History Brief

The Mercedes 170V was very popular passenger car when released, and was built in both sedan (hard top) and cabriolet (convertible/soft top) forms from 1935 until 1942. Once pressed into military service, they became popular as staff cars. The factories survived WWII, then from 1949 until 1952 the Type 170V was produced once again and became instrumental as a commercial offering, taking the company from the ashes after the war.

The Product

Packaged in a sturdy box featuring typical MiniArt artwork is one well-packaged model kit. All 285 plastic parts are well protected in sealed poly bags, and even the cab has its own box. Also included is a beautiful 48-piece photo-etch fret, one decal sheet, and, of course, a beautifully well-illustrated instruction booklet. The kit has some very nice features, like the beautiful 4 cylinder powerplant, photo-etch radiator grill, positional hood and doors, drive train and suspension, convertible top up or down, optional luggage rack with boot, and no less than five painting/decal options.

The Build

The build is pretty straightforward but very tedious; the photo-etch parts are very small and very delicate, leaving no room for error. The high level of detail is incredible and each build step requires a lot of extra time just for the miniature photo-etch pieces. The plastic parts are extremely delicate and require a very careful hand when removing them from the sprue to insure a proper fit. For this reason, at times I found myself dreading the next build step.

I will spare you the step-by-step build up and only say this is not a kit for the faint of heart, nor is it a weekend project; in fact, at times it seemed liked a box of chores. That said, the overall fit is decent, but the fiddly bits are just to small for my taste, not to mention cleaning them up. Last point to mention is that a few parts are mis-numbered in the instructions but are too obvious to be mistaken.

The Bottom Line

I can only recommend this one to the experienced modeler with good eyesight, a steady hand, and lots of patience.

Thanks to MiniArt, MRC, and IPMS for allowing me to review such a fine model kit.