The conversion consists of just 36 parts cast in a light cream resin and 7 vinyl tyres that feature a civilian tread pattern for a different appearance to the standard military wheels in the Tamiya kits.
Standard of resin casting is superb without any air holes or other blemishes and just the usual casting blocks to be removed as well as some fine resin film in the wheel rim lightening holes with the parts also being free of any warping other than some minor distortion in the straight cargo bay sides which is easy to remedy with warm water.
The vinyl tyres have large pouring blocks and some thin vinyl film to be removed and this is not the easiest given the flexible nature of the vinyl but using a sharp scalpel blade will help make the job easier. You are left with the scar where the block attached to the wheel but this can be hidden at ground contact and is not an issue.
Care will be needed when removing the resin casting blocks from some parts such as the large cab casting and some minor trimming will be needed to preserve the door recess where the excess resin meets but there weren’t any major problems here.
The cab casting is superbly done with detail on the outside and inside with the fit of the floor section and separate doors spot on, there may be some very minor trimming required but the parts in my set fitted without the need for any additional trimming.
There is no clear sheet provided for the windscreen or door windows and you will have to source this elsewhere and cut to size but all the windows are flat so this again shouldn’t be a problem.
The interior is decked out with the floor section that has the foot pedals moulded on like the Tamiya floor but there is no tread plate pattern including on the floor with the kit gear levers and steering wheel added to the resin parts. The large bench seat has excellent surface texture that will come up very well with painting and weathering and there is a new central instrument panel with raised detail for the dials that again should make painting easier.
The full engine compartment and front bumper are used from the Tamiya kit and the engine compartment fits snugly to the front of the resin firewall without any trimming needed and this is then fitted to the Tamiya kit chassis in the same manner as with the kit to make fitting easy.
Added to the cab are very small separate door handles and windscreen wipers as well as the late war small head lights to use in place of the kit head lights if you wish.
Moving to the wheels, the new resin rims have excellent details with the rear wheels offering the choice of the single wartime arrangement the same as the kit or the twin wheels use post war and the rear wheel rims have a smoother contour than the kit rims for a more refined look.
All the resin wheel rims are designed to take the kit brake drums (parts B46, B53) which trap the poly caps to the rims allowing the wheels to be easily added to the kit axles and this makes the new resin wheels as easy to fit as the kit wheels.
When fitting the vinyl tyres to the rims the fit is good but not tight and you will have to ensure they sit evenly around the rims as they are glued in place.
The large rear cargo tray is made up of the floor section and four sides with all having very subtle wood grain effect as well as the steel securing strips and hinges plus the storage boxes under the lower left side and the spare wheels fitted under the right side.
As mentioned all the panels were nice and straight apart from one which was easy the deal with using warm water and with the floor being perfectly flat and square made assembly fairly straightforward.
There was on minor issue in that the rear gate was not completely square and about 0.5mm was trimmed to make this nice and square but all other panels were perfect and this trimming was not noticeable after assembling the tray.
The fit of the four sides to the lower floor was very good without the need for any additional trimming and the lower mounting beams have small locating pins and holes to ensure precise fitting. The fit of the assembled cargo bay to the kit chassis will require a bit of care and it’s best to fit the cab first and then align the cargo bay to the cab and chassis.
To finish off the kit number plates, head lights, Notek light and rear convoy light can be fitted for a relatively easy conversion.
details and wheels to be added
Conclusion:
The standard of resin casting is superb as is the level of detail on the parts and the good fit of the parts make for a fairly easy conversion to give the Tamiya Steyr kit a completely different look. The fact there are no alterations required to the Tamiya kit makes this a conversion a good proposition for those with only limited experience with resin conversions.
Highly recommended 7.5/10
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Thanks to Das Werk Miniatures for the review set