German Cargo Trailer (35320) 1:35

[Mike]

German Cargo Trailer (35320)

1:35 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd

 

 

For a long time, trailers have been a great way to transport goods, people and even livestock around behind a horse-drawn or more recently motorised vehicle without adding another engine or animal.  The longer the trailer chassis, the more there is a need for a rotating front axle to allow the trailer to corner more effectively and reduce the wear on tyres plus strain on the towing vehicle and its hitch.

 

The Kit

MiniArt have been creating a number of variations on the Lanz Bulldog tractor recently, with some of the more recent boxings adding trailers to add interest, lengthen them and add more parts to the box.  Each of these trailers have a daisy-chain towing hitch on their rear, and now the mildly insane modeller can make an effort to create the longest tractor model in the history of insanity modelling by adding one or more of these trailers to their tractor models.  You can of course use them with any other appropriate vehicle providing it is capable of hitching up to the A-frame.  This kit arrives in a small top-opening box with a painting of the trailer in military camouflage on the front, and inside are nine sprues in grey styrene, some of which have been nipped roughly in half to allow them to fit the box.  There is also a small decal sheet and instruction booklet with colour profiles printed on the front and rear pages to assist with painting.

 

 

 

 

Construction begins with the ladder chassis with two sections of bed, which have fine engraved wood texture on both sides, as do the other wooden structures in the kit.  The towing hitch to daisy-chain trailers together is attached to a cross-member at the rear, and in front of it are a pair of leaf-springs for the fixed rear axle.  The front axle is similarly built, but on a frame that has a turntable between it and the bed to enable the axle to rotate freely for easier manoeuvring, as this is quite a long trailer.  The tyres on this boxing are pneumatic, and the treaded surface pattern is made by laminating three internal layers to two outer layers that also have the hubs moulded to them, then each one slots into the end of its axle when complete.

 

A small bench seat is added to the front of the shallow headboard of the flatbed, with two long sides and rear tail-gate with tiny styrene clasps with their hooks nipped off, giving the impression of holding it in place.  To model it with the sides and tail-gate down is simply a matter of gluing them in place folded down and fitting the un-altered clasps loosely against the sides accordingly. 

 

 

Markings

There are four marking and camouflage schemes on the decal sheet, with varying colours and uses that should appeal to many.  From the box you can build one of the following:

 

• Bakery 61st Infantry Division Wehrmacht, Eastern Front, 1941-42
• Administrative Company, 20th Panzergrenadier Division, Eastern Front, 1943-44
• Unidentified Medical Unit, Western Front, 1944
• Artillery Repair Company, Wehrmacht, Germany 1945

 

 

 

Decals are by MiniArt’s usual partner DecoGraph, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas.

 

Conclusion

While not to everyone’s taste (what is?), it’s a highly detailed model, and would look just as good in the background of a diorama, behind a different WWII German vehicle, or behind one of the afore mentioned Lanz Bulldog tractors, especially if you have one without a trailer and are regretting that decision.

 

Highly recommended.

 

 

Review sample courtesy of