IBG Models is a plastic model manufacturer based in Warsaw, Poland. This is one of their early 1/35 scale offerings, a German Einheits-Diesel Kfz. 61 Fernsprech-Betriebskraftwagen (Heavy Telephone Exchange Van). Prior to this they had released two motorcycles in this scale. They have been producing 1/72 scale aircraft kits for many years though and released several different British Bedford trucks last year.

This vehicle is outfitted as the Telephone support van. Other variants included Radio Command, Cable laying, and other versions. They all used the Kfz. 61 body and van box which was made from wood.

The Kit

The kit is made with light grey styrene. There are (4) sprue sets and one clear set. Some basic vehicle decals that offer marking for two different units. The first part of 12th Signals Battalion of the 12th Inf. Div. in France, 1940. The second is of the 1st Signals Battalion of the 1st Inf. Div. in Russia, June 1941.

The kit features a complete engine bay and drivers cabin interior. It does not feature any special details for the rear storage area. However there is a full interior detail set on the way from Nico Model, a sister company to IBG.

As you can see from our photos, some of the sprues are bristling with parts. There is good basic detail here and it would appear easy to get the pieces off each sprue. I did note that the floorpans for the forward cabin appear to have a raised pattern far out of scale from what might be expected for a vehicle like this. But without photo references to compare it would be hard to fault it for that.

This kit shares similar sprue sets with another IBG release we will be reviewing soon, the Einheits-Diesel Pritschenwagen (metal cargo body).

There are some glaring problems with this kit. In the photo illustration on the box cover, there are nine shafts with hole boring turn-screws depicted. The kit only features shafts that have a single point and cone-like head. This is an obvious error. Similarly the tires depicted on the box look correct (to me) but the kits 2-piece tires have odd hollow notches running around the outer rims. Perhaps this tire style is correct, but it looks damn odd.

The Instructions

The instructions are done using a nifty cad rendering view. It would seem easy enough to follow. The instructions are in simple black and white and in Polish and English. They lay out all the sprues with numbering at the beginning which could be a big help for some.

Conclusions

Since prior to now these vehicles have only been offered in pricey resin versions, I am sure this kit will be a welcome addition for those looking for something different to build. The cost vs. quality of this kit seems fairly well balanced. Yannis and Sprue Brothers were both offering it for around $45 USD when I checked. With the addition of the interior detail set, this would certainly make for a nice opened-up model or diorama scene.