Building the Das Werk Miniatures 1/35 Unimog Syrian version #35100

Armor

Building the Das Werk Miniatures 1/35 Unimog Syrian version #35100 - 1/35 scale

by Pablo Raggi © Modeler Site

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At the beginning of the 50s, Daimler Benz took over manufacture of the Unimog and means UNIversal MOtor Gerät, being Gerät the German word for machine or device. Its four-wheel drive and suspension design allowed the truck to comfortably drive not only on paved roads but over extremely uneven terrain. So much so that many armed forces purchased them in a variety of variants with an equally impressive number of uses: cargo/troop transport, communications vehicles, ambulance, fire engines etc. etc. One of these countries was Syrian that used them as cargo/troop transport and mounting them anti aircraft devices, created an armed version that would be used later by the South Lebanon Army.

No manufacturer has offered an injection plastic kit. But several years ago, a company called Das Werk Miniatures produced this full resin kit of the Mercedes Benz Unimog 404 Early version, unfortunately, today is discontinued. While waiting for the plastic kit release, we can enjoy these high quality resin ones.
To represent a Syrian version, I would need a Unimog 416 with a closed cab but as there are photos of the Unimogs 404 with rocket launchers and other anti aircraft devices (for instance that have the old Lebanese Army), I supposed that mounting an antiaircraft over a 404 chassis, might be a logical possibility that could have existed. For the armed version, I used the Russian 14.5mm ZPU-1 single barreled Anti-aircraft gun I took from the Meng VS-001 kit.

Building

The kit supplies clear and easy-to-follow instructions so, you’ll have no problems.

The model comes in a very sturdy cardbox, and though I found no broken part, there were some warped ones in the cargo compartment. It usually happens when they are big and thin parts and to fix it, you may submerge them in hot water and straighten them out with your hands or leaning them on a flat surface. Another method could be to gently heat the piece using a hair dryer.

The tires are made from black-vinyl material which has held the correct tread detail well and the wheel are made out of resin which made assembly and painting easier. I just had to apply adhesive tape to the wheel contour since there was a slight gap between it and the tyre.