introduction

The SSyms 80 Ton flatbed rail car was used to transport the German's heaviest tanks, such as the Panther, Tiger I and Tiger II. Until the recent release from Trumpeter the modeller's choice was quite limited to resin kit offerings. The Voyager update set designed for the Trumpeter kit should be a very nice addition. Let’s see what is inside.

contents

The set comes packed in a nice sturdy transparent plastic box. It contains:

- 3 etched frets
- metal bolts
- 4 resin parts (2 pairs for attachment mechanism)
- 4 metal bumpers
- 1 A4 size instruction

the set

The instructions are divided into 12 sub assemblies. Each step is clearly explained and makes the construction quite easy to follow.

Step ”a”:
In the first step you take on the assembly of the attachment mechanism (to attach the wagon to another one). This is where we use the set’s resin parts. There are two pairs of the resin parts so you can do the mechanism on both ends of the wagon. The instruction calls only for 1 side to be done…

Steps “b” & “c”:
These two steps cover the assembly of the right and left side bumpers.

Step “d”:
Is the final assembly of the attachment mechanism from step “a” using some trumpeter kit parts.

Step “e”:
Uses the Trumpeter kit levers (C16) and Voyager PE parts for the elements the levers should be fixed on.

Steps “f” & “g”:
Call for assembly of smaller side levers. Those parts are not present in the Trumpeter set so it will really detail it up.

Step “h”:
Is quite a simple task as it covers the assembly of the two foot steps.

Step “i”:
Here we get the small square grille (where the transport documents were to be put).

Step “j”:
Covers the assembly of another lever which is not present at all in the Trumpeter kit.

Steps “k” & “l”:
Replace more plastic parts of the wagon kit.

The last image of the manual shows the completed flatbed with positions to fit all sub assemblies done during the twelve previous steps.

conclusion

All in all this is a very nice set which builds up well. It's not one of those impossible to do sets, so even less experienced modellers will cope with it easily.