introduction

An army doesn’t function without mechanics. All vehicles, especially those being used by front line soldiers need to be kept in tip shape. In the past we’ve seen tank maintenance personnel (Tamiya 35180) and various resin offerings. With the recent flurry of excellent motorcycle kits from Lion Roar and Master Box, this new kit from Master Box will be a ’must get’ kit for modelers and diorama builders.

the kit

The kit consists of two sprues molded in a tan plastic.
The larger sprue is the BMW R75 motorcycle and side car. Although not as detailed as the Lion Roar kit, with PE spokes etc, this R75 is far better than the old Tamiya and Italari kits.
Weapons for the motorcycle included on this sprue are an MG-34 and a MG-42.
There are some frame pieces and linkage pieces that appear very delicate....care will be needed when removing these pieces from the sprue so they are not broken.

The smaller sprue contains the figures, work bench and tools. There are four figures.
The first figure is in trousers with suspenders, a tee shirt with bare arms. He is using a manual tire pump to put air into a tire.
Figure two in trousers, shirt with sleeves rolled up is leaning forward with a wrench in hand, working on the motorcycle engine.
The third figure, trousers, shirt with sleeves rolled up, pipe and field cap is holding the motorcycles fuel tank, presumably visually inspecting it or getting ready to put it back onto the bike.
Figure four is sitting, pipe in hand, wearing his field boots, shorts and a tee shirt.
There is a wood grained-plank top work bench with metal braced legs.

The figures are molded very well with sharp detail. There are the typical mold lines one finds with plastic figures but they don’t appear to be a major issue and should clean up quickly.
The motorcycle is also nicely molded with few sink marks (mostly hidden once assembled) and no noticeable ejection marks. The only issue that really sticks out on visual inspection of the motorcycle sprue is that two of the wheel halves (that make up the spoke d wheels) have a considerable amount of flash. Nothing that a fresh No.11 blade can’t clean up but tedious nonetheless.

Instructions and decals

There is a small decal sheet provided with the kit that gives you five options. The painting guide in the instructions shows decal locations for the various choices. The color suggestions do not have brand equivalencies but rather are simple descriptive words such as “Panzer Grey” and “Dark Sand”
The options are:
1) Generic German Army Red Cross motorcycle
2) Ramcke Brigade, Afrika Korps 1942-43
3) 14 Fallschirmjager Division, Anzio 1944
4) 24 Panzer Division, Stalingrad 1942 Propaganda Kompanie
5) (Bonus alternative) 24 Panzer Division, Stalingrad, 1942 Autumn