To supply combat and support troops on the battlefield with, for instance, munitions, lubricants and fuels, in difficult terrain highly mobile cross-country vehicles are used. In 1964, under the leadership of MAN (Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg, with the participation of the firms Klöckner-Humboldt-Deutz, Büssing, Henschel and Krupp, the GB (joint bureau of the German commercial vehicle industry) was formed. The aim was to develop cross-country transports of the family of vehicles known as the ”new generatio” which were introduced in the German Army at the end of the seventies.
Thanks to their allwheel drive (6 x 6), the use of a torsion resistant box section frame and jointed axles, the 7 t mil gl category I vehicle has excellent cross-country mobility. With an air-cooled V-8 Magirus-Deutz BF 8 L 413 F engine developing 253 kW (320hp) it can reach a top road speed of 90 km/h. With a maximum permissible total weight of 18,500 kg it is possible to transport a net load of 7,000 kg over a range of approx. 670 km. The cabin can accommodate the driver and two passengers.
The 7t mil gl also serves (and has served) as a support vehicle (ammunition and crew) for the M 107/M 110, as a tractor for the FH 105 mm and FH 155 mm towed artillery systems, as a carrier for the reconnaissance drone CL-289, as a three-sided tipper with suitable body and as a platform for the 110 mm LARS 2 rocket launcher.
The Kit: The Revell of Germany 1/35 6×6 MAN truck arrived to my workbench thanks to a trade in my local hobby shop. As it is know with most Revell of Germany kits, the boxes are big with room for probably 3 kits inside. A real waste of cardboard not to mention valuable shelf real estate in the hobby shops. Molded in deep green, the kit features large trees with plenty of pieces on each one. The tires are molded in real rubber with nice true to scale pattern. Flash on the tires is almost non-existent.
This is a 6×6 vehicle meaning that the modeler will have to deal with plenty of suspension parts, crank cases and shafts. Make sure you read and look at the illustrations on the instructions. A mistake in the beginning might result in parts no fitting well on the other end. Some illustrations fail to give a clearer idea of where some parts of the kit will finally rest and worse, some don’t have locating pins. So I strongly suggest you to take your time dry fitting.
The chassis on the MAN 6×6 kit is where you will spend most of your time. Once the chassis is assembled, you will start with the cabin which is a bit bit bare. But remember, these are military trucks, don’t expect to see cluttered dashboards but only bare essentials. I left all the clear parts for the last, that way I didn’t have to mask them and painting the model was a lot easier.
Painting the MAN 7t mil MAN Truck:
The instruction provided by Revell calls for the usual colors available on the other side of the pond. Inside the cab, the instructions calls for Bronze Green for which I used Vallejo. The same color is called for the chassis but in this case, I took the liberty of using Tamiya Olive Green XF-58. The cab and bed were painted off the chassis using Tamiya’s NATO Colors, NATO, Green, NATO Brown and NATO Black free hand with my Aztek A470 Airbrush Set.
For the amount of parts involved in the chassis and suspension of this model kit, it does not have any problems to stand with all 6 wheels touching the ground. I’m an out of the box model builder but it would have been nice if Revell of Germany had dropped a driver figure.
The top of the cab fits so good, that it is not even glued to the cab should I decide to scratch build a driver or add more details later on. The same goes with the rear canvas. It does fit very nice. The modeler can easily add styrene tubing and make the canvas frame. That bed has lots of potential for cargo options, either resin or scratch build.
The kit includes markings for 4 versions from 2000 to 2007.
My paint pattern is from Estland, 2007 Zugkraftwagen für 155mm Feldhaubitze FH-70. However at the time of publishing the decal sheet went missing. They were requested to Revell of Germany but as you might know, they do take longer to get to the states. As soon as the decals are placed, a new set of pictures will be posted.
This kit is winner in my list. Highly Recommended!
