Exokit's 1/72
Berliet CBA
 

On the Real Thing

The Berliet CBA is now a vehicle only known by experts, but it was actually one of the most important ones of WW1, being a sort of Great War-parallell to the GMC, GAZ AA or Opel Blitz of WW2. When WW1 started the old French motor firm of Berliet had just added a new 6-tonner truck to their range: this was the Berliet CBA.

The Berliet CBA followed the rather modern earlier designs of the Company, in that it featured a four-cylinder gasoline engine (25 HP, with a honeycomb radiator) with a chain drive, and steel chassis frame, instead of of wood. It had a four-speed gearbox, solid rubber tires and a bumper in front of the radiator. It could load some 3.5 tons and had a maximum speed of 30km/h.

Berliet offered the CBA to the Army, who accepted it as a sort of standard truck. It soon proved to be a very reliable and functional vehicle. The success of the CBA was not just due to the performance of the vehicle, but just as much to the fact that the firm of Berliet was such a modern and effective manufacturer: in 1915 Berliet set up the Worlds first real Assembly Belt-type of production line. At the end of the war 25.000 trucks had been delivered to the armed services. It was used all through the 20-ies and 30-ies and during the first years of WW2. (In Poland Ursus made a copy of the CBA.)

For more info on the Berliet CBA, including a detail photo walk-around of a surviving vehicle, click here!
 

I found this nice built Berliet CBA on this forum.

The kit comes packed in a small transparent plastic box typical of Exokit. It comes a good history of the vehicle, in french, but not really any good plan for the building of the kit. It is not as big draw-back as it might seem, as the kit is pretty logical in its build-up and assembly. But a real plan is always nice.

The kit consists of some 30+ parts, moulded in a yellow, medium-soft resin. There are some tiny amounts of moulding flash, but nothing troublesome really, and the pour stubs are small. The moulding is very good: the details are sharp and distinct, and all are intact. The chassis is a bit warped, but than be easily cured by dipping it into very hot water, and then straightening it.

It comes both with WW1-type spoked wheels, and WW2-type pneumatic ones.

As far as I can see the model is accurate. More info will follow when I start building it.

How to get this kit? Well... you can't. This kit is out of production, but hopefully the new firm of Retrokit will issue this small beauty again.
 

Verdict

A very nice kit of a neglected subject. If you can get one copy of this kit you are a lucky guy - or girl.