Master Box 1/35 'Where are the damned roads?' Kit First Look

By Dave Manter

First Look

The Mercedes Benz 170V was Mercedes Benz's line of four-cylinder automobiles from the mid-1930s into the 1950s. It became the foundation on which the company rebuilt after World War II because the tooling had survived Allied bombing. From May 1949, the car was offered with an exceptionally economical 38 PS diesel engine. This was the world's third diesel fueled passenger car, and the first to be produced after the war. The Mercedes Benz 170 SV and 170 SD were also built briefly in Argentina from 1953-1955 in sedan, taxi, station wagon, pick-up and van versions.

While the box does not say it, this is a great little kit of the German Mercedes Benz 170V.

The kit consists of 170 grey plastic parts, 6 clear parts and 5 rubber tires. The 5 figures consist of another 60 tan plastic parts. The molding on all of the parts is really good and the detail is great. No flash is present on my sample. The instructions are laid out with rather large illustrations and will be very easy to follow. Decals are provided for 5 vehicles. Assemble looks to be good.

The first 9 steps have you assemble a very detailed full engine. This can be fully viewed after assemble as the kit gives you the option of building the hood opened or closed. The tube type chassis takes another 22 steps in the instructions due to the amount of detail that is in this kit.

The body is done in 23 steps and gives you the option of open or closed hood and the top up or down. There are no doors in this version of the kit. One other really nice feature that Master Box has included is the gauges for the instrument panel are included as decals.

The figures feature very nice facial details and are of very high quality.

A nice small diorama can be made right from the box.

My sincere thanks to DML for this review sample!