Plus Model is an established company from the Czech Republic with a reputation for unusual subjects. Case in point: their 1/48 scale Reindeer-team with German Bomb, kit # 4041. The Germans, being short of vehicles during WWII, made use of horses, oxen and (occasionally) reindeer to pull loads. This kit depicts a pair of reindeer put to use by the Luftwaffe, transporting bombs on a sled.
review
The kit consists of 19 parts in a medium grey resin, one small fret of photo-etched parts, a small sheet of decals for the bomb, and an instruction sheet. The parts come in a plastic bag inside a bubble-wrap bag inside a fairly sturdy cardboard box. Even so, both reindeer had one ear broken off.
The detail is good, especially on the photo-etched straps and chains. There is, however, quite a bit of flash to be removed. The casting blocks are large, but appear to be easily removed. The resin pieces have large numbers on the casting blocks to aid in finding the correct part. The decal sheet consists of four yellow stripes and two ordinance markings and is very nicely printed.
The instruction sheet is rather poorly done, being more of an exploded view than an actual step-by-step instruction. It is rather small and some of the numbers are hard to make out. A more detailed view, especially of the PE attachment, would be very helpful.
SUMMARY
Highs: Nicely detailed, unusual subject. PE parts and decals are very good.Lows: Broken pieces, lots of flash, instructions hard to follow.Verdict: With a bit of work this could be a nice additon to an airfield scene, or a stand alone vingette.
Our Thanks to Plus Model! This item was provided by them for the purpose of having it reviewed on this KitMaker Network site. If you would like your kit, book, or product reviewed, please contact us.
Hi guys,
as you'll see, not only germans used reindeer for pulling bombs:
linklinklinklink
Hope those links work! (Photosoyus is a great source for soviet/russian pics!) I'll definitly by a set of them! (Although quality seems not that good)
Happy Holidays!
Volker
You may be right. I find the % to be one of the hardest parts of writing the review! I had to weigh the detail and unusual subject against the flash and poor instructions.
Something that I failed to mention in my review is the sled could easily be modified to carry boxes, bags, etc. for a Wehrmacht unit or even be used to pull a Kubelwagen or such from a snowdrift. (both ideas I've been kicking around)
Hi Bret.
Just wanted to chime in and mention that I thought your review was very good. I now know exactly whats in the box. Your included images show exactly whats included and you´ve described what you´ve seen from your sample. Anybody who has worked with a few resin AM sets before will be well used to these issues. As an "in the box" review, it get 100% from me. Your percentage score is your opinion ... which you and only you can decide from your review sample. The rest of us can make up our own opinion based on what I see as a trustworthy review. You dont have to explain anymore why you based your percentage result.
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