History Brief

German military car, type 170V, first appeared in military service in 1937. The car had advanced elements of construction for that time, such as the front and rear suspension system and X shaped oval tube frame. It was because of the excellent suspension system that the 170V was most widely used civilian car in the Wehrmacht. By 1942, a total of 86,615 model 170Vs were pressed into service and remained in production well after the war had ended. Featuring a 4-cylinder, 38 h.p. engine, the car had a top speed of 108 km/h and could seat 4.

The Product

Packaged in an end-opening, lightweight cardstock box, you will find four light gray sprues and one clear sprue, five vinyl tires, one decal sheet, and one large fold-out instruction sheet. All the parts were well protected and package in clear poly-bags. The parts are well appointed and feature fine detailing and appropriate seat and boot canvas textures. I found only minor flashing. The clear parts are crystal clear and are not overly thick. The vinyl tires are beautifully done and have only minor flashing. The decal sheet has options for five cars, with a painting chart on the box bottom. Last, but not least, is the large foldout instruction sheet and the parts chart, which comes in handy because none of the parts are numbered on the sprues.

The Build

The build starts with constructing the engine in the engine section in nine steps. I encountered no problems as the parts just fell together. Moving on to the frame section, I soon completed it in twenty-one steps that also included the front dual leaf spring suspension assembly and steering control linkages, the rear drive axle with coil spring suspension and anti-sway components, exhaust pipe and muffler, drive shaft, bumper, engine and radiator, plus all the little fiddly bits. This was finally finished up with the rims and tires.

The auto-body section is the final portion, with no less than twenty-seven steps. This section is where you will need to decide how to pose your car. With all the options, you could wind up with several versions. I opted to leave the top down, omit the third headlight, add the slotted headlight covers, and pose both sides of the hood open. I would like to note the molded canvas top is a work of art and made leaving it off a tough decision.

The Bottom Line

I highly recommend this kit to any skill level modeler. It is a very nice kit and builds into a beautiful model.

Thanks to IPMS/USA, Dragon USA, and Master Box LTD. It was a pleasure to build this wonderful model kit.