Fine Scale Factory:s 1/72 Opel 1915 4ton Truck
by Volker Haeusler

I just came back from a trip to Europe, and managed to visit the Dortmund "Intermodellbau 2004", which was a truly superb event. Mainly a sales event, with hundreds of dealers, but also lots of models on display, as well as all the big manufacturers (e.g. Revell and Faller/Italeri).

One of the true news for me was the FSF (Fine Scale Factory) Opel 4 t truck from 1915. This is a resin/white metal kit in 1/72 scale. All main parts in resin, with the smaller parts in white metal. The resin parts are really superb - the wooden planks of the sidewalls are especially outstanding - whereas the white metal parts come with the obvious small defects usually asociated to the manufacture of those parts. Especially the wheels will need some cleanup.

The only disappointment in this kit is the radiator (in white metal), which (in my kit - I might just have had some bad luck then) is somewhat soft in detail and completely misses the prominent "Opel" logo of the original. Note that there IS a instruction sheet (at least in my kit), but it is a.) in German and b.) not dealing with all parts of the kit, only with the more complex areas. It also makes clear that there are a number of modifications necessary for the wheels - the kit definitely is rather complex to build. See the photos below. On the picture to the right you can see the detail of one of the "wooden" resin parts - really very nicely detailed IMHO. Note the pic is SUBSTANTIALLY bigger than the part itself...

Nonetheless, this is a superb addition to the FSF range and should be equally interesting to armour or aircraft builders for diorama purposes.

Peter Kempfs comment

I've taken a peek in the box, and from what I saw I must agree with Volker. Super resin casting, fine model! A real nice addition to any collection of WW1 Softskin Vehicles. And there are lots of parts! I haven't counted them, but they seem to be in the region of 50+. It is a pretty complicated kit.