PMMS LogoPMMS
Daswerks
MB UNIMOG 404
Early Standard Version

Das Werk Miniatures 1:35 kit#DWM35100
Review by Terry Ashley

Das Werks Miniatures have produced this full resin kit of the Mercedes Benz Unimog 404 Early Version which is a light 1-1/2 ton 4x4 truck used by many Armed Forces such as Germany, France, Denmark, Portugal, (Angola conflict 1975), Belgium (Somalian conflict 1993), Argentina, Syria, Jordan, and many more.

The kit consists of 190 parts cast in light cream resin with five vinyl tyres and a small clear sheet for the windscreen plus a three page instruction sheet.

The quality of the resin casting is excellent with just the usual casting blocks and fine resin film to be removed from the parts with the “softer” resin making clean-up easy but the detail is still very crisp and well defined. 

The notable thing is the total lack of any warping or other distortions in the larger parts such as the lower chassis and rear tray bed eliminating many problems during assembly but there were a few pin sized air holes present on some parts that would virtually disappear with a coat of paint. A few under surface air bubbles are present but unless you go around poking with a sharp stick these will not be an issue after painting and the chassis has a prominent casting seam on the inside which is all but hidden after assembly so you don’t really have to bother with this.

As well as the larger parts there are also many very small parts which again are cleanly cast but you will have to take care during cleanup and assembly so as not to damage these but again the softer resin is more forgiving than harder resin.

The detail on the parts is excellent such as on the rear tray side panels and the wood grain effect on the seat benches. The front engine hood/grill is especially well done with very fine grill mesh and Mercedes star and nicely contoured wheel rims.

Assembly is aided with some locating pins and tabs on the parts such as the cab parts, rear tray and wheels and smaller chassis brackets which help to make assembly easier.

The chassis has separate parts for the front and rear axles, shock absorbers, sway bars, drive shafts as well as basic engine block and transmission with added exhaust pipes. There are a number of smaller brackets added to the chassis and as mentioned these have small locating pins and holes for precise location which takes the guesswork out of their placement.

The side mounted fuel tanks have separate supports and the front bumper bar and rear towing pintle are also separate parts with the fit of all these parts very good with only some very minor trimming needed between the fuel tanks.

The wheel mounting plates are offset from the axle and there are small notches on the end of the axle stubs that fit into corresponding locating holes on the wheel plates to ensure these are aligned correctly and makes this almost impossible to get wrong.

The wheel rims are perfectly round with nice contours and there are the separate rim discs for the front wheels and these fit snugly to the wheel mounting plates with the black plastic/vinyl wheels slipped over the rims. The fit of the wheels to the rims is good but there is a fraction of clearance that you can probably deal with when gluing the two together.

After assembling the chassis all four wheels sat squarely on a flat surface without any play and is testament to perfect resin parts and the good fit.

Assembled Chassis and suspension
The assembly was perfectly square sitting perfectly on a flat surface

Daswerks
Daswerks

The front cab has the lower floor, front engine hood and rear cab wall and the two fenders have two locating pins to ensure these go where they should. The head lights are cast with the front grill and you may want to drill these out and replace with MV lenses or similar for a better appearance and most photos show thin wire guards over the head lights which would be easy to add.

On the inside are the two seats with small locating pins, the instruments panel with engraved dials plus the steering wheel and gear shift levers with the driver’s foot pedals included with the floor casting. The cab is finished off with the small side doors with separate door handles and the windscreen with separate wiper blades and the clear sheet you cut to size for the windscreen glass.
The canvas cab tilt cover is nicely textured on the outside but plain on the inside, not that this is easy to see when fitted in place.

The fit of the cab parts was very good but there was one minor gap on the left side which is easy to deal with minor trimming before gluing but the position of the gear levers is not very clear in the instructions so care is needed here.

Partially assembled cab showing basic good fit
Daswerks
The rear tray has the flat floor section which as mentioned is perfectly flat with good wood grain on the slats and the side and real sides have the embossed panel detail on both sides with the fit to the floor again being very good.
One small issue on my floor section was the sides had a fractionally curved profile when looking from above but a quick shave with the X-Acto #11 blade rectified this easily.

On the inside are the centrally mounted troop seats which are cast extremely fine requiring care when removing the fine resin film but it is easy enough to deal with and the panels again have nice wood grain texture applied.

The fit of the rear tray parts is again good as is the fit to the rear chassis making for an overall good fit of the kit with any trimming being in the very minor category.

The instructions have a page with the numbered parts layout and the two pages of assembly sequences being a series of progress photos with the parts called out by number. You will have to refer back to the parts layout often to identify the parts as the photos are quite busy and a little confusing in parts.

No markings or painting guides are included and you will have source this elsewhere.

Conclusion:
Overall this is an extremely well cast and detailed little kit with the quality of the parts making assembly a breeze which is further helped by the good fit of the parts.
As mentioned the assembled chassis which is the basis of the model was perfectly square and without any warping making the rest of the assembly straightforward making for an excellent model.

With so many operators of the Unimog your choice of finish is almost endless and the kit should be a welcome addition for modern vehicle modellers.

Highly recommended.

Click on Thumbnail to view the resin bits
Resin parts
Das Werk MiniaturesDas Werk MiniaturesDas Werk Miniatures
Close new window to return to review

Thanks to Das Werk Miniatures for the review set.



Page created October 22, 2006