Eduard 1/16 VW Type 166 Schwimmwagen Kit First Look

By Michael Benolkin

First Look

Professor Porsche saw the need for an amphibious version of his versatile Kubelwagen and undertook the project as the Type 128. This was essentially a Kubelwagen chassis with a boat hull. Thirty of these vehicles were built by 1941, but the military saw the potential of using this type of vehicle for scouting over the existing motorcycle and sidecar combination then in use.

Based upon the requirements placed by the German military, the Type 166 Schwimmwagen came into being, with production of the type running through 1944. Ironically, it wasn't the vehicle's amphibious abilities that won the day, it was its four-wheel drive off-road capabilities that allowed four fully equipped soldiers to move into areas previously unreachable by the two-man motorcycle/sidecar combo.

I was wandering through the sales listings on an online hobby store and found a listing for an Eduard 1/16 scale Schwimmwagen. I already had the Tamiya 1/16 Kubelwagen and thought this would be an interesting companion vehicle in a diorama.

The kit is molded in desert tan styrene and is presented on eight parts trees, one small tree of clear parts, one fret of photo-etched details, and five rubber tires.

Assembly begins with the lower chassis/hull, several interior structural parts are installed along with the floorboard. A complete set of driver's controls are provided and are installed next.

Inside the upper body/hull half, the twin fuel tanks are installed in the nose/bow/front. The instrument panel is added along with a few structural parts as well. The upper and lower body/hull halves are joined.

Those of you with Volkswagen experience will recognize the tubular suspension frame, though the presence of a front-end differential for the four-wheel drive is certainly different. Unfortunately much of the detail on the front end will be obstructed by the rock shield.

Assembly of the wheels is definitely different. With the exception of the huge Pocher kits, I believe this is the first styrene vehicle kit where the wheel rims are attached to the brake drums with lug nuts. Plastic lug nuts, yes, but this is detail at its finest!

The muffler mounts on the rear deck, and on the muffler is stowed the 'remote control' for deploying the propeller drive - a hook on a long handle. The propeller drive is designed to be movable so you can pose the vehicle as you wish. The windshield is also designed to be movable for posing as well.

A nice set of pioneering tools and the all-essential paddle are added to the vehicle along with four light-weight crew seats. The top is provided in the stowed position only.

A set of express masks are provided to protect the inside of the windshield, and in interesting option for the outside. the mask can be used whole to provide the windshield with a clean look, or used with the windshield wiper mask to show the windshield weathered except for the driver's view/

Markings are provided for two specific vehicles:

• Schwimmwagen, 3rd Panzer Regiment, 2nd Panzer Division
• Schwimmwagen, 17th Army, General Erwin Janecke, Kuban Bridgehead, Eastern Front, August 1943

Eduard had turned out some outstanding aircraft subjects and this is my first look an one of the armor projects. This kit is as nice as anything I've seen in out of Japan and this Schwimmwagen will look great next to my Kubel!