Post by 406 Silverado on Dec 12, 2018 11:54:22 GMT -5
FAUN L 900 SD.ANH. 115
In-Box Review
In-Box Review
From: Das Werk
A new kit release from Das Werk Germany in the form of the long overdue Faun L 900 and Sd.Anh.115 in plastic kit form. My review kit was sent to me by MBK-USA, the distributor of Das Werk and MBK products here in the US, and so a big thank you to Patrick Perales for sending me the kit for review.
As this is a new kit of an early war German transport/cargo vehicle not previously done in plastic. I am sure there will be many in box reviews of the kit popping up on the internet, and so I will keep mine simple. Not wanting to go into the history of this vehicle since one can simply do a google search to get all the info, I want to focus more on the kit, what you get in the box, and later a build review.
The kit comes in a sturdy box with very nice artwork of the Faun truck pulling the Sd.Anh.115 trailer. Cracking the box open like a kid on Christmas I found the box packed with sprues in grey color as is the standard color nowadays. All sprues come in clear plastic bags protecting each sprue, two instruction booklets in a plastic bag with brass wire and a decent size decal sheet. The rubber wheels for both truck and trailer come in separate plastic bags.
FAUN L 900
The instruction booklets are not your standard instruction sheets but are in color , grey and blue for assembly steps, and includes black and white images of the vehicle and trailer. A quick look at the instructions shows straight forward assembly steps that is easy to follow with no guesswork as to where parts are to be installed.
The decal sheet contains various license plate numbers, large white vehicle numbers and instrument dials for the dashboard. Six brass wires are included for representing the tarp bows for the cargo bed.
There are two sprues marked A and on these we find mostly suspension and chassis parts, side cargo bed panels and various small parts.
The kit gives you the option of three types of leaf springs for the rear suspension, depending on how you want to build your model, no load/cargo, light load or a heavy load.
The side cargo bed panels feature light wood grain which should show nicely when painted and given a light wash.
The B sprue contains all the larger parts of the vehicle, the cargo bed, cab and front bonnet assembly. The rear fenders are also on this sprue and a close look shows these parts are very thin and not thick as in most kits, which means I won’t have to sand down the fenders as I normally would have to do.
The largest part on this sprue is the cargo bed, and judging by the size of this part I can see this is going to be a big model. The wooden bed has bolt head details and light recessed wood grain, and like the side panels should look convincing when painted and weathered.
Sprue C is a large sprue containing parts for the cab interior and as well as parts to build the chassis and suspension. The kit does not have a complete engine, mainly the bottom section that will be visible from the underside of the model.
Sprue D contains the remainder of the chassis components and the two chassis rails, which are nearly eleven inches in length. There isn’t very much detail on the two chassis rails other than some bolt heads, but this is not an issue since most of this area will not be seen or covered by the large stowage box, fuel tank and other items.
The front fenders are located on this sprue, and like the rear fenders are molded in thin plastic that are more to scale. This is a nice break from kit parts that are molded thick and with tapered edges.
Sd.Anh.115
Moving onto the trailer the kit includes four sprues with all the parts needed to assemble the Sd.Anh.115.
Sprue E is dominated by the S shaped trailer frame rails and trailer deck as well as other large parts. The deck is of steel and wood construction and so it features the same wood grain texture found on the truck cargo bed and side panels.
There are two sprues marked F and these contain wheels rims, ramp components and other smaller parts. Detail of the parts are very crisp and seem to be void of ejector pin marks, and as with the truck parts any raised or recessed pin marks are located in areas that will not be seen in final construction or covered by other parts.
The final sprue, marked H contains smaller parts for both the deck and front and rear wheel axle assemblies. The leaf springs and misc parts are finely detailed with very light mold seams and next to no ejector pin marks that I could see.
Rubber tires for both the truck and trailer come in individual bags and the difference in size is apparent as we see in the side by side image of the two. All tires are of hard rubber and are hollow instead of solid rubber. There are very small fine mold lines on the tires, but these can be easily be sanded down in no time at all.
The final sprue is a small clear sprue containing the two windscreen halves and two lenses for the headlights.
My overall first impression of the kit is that a lot of time and effort went into developing this kit. The injection molding of the parts sprues are very nice and so there shouldn’t be too much time spent with a lot of cleaning or filling ejector pin marks.
Looking at sprues with parts on them can only give a first impression of a kit and its quality, construction and assembled model are really what counts in my opinion. I will be doing a review of the assembly of the truck and trailer so any shortcomings will come to light at that stage.
Stay tuned for the build review..
