Tamiya Typ. 82 Kübelwagen in 1:35

Some history:
When strolling the streets of Berlin, I purchased this well-known kit in 1:35 for the Volkswagen Typ. 82 Kübelwagen for about 12 EUR. This was the standard light vehicle for the German army in WWII and its chassis became the basis for the later Volkswagen Beetle.

The research effort:
For once, my modelling did not involve guns or other weaponry and I must admit that the build was fun nevertheless! I spent some time preparing for the build researching a French magazine (Tank&Military Vehicles, March-April, 2016) with detailed pictures of a restored Typ. 82 and tried to recreate it as accurate as possible without turning to the aftermarket. I basically built the kit out of the box apart from scratchbuilt detail add-ons.

The build:
I added a fuel tank under the front hatch (the Kübelwagen had its boxer engine in the back) and a retaining strap for it. Unfortunately, you can not see this on the finished model, unless you know where to look. I also added "real mirrors" from aluminium sheet for increased realism. The wheels are also turned on the vehicle as I wanted to display it in a curve. Further, I "bruised" the vehicle's extremities and after sanding the mud-flaps, I bent them slightly to make give the car that worn look. The actuators to the wipers were featured of brown "linen"-insulated electrical wiring for realism on the dash.

Painting:
I airbrushed the vehicle first with a black base primer and then in "Afrikabraun" which I mixed myself from revell paints white-sandy brown-skin colour. I am quite happy about the resulting colour of the vehicle. Note the wiper marks on the windscreen which I added using a mask, cut from masking tape before spraying a light mixture of white and dullcoat on top. Finally, the dash was carefully hand-painted to highlight the knobs and central dial.

Figures:
The soldier was base primered light-grey and then hand-painted using self-mixed acryl paints from the hobbystore around the corner. I then gave it a wash with thinned umber brown oil paint and then dry-brushed with whyte acrylics. I also added a cigarette in his left hand which I made from thin painted copper wire.

The diorama:
I then "borrowed" some tiny stones from a friendly neighbour and made a little rocky diorama for it (about 15x15 cm). As a last, I scratchbuilt a scorpion in attack pose from 0,3 mm copper wire and putty. The unarmed soldier is quite impressd about this 10 cm small animal trying to prevent the entire German army from advancing! The setting is intended somewhere in Tunisia in 1941-'42.

Conclusion:
A nice build of Tamiya's Kübelwagen, I'm happy about it and hope you like it too! I think I spent about 30 hours in getting it right, including the diorama.

Happy modelling!

8 additional images. Click to enlarge.