Darren Baker takes a look at the 1/24th scale offering of the Daimler Benz G4 German Staff Car (1935 Production) from ICM

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If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!

ICM: Why no chrome options on the 1/35th offering but chrome on the 1/24?

Is it crazy that I find myself wanting to buy this thing SO bad knowing I'll have zero chance of building it anytime soon? Still, I know me and I'll end up buying it soon enough with the rationalization that I'm buying it so that I can make an accessory kit or something for it.

Truth is I want it because it presses all my "cool stuff in 1/24" buttons! And ya gotta admit it is really, really cool. Thanks for the review Darren, now I want this bad boy even more!

Jim
Large Scale Armory

What colors were they painted during the war? Grey? Tri-color?

I was given the 1/35 kit and if there is no chrome then the Fuhrer mobile is out.

Jim this one does have chromed parts in it, it is the 1/35th scale one that does not. the colours I found were listed as light or dark grey body with black running boards. However no two experts seem to agree how many were made let alone what colours were available.

James you could try adding the MG34 front and rear on stalks, at least they are listed in some descriptions.

Hi, All! This puppy will fit just fine in my collection of DANBURY MINT and FRANKLIN MINT 1/24 cars. I don't collect the '60s & '70s muscle cars- I like the classics of the 1920s, '30s, '40s and '50s. The only exceptions are a 1/25 re-creation of my 1:1 scale 1969 Dodge Dart GTS 340, and a 1967 Chevy Chevelle SS396. On to the subject of colors for the G4: According to the 2 excellent Schiffer books dealing with "Cars of the Wehrmacht" and "Trucks of the Wehrmacht" (not the EXACT titles of the books) the Light Gray with Black Fenders and overall Panzer Gray are appropriate to the Daimler-Benz Typ G4 in Military or Government Service. There were exceptions, of course, especially with NSDAP "higher-ups". In the dark recesses of my mind, I seem to recall a color photo in one of my "Color Photo History of WWII"- type books... The photo in question is of "The Great Impostor's" G4, surrounded by NAZI well-wishers (?) upon his entry into Austria immediately after the "Anschluss" in 1938. The car is painted with Black Fenders, and the body is painted in a Light Brown, similar to "Brownshirt Brown" or "Ka-Ka", if you will... The car also has richly glittering Nickle-plated trim. Expensive cars of the 1920s, '30s, '40s and early '50s generally didn't make use of Chrome-plating, as Nickle-plating was deemed to have a "richer" look and depth to it by the Custom Body Builders of that era... A wealthy person would buy a fully-functional chassis from any number of dealers who carried "prestige" car makes such as Duesenberg, Packard, Pierce-Arrow, Delage, Hispano-Suiza, Marmon, Voisin, Maybach, Daimler-Benz, etc. Once in a while, one even saw a Cadillac or a Lincoln with a custom-built body. The buyer would then contract with a custom coach builder such as the studios of LeBaron, Locke, Willoughby, Hibbard & Darrin, Dietrich, Murphy and Rollston, which were just a few of many... The chassis would be supplied with a firewall-cowl assembly, with a dashboard and mounted steering wheel, so that the coach builder had a starting reference point with which to begin design work for the customer. These coach builders had thick, sumptuous catalogs, lavishly illustrated with Artist's Renderings of the many different body-styles and custom interiors that the customer could peruse at his or her leisure. The body framing would be built of various expensive hardwoods, with aluminum sheeting HAND-FORMED by the coach-builders' artisans to the customers' specs... Aluminum was used because it saved weight and was much more malleable than steel. Up until the mid 1930s, custom bodies were HAND-PAINTED with variously colored varnishes, wet-sanded, and HAND RUBBED to a high lustre. This process was repeated SIX TIMES, on average... A great book about this subject was "The Custom Body Era" by Hugo Pfau, who worked for "LeBaron Carrossiers" in New York City during the late 1920s through the 1930s... WHEW!!! Back to the G4. Some of the Panzer Gray G4s were equipped with MG34s for AA protection... Real Gangster car, huh? Now I'm going to have to dig through all my color WWII books to find this picture. I believe this same photo was a print made out of a contemporary color "Reichspropaganda" newsreel... Haven't yet decided how I want to decorate mine yet, but there DEFINITELY is a 1/24 G4 in my future. I already have the 1/35 ICM G4, which is VASTLY SUPERIOR to my ADV/Azimut example. I wish ICM or MINIART would do Patton's Cadillac Limo, post WWII, Germany, 1945...