Plusmodel have sort of specialised in producing resin engines for various vehicle kits for those who like adding the extra detail and this set provides the full 3.6 liter 6-cylinder Opel petrol engine used in the Opel Blitz and is designed for the Tamiya German 3ton 4x2 Cargo Truck (kit #35291). Plusmodel also produce a similar engine set (#301) for the Italeri Opel Blitz if you wanted to give that kit the same treatment.
The set consists of 35 parts in dark gray resin, 28 etched parts and a length of copper wire and very thin lead wire for the spark plug leads. The resin parts are crisply cast without any blemishes and only the usual casting plugs to be removed along with some fine resin 'flash' but there are quite a few small parts that will need care during cleanup and it maybe best not to remove these from the casting plugs until needed.
The engine is very detailed with the main engine block including the lower sump with a separate rear bell housing to form the main engine.
Added to this are all the engine accessories moulded with very well defined details such as the carburetor, alternator, exhaust manifold, air cleaner, front pulleys with the cooling fan in etched metal.
The distributor has the top outlets well defined and you are also get some very fine lead wire to use as the spark plug leads and you can also add additional engine plumbing to further enhance the engine.
The front radiator is well detailed with details on both sides and additional top and bottom hoses leading the engine with the copper wire used for bracing.
Also included in the set are etched engine hood panels and these have to be bent with a top curve and the insides of the etched hoods have embossed recesses to aid in the bending. The set gives you 2 large bending jigs in resin to make this process easier and you could also anneal the panels by running them through a candle flame until red hot to soften the metal making adding the bend even easier, but take the usual care when using a naked flame of course.
All the louvers along the sides of the hood panels are open and you have to lightly press out the louvers to form the raised louvers and it's best to emboss the louvers after bending the main hood to shape as this will help reduce deforming of the hood as you emboss the louvers.
The two hood side panels are attached to the Tamiya kit upper central panel and you can position these open or closed as you wish, but having them closed after adding the detailed engine would be a waste for sure.
Other details include the back of the instrument panel with the dial bodies as well as an etched battery tray and resin battery added to the engine firewall. There is also an additional firewall etched panel that is added over the kit firewall part as well as additional accessories for the firewall.
To fit the assembled engine to the Tamiya kit requires some minor modifications to the kit chassis by cutting away the front cross member and underside engine pan which are replaced with a resin cross member with the engine itself having supports that sit onto the kit chassis and test fitting the engine with the cab temporarily attached will make sure you have this in the correct position.
These are fairly basic hand drawn illustrations showing the assembly sequences with all the parts numbered but you need to carefully study these before assembly as some parts are not that clear in their positioning.
But overall the assembly is fairly straightforward especially if you have assembled a kit engine previously as most parts have a sort of standard layout on WWII era petrol engines.
This is an excellent update set for the Tamiya Opel Blitz kit for those who want to add the extra engine detail to perhaps go with one of the other more extensive update sets available to really make a job of the kit.
Detail on the engine is very well done with very little cleanup required and relatively easy fitting to the kit and the inclusion of the bending jigs for the etched engine hoods is a real bonus and will make that process a lot easier.
Highly recommended
Also see the Opel Blitz subject page for reviews of additional update/detail sets available for the Opel Blitz
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Trucks of the Wehrmacht Hard Cover |
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Opel Blitz in Detail |
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Opel Blitz in Detail |
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Opel Blitz 43 pages with excellent colour walkaround photos of museum 4x4 Blitz with a bonus decal sheet included. |
Thanks to my Credit Card and 
for the review set.