opinion they are an absolute best.

The next evening, I started the lower part of the car, the tires and underside, weathered with pigments. You don’t have to be very precise for those parts, as the pigments will cover most of the details.

I applied a wash made of water colours (Windsor &Newton black and dark brown, thanks Nico for the technique), highly diluted with water and with the addition of a little dishwashing soap. If you have never used watercolor wash before, try it, it gives great results and is very forgiving.

I followed that up with some micro painting stages, using Vallejo light desert yellow, and dark brown for the heavy chipping. always a fun part of the painting process. 

Next, clear parts are glued with the clear Contacta glue from Revell. I made a new door glass, cut in a piece of clear acetate using the kit part as a template that I cut down to simulate an opened window.

DONE! 3 evenings, a total of 10 hours was necessary to build and paint that kit.Now I really like it, but what can I do with this kit? 

I had a couple of Masterbox figures (1/35th "Volkssturm. Ammunition to the Frontline" from Masterbox that we reviewed here on TMN a while ago) waiting on my table for future use, as well as the wooden base (François, you should clean your desk more often…), so I decided to build a little vignette, with the help of another figure from dragon waiting for another project. 

Here is the pitch: an officer is trying to find a headquarter, but the city is so damaged that the task is quite challenging, so why not ask those kids about the right way?

I built a simple street base, using extruded polystyrene. The pavements were done with an old paintbrush, making a square out of the metal part, and punishing those stones. Easy and for a first I think it gives great results. 

Here they are on the base that was dirtied up much the same as the car and with the added Dragon figure, a bit of propaganda and some debris..

 

And here they are going about their business almost like this is an every day occurrence..

I had fun with this project, so much I will put it in a competition someday, to see if I can get something out of it.

I liked building both this Type 82 and the figures - I hope you like them too. Cheers

François Laloux

Thanks to Revell for sending us a kit so I could build it, Also to Masterbox for sending the figure set to be included.

Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For details visit www.revell.de/en , @RevellGermany or facebook.com/revell