sWS with Demolition Team "Goliath"
Italeri Kit No. 6434
1/35th Scale
First Look Review by Terry Ashley
This kit of the sWS is a re-issue of kit #360 with the initial production open cab and wooden rear cargo tray plus the inclusion of the old ESCI “Goliath” remote controlled demolition vehicle and figures.
The sWS kit still stands up as a nice kit even after this time with a minimum of pin ejector marks as well as good surface details and many finer details as separate parts and contains 438 parts in beige and dark grey plastic with clear parts for the windscreen and head light lenses and a short length of wire and tubing plus the decal and instruction sheets.
The lower chassis has many individual parts with the two side chassis frames having separate cross members, torsion bar channels and axles that can be positioned at any angle if you wish to build the model over uneven ground. Also included are the rear fuel tank and winch assembly plus the inside air tanks for a busy chassis assembly.
The road wheels, drive sprockets and idlers have good details to represent
what were fairly basic components on the real thing.
The link and length metal track (in plastic of course) has again good retails
and allows easy assembly to get the correct track sag but you may want to leave
the track off until after painting?
The front suspension has steerable wheels as well as movable steering linkages
and while these are a little oversized would not be that noticeable once the
two part wheels are fitting.
When gluing the two wheel halves together ensure the tread pattern is correctly
aligned and the instructions give a small illustration to highlight this.
The cab interior has most of the basic components such as instrument panel with engraved dials, gear shift levers, steering wheel and separate seat backs but with the driver’s foot pedals being included on the floor moulding they are quite basic in detail.
The exterior sees the engine hood in three parts with separate front radiator and separate hood securing latches and grab handles plus separate side cab panels and windscreen with separate wiper motors. On the front fenders are separate head lights, NOTEK light, width indicators and a couple of pioneer tools which could do with their tool clips being replaced with etched items for better detail definition.
The rear cargo tray is straightforward in construction with large flat base
with separate underside supports and four separate upper sides with wood grain
effect, on first look this looks a little heavy but with a coat of paint should
look quite convincing.
On the insides are two crew seats and a selection of storage boxes, fuel drums
and jerry cans which have separate filler caps and handles.
On the outside are the pioneer tools and securing latches for the drop sides
and rear gate which are a little heavy but should look okay when fitted.
Goliath Demolition Vehicle:
This
is the old ESCI Goliath kit (#5003) and is fairly basic in breakdown
and detail with the two side panels incorporating the suspension and track
which is added
to the central hull that includes the cable drum for the control wire and bumper
bar.
The figures are also from the ESCI kit and have basic details and also are quite large being more to 1/32 to 1/35 scale with the personal equipment mostly being far too small in size, not only for the figures but on their own as well. The weapons supplied are Kar 98 rifles and MP40s which are also quite basic in detail by today’s standards.
Decals:
The well printed sheet gives markings for four vehicles with unit markings
and some stencilling for the cargo bay;
Conclusion:
As mentioned this is still quite a nice kit of the sWS and will build into
a respectable replica as it comes. There are some smaller details that are
a bit heavy by today’s standards but can easily be replaced or refined
and as the kits have been around for a while there are already some etched
detail sets and replacement track sets available and it’s good to see
the basic cargo version of the sWS available again.
Recommended.
Page Created 27 July 2004