Friday, February 7

Preview: 1/35th scale L701 German 3t Cargo Truck from MiniArt.

MiniArt Models is releasing the civilian alternate to the military Blitz in 1/35th scale L701 German 3t Cargo Truck with a wooden cab. We look at the CAD sprues, profiles, decals, etch, the original trucks, & a made-up kit in our preview...


Preview: 1/35th scale L701 German 3t Cargo Truck from MiniArt.

L701 German 3t Cargo Truck
From MiniArt
1/35th scale
Kit No#38082
Six marking choices are included in the box.
The Subject
The Mercedes-Benz type L 701 was manufactured under licence from the Opel Blitz 3,6-36 S. Daimler-Benz had to start producing this type in July 1944 when production of its own 3-tonne lorry, the Mercedes-Benz type L3000S, was halted in April 1944. Unlike the original Opel Blitz, the L 701 had a conventional driver's cab from the final year of the war and no corporate logo on the radiator grille. Approximately 3,500 exemplars were produced till the end of the conflict.
This truck was essentially an Opel Blitz, the "standard truck" of the German armed forces during WWII, which was created and constructed by GM subsidiary Opel with American management fully aware of its intended purpose. Mercedes began producing it under licence in 1944 in modest quantities, and then again after the war from June 1945 until 1949.
Mercedes were vexed that it wasn't their own design (their own truck of the same class was vastly inferior and significantly more expensive), which is why you could order a L 701 truck from your Mercedes-Benz dealership after the war and end up with a truck that said nothing about being an Opel made by Mercedes-Benz except in the owner's manual.

A few views of a restored L701 in the U.S. (you can rent this one apparently).
You will notice that this truck had a wooden cab instead of the sleeker, metal-constructed Opel Blitz cabs. The resources for these wooden cabs were used to save on resources and cost during the war.

A view of the cab itself.

The Kit: MiniArt's 1/35th scale L701 German 3t Cargo Truck.
We have the sprue layouts of this kit, providing some details of the makeup of the model. 
The clear plastic for the transparency & lights is, of course, included.
Photo-etch is included for the thinner parts of the kit.
MiniArt print their own decal sheet for the six variants on offer.
The six colour profiles from the 40's to the late 50's.
Nuremburg show: MiniArt shows the kit made up in bare plastic.

This kit from MiniArt will soon be available. Until then, keep an eye on the MiniArt's website or just look in here for more info on MiniArt’s new stuff.