MGM's 1/72 Feldküche M.1915

The Austro-Hungarian used two different cooking wagons in WW1. The Feldküche M.1905 was the older and bigger variant, used to serve an entire company. Due to the fact that the Austria-Hungarians often had to fight in very rugged  terrain, a lighter, more versatile type was also put into service. (A big cooking wagon, like the standard in the German Army, the Große Feldküche Hf.13W, needed four horses to move on bad roads or difficult terrain. And the bigger Austro-Hungarian variant weighed just over a ton when fully loaded.) This was the Feldküche M.1915.

The Feldküche M.1915 had several interesting features. It was considerably lighter, and often needed just one horse to be moved. It had three 40 liters kettles, using the so called Warchalowski System, which meant that they were placed in a sort of turntable, enabling them to be moved around in relation to the fire - which, unlike the German system, was working directly on the vessels.

The kettles were oval and and could lifted up from the cart, and put on a special cradle on a pack horse: two kettles per horse. Thus, one of these cooking carts could supply 120 soldiers with hot food.
 

The kit comes packed in a ziplock bag typical of MGM. The kit proper is done in light yellow resin, and consists just of 5 parts. In addition to this, there is a pretty nicely done cook, in Austro-Hungarian uniform, apron, pot belly and all.) The moulding is Ok, with some amounts of flash  and some small lines, all easily cleaned off. The details are somewhat vague at places, and the kettles are a bit rough, but all is still quite adequte.

You might want to add some details to the kettles, like looking screws, and also some detail to the hatch to the oven, but that's all. Also, one vital part is missing: the support crutch that was erected when the wagon was in use amd not on the road. (Without it, it would be impossible to use: all that nice pea soup would spill out...)

There is no plan, and you might wonder where some of the pieces, like the chimney, should go, but once you look on the model, it is quite obvious. It falls together easily: one evenings job, really.

To see my built kit, click here!

This kit, like most MGM kits, can be bought from  Blitzkrieg Models, Smallscale.de or 7th Company in Portugal.

Nothing fancy really, but an unexpected and unusual subject for a kit, requiring just one evenings relaxed work.