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KIT: |
CMK 1/35 Volkswagen Type 83 |
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KIT # |
T35108 |
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PRICE: |
$12.98 |
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DECALS: |
One ambulance and one postal truck |
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REVIEW BY: |
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NOTES: |
Curbside |
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HISTORY |
When Ferdinand Porsche designed the VW, he envisioned it to be much more than just a nice, inexpensive sedan that could be bought by anyone with a good job. He also provided for it to be made into several other variants. One of these was the small delivery truck. All of these were generally based on the same chassis and used mostly the same parts and were powered by the same four cylinder, horizontally opposed, air cooled engine. Displacement is unknown, but I would assume it to be 1200 cc or less.
The chassis of the type 83 was the same as the off road Kubelwagen as it was anticipated that it would be spending some of its time operating in areas where the roads were unpaved or very poor. While I have not seen photos of any wartime VWs, I do know that there are a number of good books on the subject. It is just that things that don't fly are not my forte so I am blissfully ignorant of kit accuracy and how they were painted and other such things.
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THE KIT |
This is the fourth kit that CMK has produced of
various wartime VWs. I built the Type 82E sedan last year,
and found it to be a very enjoyable kit. Nothing fancy, just a nice curbside. If
you read that review, you will find that many of the same components are present
in the Type 83 kit. The biggest change is, of course, the body. This one is a
small panel truck. Should you wish to do the Type 86, simply add the decals for
the ambulance as that is really the only difference, kit-wise. Having spent some
of my youth driving a VW, I can only imagine trying to get my gangly young bod
into the back of the ambulance version!!
All the items on the aft sprue are common to all the CMK VW kits that I have seen or built. You really get your money's worth out of this kit as the new sprue is quite large, carrying all the bits for the panel truck body.
Also the same are the clear pieces. Naturally, you won't be using them all as they are for the sedan. There are no extra clear bits for the rear doors. Whether this is an omission or perhaps they just weren't carried, I don't know. Perhaps one of you can tell me.
The decals are for two different versions. One is for an ambulance and is mostly red crosses on a white circle. The other is for a mail truck. Surely, both of these vehicles would be a welcome sight to any battle area!
Overall, it looks like a nice little kit,
as was the Type 82E, and something a bit different. This is a kit that both the car and armor builder can do!
Review copy courtesy of
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