The Kubelwagen is probably the best known of the WWII German soft skinned vehicles. This small 4 seater car was based on the engine and chassis of the civilian Volkswagen Beetle and was widely used by the German forces from 1940 onwards. Of the three main series of 1/35 kits of the Kubelwagen, the Tamiya kits are considered the best for overall accuracy, crispness and ease of assembly. The Tamiya kits, a standard version with regular tyres and an Afrika Korp version with desert tyres, both come with the overhead canopy in the folded down position.

This resin canopy from Trakz provides a canvas canopy in the open position, offering a major alternative to the Tamiya kit parts. The canopy is the widely used three rib version with the square rear windows. Earlier version had two ribs, while some later versions had a curved rear window.

The canopy is made from a single piece of resin and the only construction required is to remove the connecting plug on the rear rib and clean up a seam line. I found this was fairly straight forward and the fact that the canopy had numerous fold marks and the resin plug was located on a fold, ensured that clean up was quick and forgiving of any modelling slips or short cuts. The resin was cleanly cast without any pitting, although there was one slight discoloration which will be hidden when painted. Trakz correctly features the tie downs and overlapping canvas flaps on the lower rear of the canopy, while also featuring the interior ribbing, all features not found in the equivalent canopy in the DML/Bego Kubelwagen. The Trakz canopy also has numerous folds giving it a realistic used look in keeping with many photos. The two rear windows in the canopy, which were transparent on the real vehicle, are cast in resin, leaving the modeller the option of painting them a weathered silver or removing them and fitting a clear plastic panel inside the canopy. I found the canopy fitted snugly on my Tamiya Kubelwagen.

Recommendation

This Trakz set provides a useful addition to the Tamiya Kubelwagen which compares favourable with reference photos. The set will allow modellers to make their Tamiya Kubelwagen stand out from the crowd and to model a wider range of specific vehicles seen in wartime photos. Well recommended.

Thank you to VLS for the review sample

User Contributed Notes