This is part of my entry to David's "Kasserine" Group Build. Upon general request, the reloading of a Tiger I initial in Tunisian setting will be built as a diorama.

Some history:
The Opel Blitz was one of the main workhorses of the German army in WWII with over 80.000 pieces built in many different versions. This truck had a max loading of about 2 tonne on leaf suspension and was featured of a 6 cylinder in-line petrol engine.

This kit by Italeri dates back to the seventies and was reboxed in this version in 2003. You can tell that the kit lags behind on the level of detailing newer makes have to offer, but as a secondary vehicle to the planned dio (the Tiger 1 being the main act) I thought it was fine to build it OOB with some after detailing.

The build status on Sat 2017-12-16:

I started only yesterday and because this is a basic old kit, it is actually nice to see things moving forward smoothly. I'm usually building armor kits offering more detail but of course this goes at the cost of time spent. I managed to get the main assemblies done: Driver compartment, load tray, suspension and engine.

The engine block was after-detailed somewhat because part of it may be visible from underneath. The manifold is there such as gas generator and fuel lines. That should do. Tomorrow I plan to assemble most of these parts after setting and will apply a base coat to ready it for altering.

Until now I'm happy with this build although there were some nasty ejection pin marks that required filling. Also, I altered the interior of the cabin with emphasis on the seat. The kit version is too pristine to have driven thousands of miles all the way to Egypt and back to Kasserine!

Thanks Anthony, I'm sure you could it's really a basic kit!

You're doing the old Opel justice, Michel. I must have build this kit over 30 years ago, but I still like it. Looking forward to your progress. The engine is allready looking fine.

Yes George, I also suspect licensing to be the reason why truck names like Krupp, Volkswagen, Opel and their likes are not used by many model kit manufacturers, they seem to refer to the tonnage or series number instead.

I continued the build a bit working towards the first layer of paint. I plan to leave the drivers' door open and the passengers' closed. Therefore I worked a bit on the interior using styrene and bent copper wire. The space holder knobs and the hand wheels for the window were made using blobs of nail laquer (several layers). This has a longer setting time so now I must wait a bit to paint everything. The windows will also be cut to shape and placed in the lowered position. More follows next, stay tuned.

Michel, nice work on it. Whose Tiger are you using?

I've seen a Tiger at the Patton Armor Museum at Fort Knox, Kentucky (captured at the Bulge after it ran out of gas, and therefore in pristine condition). Those things are absolute beasts.

Michel, yes, I figured the iteration I saw was latter, given the date of the Bulge. But it still gives an idea of that tank. Yow! Crazy big. For any interested, it is a great museum.

Right you are, Louis. I'm dating myself by my comments. Turns out there are still some Patton exhibits in Kentucky, but the bulk of the armor has been moved to GA as you note.