This review is of the Master Box German Military Staff Car, WWII Era, Sd.Kfz.1 Type 170 VK, also known as the Mercedes Benz 170 VK. Since I am a lazy typist I am going to refer to this as the “Mercedes” during this review.

Well, this is one of those kits that is different, and therefore a welcome challenge. The kit consists of three main builds: the engine, the frame, and the carriage.

The engine is a complete engine minus the wiring and oil leak. It is a really neat thing to have, and it is INCLUDED! No extras to buy, no aftermarket stuff, but included. It went together without any problems. There is a little flash to clean up on the fan, but that was minor.

Next step is the frame, which also went together without any difficulties. There was some minor flash to clean up, but nothing too bad. The engine gets attached to the frame, and then everything is attached to the underside of the body.

The carriage went together as well without problems. They give you options here, so pay attention. I built mine with the hood closed, mainly because like an idiot I glued the frame to the body before painting it...a force of habit from building kits without an engine. This is also the main reason I want to build another and detail the engine. You can leave the top down, or up, the doors on or off; they also give you some rifles and a gas can. There is plenty of room to add stowage.

One thing I love about this kit is the rubber tires. It allows you to paint the rims and hubcaps without worrying about masking and accidentally painting the tire. I wish all 1/35 kits were like this because I hate having to mask tires, and no matter how well I mask, I always seem to have to go back and touch up the tire where paint oversprayed.

Being a Mercedes fan, I loved this. You do get a three-pointed star for the hood emblem, and the star is also on the hub caps. Interestingly, if you leave a hubcap off there is detail underneath that includes the bolts so you don’t have to use the hubcaps, or you could have one missing to add some character.

My only complaint, and this goes back to laziness, is that the parts are not numbered on the sprues, so what you need to do (like I did) is make a copy of the page with the parts so you don’t have to keep flipping back and forth.

It is a really neat car to build. The Mercedes is something different, and with the detail and engine I have to give this a sterling recommendation. I actually plan to build the other versions when I am able to find extra money to pick them up.

I would like to thank Dragon Models USA and IPMS/USA for the review sample.