introduction

The Mercedes Benz LG 3000 truck was produced by Daimler Benz and was in production from 1934 to 1940, and over 7,000 vehicles were produced over that time. The Mercedes Benz LG 3000 truck saw service with every armed service of the German military and a few civilian organizations as well. There were many different body types fitted to its chassis and so served various roles. It is my understanding that the Mercedes Benz LG 3000 truck served up until the invasion of Russia during World War Two, however I suspect they were used until they stopped working. This truck was a major early player in making the German military mobile and providing an Army on the road with all the materials it needed.

Contents

This model of the Mercedes Benz LG 3000 truck from ICM is supplied in a cardboard tray with card lid. The packaging should be sufficient to protect the model from reasonable handling during postage. Inside the box you will find a resealable cellophane bag which contains;

• 6 dark tan sprues
• 12 rubber tyres
• 1 clear sprue
• 1 decal sheet
• A loose leafed instruction booklet

Review

First Impressions
When first looking at the sprues in this box, my impressions were that ICM is continuing to improve their products to the benefit of the modeller; true they do not at this time provide photo etched parts in their products, but for the most part this does not affect the appeal of their models and there are a host of after-market companies that support the modeller that feels the need for them. The injection moulded plastic parts are all very cleanly moulded and free of obvious deformations. Some of the mouldings do have flow lines or cooling marks depending on what you know them as, but these do not look or feel to me to have caused any issues. There are a large number of small shallow ejection pin marks on parts, but these I believe will only cause issue on the bed of the truck and to a much lesser extent the cab interior.

Engine
Starting with one of the areas that ICM does so well the engine and gearbox. You will not be surprised to learn that ICM has nailed this area again for me as they have with so many previous releases. The detail is first rate as regards the look of this very large engine and gearbox, and they have managed this without having resorted to a 100 parts count. The various elements that go to make up the engine and gearbox are for the most part reasonably sized and so easy to find if you drop any of them, they are also recognisable to most of us with a rudimentary knowledge of the combustion engine. The radiator fan is a particularly nice moulding in this area of the model having good dimensions. The addition of some fine wire to simulate the plug leads and general wiring will finish this area off a treat.

Chassis
Another area where ICM scores very highly with me is the chassis of the truck; the chassis is a multi-part affair which has allowed more detail to be moulded onto the parts, this does of course mean care will need to be taken to insure that the chassis components are square when assembled or problems will occur later during the build. So get that set square out and put it to use or at least use the lines on your cutting mat.

Axles, Suspension and Drive Shafts
The axles are well replicated and should look the part when attached to the model, however this area has my first gripe, the front axle. The steering elements are nicely replicated but the hubs themselves are moulded as part of the axle, this means the front wheels can only be depicted in the forward position and not shown turned left or right, not an issue just a personal gripe. The suspension leaf springs are nicely moulded with good detail. The inner face of each of the leaf springs has an ejection pin mark present; this will never be seen by 99.9 percent of people who look at your model, but for those who enjoy competing, these will need to be addressed.

The drive shaft is nicely moulded with good detail, a plus during construction is that it is attached to the differentials before they are attached to the model; this means it will be easy to engage the shaft with the gearbox prior to securing the axle assembly to the chassis. Anyone who has struggled to attach a drive shaft to a model where both points it attaches to are secure will appreciate this fact.

Wheels and Things
The wheels provided with the model are very nicely done, the detail is good for what is a fairly basic design, with the wheel nuts being well represented. The two spare wheels are particularly well done with the holes where the studs or bolts go through being very well done. The tyres being vinyl rubber will be a bone of contention for some; that said they are well done with nice subtle tread detail, there are no seam lines that are obvious to me and I believe they have been hidden in the tread detail. There is a single point that will need dealing with and that is where the tyre joins the sprue on which it is supplied, you could hide this by simply making it the point that contacts the surface that the model is displayed on, but that will not work for the competition modellers.

The exhaust is straight forward as regards the moulding, but will need some careful drilling to give the impression of being a hollow tube. The fuel tanks have not been overlooked or it would appear simplified as there is some nice surface detail present. Overall the areas covered so far would make for an excellent model shown quietly rusting away minus the cab and bed due to the minimal amount of detail that will need to be added by the modeller.

The Cab
The cab of the Mercedes Benz LG 3000 WW2 German Army Truck with its canvas roof is fairly basic, but that by itself suggests accurate for trucks of this period. ICM however has added some nice touches to this boxy structure such as providing the ability to depict the passenger’s front window in an open position if I am reading the instructions correctly. The seats provided in the kit are featureless and will need some work to give them a lived in working vehicle look. The dash board is quite nice with ICM having provided decals for the dials to spruce things up. The support frame for the canvas roof is moulded as part of the roof but there are ejection pin marks that will need to tackled. The diamond plate running boards or steps are nicely replicated and are a nice thickness for what they represent. The engine bonnet is nicely done detail wise and has a nice rendition of the Mercedes Benz badge on the grill; the downside is that the bonnet is not supplied with the option of showing the bonnet open, this is a shame as it hides all that glorious detail on the engine. It is also while assembling the bonnet that you will notice the lack of a radiator with the model. The clear parts have a good thickness which should look good on the finished model and prevent any issues with viewing distortions.

Truck Bed
It is in the area of the model and its truck bed that you will cuss ejection pin marks I suspect; as I said at the very start of this review the ejection pin marks are small, shallow and hidden for the most part, not so with the truck bed. ICM has hidden these marks on the base of the bed by having them on the underside; the sides don’t have that option though. The planking on the truck bed is nicely done despite the lack of wood grain detail, I have come to the belief that wood grain should not be present in 1/35th scale, especially if that wood is painted, a slight roughing up of the surface should provide a good balance. The lack of grain detail helps the modeller by making it easier to feel the ejection pin marks on the inner face of the side panels; you could also if wished add your own wood grain effect after the marks are filled. Another option to deal with the pin marks would be to add a lot of stowage to hide rather than fill them. The metal framing is nicely done and with some weathering could make this area pop.

Conclusion

ICM must surely by now wear the crown when it comes to soft skinned vehicles, with them having released a huge number of offerings in the truck and car area in the last few years. This is another very nice offering from ICM, with the only real issue being the pin marks in the truck bed. There are things I would like to see introduced to this model and for that matter ICM soft skinned models generally, but these are wants rather than faults and should not colour your opinion of the model as a whole. The pin marks while a pain are remedied with easily mastered modelling skills; filling and sanding must fall into the bread and butter of needed skills?