Airfix 1/76 Opel Blitz Troop Carriers

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ntrocket88
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Airfix 1/76 Opel Blitz Troop Carriers

Post by ntrocket88 »

I decided that as filling, filing and sanding on the Milicast Sexton leaves lots of time gaps while the filler dries, I would start a background project. My grand plan calls for sixteen Opel Blitz troop carriers for my war gaming Panzer Division. Unfortunately, I only managed to complete two when I was young, and both of those need to be replaced... The gap in the display cabinets stands out like a missing tooth too. Anyway, as the way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time, I thought I would start with four and just keep them going in the background as fillers for other projects. Trucks (lorries) were never really my thing, which explains why I have all the Tigers and Shermans I need, but no trucks.

I have two types of box in my stash. The first I think is older and has very brittle grey plastic:
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The second uses softer green plastic, but is less sharply molded and has sink-holes in places:
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One issue is that the Airfix Opel Blitz represent a fairly rare version, especially for Normandy in 1944 which I want. The cargo bay represents the first type of Opel Blitz produced (as a troop carrier), which was replaced in production by a lower-sided version in early 1941 (according to Tankograd #4015). However it is also an all-wheel drive version which apparently entered production in July 1940. That places the Airfix version as being produced for only six to nine months in 1940/41. However, there are photos of these in use in Normandy with Panzer Divisions that had fought in Russia several times, so at least some must have survived! Given that I want so many, I do not have much appetite for scratch-building sixteen new cargo bays, so at least some (or even most) will have the be the early version.
Neil

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Re: Airfix 1/76 Opel Blitz Troop Carriers

Post by ntrocket88 »

The first one is complete ready for the outer base coat, shown here dry assembled.

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Re: Airfix 1/76 Opel Blitz Troop Carriers

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The second one is moving along as well. On both of these I painted the undersides and cab interior in Panzer Grey, reflecting the color they must have been originally, but the outside will be dunkelgelb plus the usual camo.

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All photos were carefully supervised by a new addition to the household (when he could keep his eyes open...)
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Neil

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Re: Airfix 1/76 Opel Blitz Troop Carriers

Post by ShaunW »

I built one of these on here the other year Neil in the first boxing that you have shown and I am a softskin fan, in fact I enjoy building trucks, jeeps and the like just as much as I do AFVs. I didn't realise the kit represented such a rare version. Mine was built largely OOB although I added a tissue paper (well, actually toilet roll!) tarp, glazing to the cabin from clear plastic card and some minor additions to the PAK 40. All in all, I found it to be an enjoyable little kit and at some point I intend to build the desert version - although I enjoyed the kit I'm not certain I'd want to build 16!. Great work so far and I look forward to seeing how yours turn out.

Nice looking cat by the way!
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Re: Airfix 1/76 Opel Blitz Troop Carriers

Post by Chris »

Cool cat neil.

The SS driver is excellent.
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Re: Airfix 1/76 Opel Blitz Troop Carriers

Post by Clashcityrocker »

Nice work on the first two trucks. I like the look of it so I might grab one next time I see one.
Cute cat too, looks a lot like my daughters cat, Yoshi.

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Re: Airfix 1/76 Opel Blitz Troop Carriers

Post by DavidJ »

Neil

I see you have good source of scale radio antennae :)

You may wish to remove the large stowage boxes from under the body. I understand that they were present on a post-War example that Airfix used as the basis for the model. The replacement boxes should have vertical fronts rather than the sloped fronts of the kit boxes.

I haven't tried this myself but I believe that Airfix and Italeri Opel Blitz components are very compatible, with minor adjustments.

I have a few Airfix Opels in my stash and, as usual, your project has got me interested in building one or several ;-)

Cheers

David
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Re: Airfix 1/76 Opel Blitz Troop Carriers

Post by ntrocket88 »

DavidJ wrote:Neil

I see you have good source of scale radio antennae :)

You may wish to remove the large stowage boxes from under the body. I understand that they were present on a post-War example that Airfix used as the basis for the model. The replacement boxes should have vertical fronts rather than the sloped fronts of the kit boxes...


OK, off to get my nippers now... for the boxes not whiskers...! Thanks for the tip.
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Re: Airfix 1/76 Opel Blitz Troop Carriers

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Some more progress on the second Opel Blitz. Side boxes removed with nippers...

I decided to make this one another early cargo bed, but to add the seats etc. and leave it without the tilt. That requires some clean-up. The inside walls have ejection-pin marks that need filling. Worse is the badly formed deck covered in sink-hole indentations, which needed to be sanded and re-scribed with plank lines etc. I also added the seat back to the two sides and the plank on the rear used for getting in and out (when the back is lowered).

Image
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Re: Airfix 1/76 Opel Blitz Troop Carriers

Post by ShaunW »

Great progress with this Neil. I recall that my kit also suffered with bad ejector pin holes in the truck bed so I elected to use a tilt although I made my own rather than use the kit's plastic tilt, which I wasn't too impressed with. I didn't realise the inaccuracies regarding the side boxes etc and built the rest of the truck up OOB. Ho hum :grin:
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Re: Airfix 1/76 Opel Blitz Troop Carriers

Post by IvanV22 »

Nice work going on, I really liked the paint job on the driver!
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Re: Airfix 1/76 Opel Blitz Troop Carriers

Post by LarryH57 »

Am I right in thinking that the Airfix kit wheels are inaccurate for an Opel Blitz?
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Re: Airfix 1/76 Opel Blitz Troop Carriers

Post by DavidJ »

LarryH57 wrote:Am I right in thinking that the Airfix kit wheels are inaccurate for an Opel Blitz?
While they could be better, the 8-spoke Airfix wheels are actually correct for a 4 x 4 Blitz. The 4 x 2 Blitz had 6-spoke wheels.

I believe there were some replacement wheels produced by CMSC and PDI but both finished up several years ago.

The Roden Blitz is 4 x 2 but has allrad wheels. I'm not sure how they go for size but they may be suitable for the Airfix kit.

Interestingly, the Airfix and Italeri Opels have interchangeable parts even though they are nominally different scales. The Italeri kit has incorrect 6-spoke wheels that would be OK on a 4 x 2 model.

Cheers

David
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Re: Airfix 1/76 Opel Blitz Troop Carriers

Post by LarryH57 »

Did you ever get to complete the kit?
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Re: Airfix 1/76 Opel Blitz Troop Carriers

Post by ntrocket88 »

Ah...no actually! I got distracted. I ended up with a fair bit of SCC2 mix left over in my airbrush when I painted my Milicast Sexton, so I decided to use it up to repaint some old Airfix Universal Carriers and 6-pdr ATG. Regardless of what color you think they should be for Normandy, I am pretty sure they were not the medium green I painted them years ago! That then forced me to paint new crew for the Carriers and 6-pdr using figures from MMS and SHQ, which I am still working on (figures not being my favorite...). Anyway, I am nearly finished and I do plan to go back to the Opel Blitz soon.
Neil

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