Introduction

ICM has been producing a lot of World War Two soft skinned vehicles of late and one of these is the G917T (1939 production) German Army Truck. This Ford built truck was produced in Cologne up until 1941 and served with German forces throughout the war and in all theatres of operation.

Contents

This model is packaged in a cardboard base with card top on which an artwork of the model is printed. Inside the box you will find;

• An A4 sized booklet of instructions.
• A colour painting guide for the finished model.
• A single clear sprue which is individually packed.
• 5 tan sprues.
• A decal sheet

Review

The mouldings in this G917T from ICM are good; there is no flash from what I can see with the only some flow lines being evident. There are of course ejector pin marks but these are small and for the most part placed where they won’t be seen on the finished model, the areas where this will be an issue are the side, front and back panel for the bed of the truck. As I have said the ejector pin marks are small and shallow and so should be easy to fill and sand without causing the removal of moulded detail, I should also add the number of marks is not excessive. The sprue connection points are what I would call small and so clean up of parts should be minimal, ICM does not use the plastic nipples on their products and so no extra clean up is needed, by plastic nipples I mean the nodes that a number of manufacturers use to ensure that the model parts are moulded completed. In this example the fact that the nipples have not been used has not resulted in any issues that I am aware of.

The decal sheet provided with the kit is small but it does provide decals for four vehicles, and a nice touch that is sometimes over looked they have provided decals for the dashboard. The four finishing options provided in the kit are;

• 6th Panzer Division, Baltia, Summer 1941
• 3rd Panzer Gruppe, Russia, Summer 1941
• Unknown unit, Russia, Summer 1941
• Afrika Korps, Libya, Summer 1942

The instructions included with the kit is A4 size and printed on a light weight glossy paper. The instructions consist of 8 pages with the model constructed in 20 steps. Also included is a separate light weight sheet of paper with a finishing guide for the four vehicles, this shows the front, rear, and left hand side of the model and is adequate for the task. On the reverse site of the finishing guide is an introduction to the model in two languages followed by a paint guide.

Construction guide

The first page of the instructions provides a parts guide and I believe I am correct in saying that there are two rear decks possible, the one that is designed for this model and another for the later vehicle. Interestingly there is also another bonnet, sides, and grill also for a later rendition of the truck, and while I cannot guarantee that all the needed parts are here it may be worth looking into. Another option for these extra parts is for scratching an after war model or for a destroyed vehicle.

Stage 1 and 2
These two stages cover the assembly of the engine for the vehicle in 3 assembly steps. The engine is not overly complicated and has a reasonable level of detail that should look quite good with some scratched wiring detail. With the detail that has been provided and gone into this it is a shame that the bonnet in the kit is not provided with the option of having it open to display this area of the model.

Stage 3 and 4
These two stages cover the front and rear axle construction with the wheels. The axles while simple in terms of construction carry a fair level of detail. The wheels are injection moulded plastic rather than vinyl rubber that I know will please some, and have a reasonable tread pattern lightly depicted. The tyres do have a ridge running around the centre of the road contact surface, this is where there is a mould seam that will need some work to reduce. One negative with the wheels is that there is no makers detail on the side wall which is a let down.

Stage 5
This stage covers construction of the chassis which is very well detailed due to being assembled very much in the same way as the chassis of the real vehicle I believe. This construction method while providing great detail does mean great care will need to be taken to ensure the chassis is square. If you mess this stage up I think you will really struggle in later steps.

Stages 6 and 7
These two stages finish off the chassis construction and bring it together with the axles and engine built previously. In these stages you also add the leaf spring suspension for the rear axle and the radiator. You also add the spare wheel and its support frame which finishes this segment of the model ready for painting.

Stage 8 through 14
These stages cover the complete construction of the cab. The cab is not overly difficult and the interior is a little bare but the addition of some soldiers comforts and kit will rectify that. The cab doors are separate parts and so can be depicted open of closed, this allows for some interesting display options. The interior of the cab will need some ejector pin marks cleaned up but as mentioned before they are small, shallow, and minimal in number. If you opt to go the open cab route or even if you just want to add to the look of the finished model I would recommend some work is carried out on the seat and back rest to give it a more lived in look.

Exterior detail of the cab is very good in my opinion with front grill being a very big high point to this model. As mentioned previously the bonnet does not have anything obvious to show how it opened or how it was attached to the real vehicle, so i am at a loss as to how to benefit from the detail under the bonnet. The bonnet and sidewall is possibly the one are of this model that could benefit from the attention of the photo etched manufacturers, I say this as it would provide scale thickness parts and allow us to display the detail inside the model which otherwise will be hidden. All in all ICM has done a good job in this area while still allowing the modeller to add their own special touches.

Stages 16 and 17
These two stages cover assembly of the rear bed and while there is not much to it the detail is good. There are the ejector pin marks to deal with but they are again small, shallow, and minimal, and so should be easy to deal with. The plank detail of the bed is good with no grain detail which I believe is perfect for painted wood such as this.

Stage 18
This is where you bring the completed chassis, cab, and truck bed together. However I recommend that painting is taken care of before putting these elements together as painting will be a pig otherwise. The only other element attached here is two wire frames for a canvas, which are in a stored rather than deployed location.

Stage 19 and 20
These two stages only cover the addition of the front and rear number plate panels and that’s it model complete.

Conclusion

This is a great little model which as with every model has it low points but mostly high points, the chassis is great and the engine cries out for extra detail, but then the bonnet and or side panels cannot be displayed open. The front grill is a fantastic bit of injection moulded plastic with very nice detail and a great curve. I think this model is worthy of anyone’s attention as it will be a great looking model when completed and has scope for further improvements of the base kit for those that like to get that little bit further.