Introduction

Magirus GmbH is a truck manufacturer based in Ulm, Germany, founded by Conrad Dietrich Magirus (1824–1895). The company began manufacturing fire-fighting vehicles in 1866. In the late 1910s, it started the production of trucks and buses. These vehicles developed a reputation for high engineering standards, able to operate under the most arduous conditions.

S3000 trucks were widely used in all German armed forces up until the end of the war had been used in all of the different fronts of conflict, Soviet front, North Africa, Italy and all of the other European fronts such was the reliability of this truck. The production of the S330 trucks was resumed in 1948 under the brand name Magirus and continued until 1951. Late production trucks were equipped with the 4cyl, air cooled Deutz Diesel engines.

Contents

The first thing you notice is the artwork on the front of the box but what really grabs me is just how strong the box is it is a separate solid cardboard box which the box top then sits over the top of it, I am sure that some companies could learn from this. The contents break down as follows;
One booklet with instructions nice clear and easy to follow.
One bag containing five sprues in a brown moulded plastic.
One bag with rubber tyres.
One bag with clear sprue and small decal sheet.

Review

The plastic is brown in mould and has some fine detail on it, the side wooden panels of the truck has some nice wooden grain on it giving the whole wooden effect. Their is a lot of injector pin marks on the kit itself most of them will be hidden either underneath or behind other parts so that should alleviate any extra work. The chassis comes in four parts the two side parts have some nice moulded bolts detail and the leaf spring on the back of the truck looked nice and crisp. The back mud guards are well rounded but do have a large sink mark in the underside of them. At the back of the truck the flatbed has more very nicely done wood effect boards giving a nice level of detail. The cab of the truck itself looks good with guttering around the front and sides. The engine block is well done and you have a starter motor and sump to add to the detail to this is then added to by the fan belt and pulleys and a very well detailed fan. The doors to the cab are basic which would be the case of any vehicle that old, but do have some inserts on the inside to make the detail level rise.

Front mud guards and the fender are how you would expect them to be, visually good with no obvious marks. However underneath the mud guards is a large sink mark, but of course will not be seen unless you pick it up or do a diorama with it on its side after a crash. These could be fixed without to much work just a little putty. The side panels to the front of the cab and the radiator and radiator covers all have some nice detail on them. Rear axle and drive are well detailed and the front leaf springs look good and you can clearly see each of the different leafs that make them. The wheels are very well detailed and put with the rubber tyres are going to make it look realistic. More wooden panels that make up the back of the flat bed underneath there sits a lovely well moulded fuel tank. Another nice piece of work is the full exhaust system from the manifold through to the back box in different parts giving you even more diorama options for example a garage scene with parts being replaced.

The interior of the cab has a nice looking dashboard that looks very nice. The floor of the cab is basic in detail, but nice and of course you will be adding the foot pedals, gear stick and steering wheel making it better detail wise. The door inserts do add life to the whole detail level with handles added and window winders it all starts to take shape and makes it look good.

Conclusion

I have to say that the whole look and feel of the kit makes it an interesting subject. The level of detail from ICM has increased so much over the years you cannot be other then impressed by this. I believe it to be a fairly easy straight forward build that will in the right setting look superb. I am very impressed with how the bits go together in a dry fit test. The plastic is hard not brittle there are some smaller parts that I have to say do feel slightly more brittle but on the whole a very nice kit.