Preview: German Agricultural Tractor D8500 Mod. 1938
From MiniArt
Kit No #38024
1/35th scale
Box size: 290 x 190 x 55
Product Link on the MiniArt Website
The parts of the single-cylinder, horizontal, two-stroke, hot bulb engine are on this sprue
Side fairings, wheel guards and brackets are here.
The large exhaust, driver's floor and fairings for the engine are on this sprue
The oh-so-bouncy seat and side engine parts are here - a very simple model with a lot of detail built in to it!
Photo-etched parts and decal sheet are included
The colour choices of the kit in profiles here
In a slew of re-do's of panthers, Tigers and Russian tanks - Minart keep on doing the unexpected with their latest release - that of a German agricultural tractor from 1938. After some digging, we found the official model and brand of the tractor - the of a Lanz D85000 1938 "Bulldog" as they were effectively called. See what we know about them in real life first before we look at the kit to come from MiniArt...
Lanz D85000 1938 "Bulldog" in real life
The Lanz Bulldog was a tractor manufactured by Heinrich Lanz AG in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Production started in 1921 and various versions of the Bulldog were produced up to 1960. The Lanz Bulldog was one of the most popular German tractors, with over 220,000 of them produced in its long production life. The name "Bulldog" is widely used in Germany as a synonym for tractors even today, especially in Bavaria.
It is very hard to find pictures of this tractor with the right tyres/ wheels to match the time period - as most of the remaining tractors have rubber tyres
The Bulldog was a simple and easily maintained vehicle due primarily to its simple, single-cylinder, horizontal, two-stroke, hot bulb engine. Initially, the engine was a 6.3 litre, 12 horsepower unit, but as the Bulldog evolved the engine was increased to 10.3 litres and 55 horsepower.
While hot-bulb engines were crude, they were easy to maintain and could burn a wide variety of low-grade fuels – even waste oils. The engine was designed by Fritz Huber. Bulldogs were also produced in Spain by Lanz Iberica S.A. at Getafe near Madrid. A total of 17,100 tractors were built from 1956 to 1963.
The Bulldog design was copied in other countries by several different manufacturers. While some of these copies were legitimately produced under license from Bulldog, most of them were built with each respective builder's own frame and body design, being powered by unlicensed copies of the patented Bulldog hot-bulb engine.
There is scope for more boxings of this tractor as they were made all around the world and preserved to this day by collectors...
France
"Le Percheron" was a licensed copy of the 25 HP hot-bulb Bulldog, built by Société Nationale de Construction Aeronautic du Centre (SNCAC) at Colombe in France from about 1939. It is believed that nearly 3,700 were built before production ceased in 1956.
Australia
The KL Bulldog was produced by Kelly & Lewis of Springvale, Victoria, Australia from 1948 to December 1952. Just over 860 were built, based on the 35 HP Model N Bulldog.
Poland
Ursus produced a copy of the 45 HP Bulldog at the ZM Ursus factory (Zakłady Mechanicze Ursus) in Poland in Ursus near Warsaw from 1947, called the C-45. It was replaced by the C-451 in 1957, and from 1960 the production was moved to Zakłady Mechaniczne in Gorzów Wielkopolski. About 55,000 Ursus C-45/C-451 were built from 1947 until 1965.
Argentina
In 1951 a copy of the 55 HP Bulldog was produced by Industrias Aeronáuticas y Mecánicas del Estado in Argentina
Preserved or left to die tractors of this type could be a very good modelling subject...
This new kit no#38024 from MiniArt
The Lanze Bulldog 1938 has all the refinements we have come to expect from a Miniart kit. Looking at the sprues tells us a lot at once about the kit...
Big - period correct steel wheels for that bumpy ride that anyone who has experienced before will never want to again! These are the right wheels for this model
Here are some pictures of the kit in CAD - painted up as the box art version ready to rip and tear into the paddock - one could imagine some wear and tear and some oil, dirt and mud stains on this to make their own super-realistic version to their own tastes...
Normally MiniArt post news of their models at least a month out - so this could well be with us in September...
For more on this kit and all of MiniArt's releases, check out their Website for more info...
