Produced in Czech Republic.

Stephen Brezinski, Portland, Maine USA

This is the seventh model listed by Retromodel’s and a change from their previous range of German Opel 3-ton and Opel 1.5 ton truck model kit s, also in 1/72 scale.

French produced truck of the late 1930’s and 1940s seeing service with French military and with German Wehrmacht during WW2 on Western, Tunisia, Italian and Eastern/Russian Fronts. Two ton capacity, COE design (cab over engine) 4x2 drive with a 50 hp engine. More than 15,000 Peugeot DMA trucks were built for the Germans according to R. Frank, and their construction quality was poor.

Box?

Contains 19 white and amber color resin cast parts (not all parts are shown in the scan below). Molding is good and clean, detail is sharp. Double rear wheels are molded as unit rather than four separate tires. Clear windshield material not included. The Notek light should be left off if modeled in French service. Flash will need to be removed from the cab windows and some parts but this should be easy with a sharp #11 blade.

Instructions are in the form of a side-view drawing with listing of the parts. I would appreciate at least an exploded-view drawing to better understand the kit assembly. The poor translation of Czech to English does not hamper much: except what is the "filler hole".

No decal markings are included with the model. German license plates and other markings can be taken from a number of German vehicle kits offering decals. French military markings may be harder to acquire. French colors should be olive green, possibly with a camouflage scheme. Unfortunately I am unaware of good references for French softskin vehicles.

German colors would be gray prior to 1943; and panzer yellow after 1943 possibly with brown and green camouflage pattern. [Please see any of the many books and websites on German camouflage and markings for more information.]

Will assemble into good display or wargaming model. I found this a very welcome change from the more common military vehicle models; previously AlBy was about the only manufacturer of small scale French trucks of WW2.

Recommended for Intermediate-Advanced modelers. If assembly instructions are made clearer I feel it would be a good kit for a novice builder of resin models.

Kit parts

Reference

Trucks Of The Wehrmacht, by Reinhard Frank, Schiffer Publishing (1994). A wonderful hardcover photo book of German made and captured trucks used by the Wehrmacht.