Italeri's Opel Blitz

[AgentG]

This is my take on the venerable Opel Blitz kit from Italeri.

Not very complex, but still holds it's own after all these years. Biggest issue I had was this one was molded in red, black and tan plastic.

Given my prediliction for armor modelling you could guess where this was going.

Krylon Gray Primer makes a good base.







Wired the engine a little bit then realized the hood was molded shut. Not any more.





Four different colors later I had my mix for RAL 8000, a desert yellow brown used early on in North Africa

.

Stay tuned.

G

[arkbuilder2012]

Great start! Like the details added to the engine.

[AgentG]

Thank you sir!

A nice relaxing paint session yielded these results.

The base coat.









I used another mix of Tamiya colors to come up with RAL 7008, Graugrun .





A stencil set and Tamiya Flat White was used for the Africa Korps palm symbol.

More to come.

G

[Twokidsnosleep]

Looking good
What was moulded red???
It looks like that grey primer covered completely without any red bleed through

[AgentG]

Thank you sir!
The cab body, fenders and wheels were red plastic. The frame, interior and tires were molded in black. The bed was tan plastic.
It is boxed as a civilian truck, but all I did was add the headlight covers.
If you know your Opels, I did not so Google became my friend, you find this is a truck with the tall side walls for the bed. I do not know how interchangable tall and short bed walls were in service, but photos indicate both were out there.

G

[hansolo]

Looking great so far!

[felisbarcinonensis]

Looking more than good mate! I'm expecting to see there the Ark of the Covenant

[AgentG]

Oh you have read my mind!

I have some really interesting stowage planned for this one..............

G

[AgentG]

I finally got a minute or two to photograph this as it sits right now.









This is the first round of weathering using oil paints.

I'm going for an "Indiana Jones" look as a display.

G

[AgentG]

Moving along, I painted the cast resin stowage crates to resemble wood. I used several colors of acrylic over an enamel primer. I finished off with an enamel wask, then gloss coated with some MM Clear Gloss enamel.





Then I Googled some images and printed my own decals.





Now I have crates containing secrets.







And the biggest secret......





G

[RichardT]

beautiful work

[burnie43]

Thats superb
And it really is a good kit for the money.....try the coal powered one next...!!
Cheers and thanks for sharing !!
Mark

[digger303]

I would be really interested where you got the decal images from and what resolution printer you used....they look sharp

cheers

[AgentG]

Thanks all!
This has been a really fun build so far.

digger, I googled "Nazi Symbols" and down loaded what I liked. I copied and pasted those onto a "Word" document sizing them in place. I printed a test sheet on plain paper adjusting afterwards where needed.

The printer was set at medium resolution, which on my old girl is 600 dpi. I never really print at higher, 850 dpi, unless I'm doing something really small amd multicolored.

G

[AgentG]

DAK being an acronym for Deutches Afrikakorps.

Tell me you don't hear the theme from "Indiana Jones" when looking at this.



















I used the old Italeri 1/24th scale civilian Opel Blitz. I had to add the military headlight covers. I custom mixed Tamiya acrylics to replicate period correct "tropical" colors. The crates are resin items from ValueGear in 1/20 and 1/16 scale but look right at home here. I made the pallet with coffee stir sticks pilfered from a local chain beverage company. I scanned a lot of clipart and printed my own decals. The first set looked good applied over a gloss coat but silvered greatly once the dull coat was applied. Not happy with the colors anyway I stripped and repainted all but two.

I'm looking for some figures and then will model a desert base. I'm thinking that Master Box set of Henry Ford and friends will convert quite well.

G

[Twokidsnosleep]

Awesome, simply awesome
The attention to detail with the fine model work and boxes is impressive enough.
Then you up the ante with superb home-made decals that take those items over the top
Really impressed, great job


Yes I hear Indiana Jones theme when looking at the dio...one of my favourite movie series

[Rodney]

Nice work.. I have couple Opel Blitzs in my stash, after seeing this think i might start one.

[Svenne009]

Those boxes in a way remind me of Indiana Jones and the raiders of the lost ark.
The decals and woodgrain came out wonderfull

Fine detailing and weathering, looking good!

[demarcation]

Beautiful work mate!

[AgentG]

Thank you all!

I have some 1/24th scale figures coming. I believe they will be a perfect fit with a smidge of conversion.

G

[Naedrux]

Spot on mate! I really enjoy the work you've done on those crates, the wooden finish is great!

[InitialProduction1]

Outstanding build AgentG, can you leave the engine side covers off To show off that awesome engine? Hey can you put a hobby knife next to your boxes? Try to get a scale on them, there looking beautiful, and Love your decals those look awesome. You really nailing that African blitz.

[AgentG]

Thank you all!

I have my three days off now so I'll comply with your request, provided fotoyuket cooperates.

G

[Sturm]

I like it a lot, trucks special old military ones appeal to me

[AgentG]

Here's a bit more.







G

[Noobmodeler521]

Looks great, love the painting on those figures. Is that on in the black gestapo, a civilian, Major Arnold Toht?

[localjedi]

Dude, that looks awesome. Nice work on those crates and all. Plus I like the Raiders of the Lost Ark idea.

Just one thing, if I may... and I really hope nobody's gonna hate me for being a smart ass:
In English the word "open" can be used as a verb ("to open") and an adjective (as in "the door is open"). In German the adjective is "offen" and the verb is "öffnen". Thus, "Nicht offen" means "not open". I assume you wanted to say "do not open", which translates into "Nicht öffnen".

Ah well, I'm sure nobody's gonna care anyway because the crates look awesome no matter what. I just wanted to point it out for future reference. And I'm a teacher... can you tell?

[Twokidsnosleep]

You continue to amaze, such great figure work
Is there an Indy with a whip in the works ???
This is the kind of diorama that you could sell to an enthusiast

[Damonkh]

Awesome work... Love the detail.

[AgentG]

Thank you all!

More photo's are coming.

No Indy for this one, but I have ideas for another.

The grammatically incorrect labeling is a typo on my part. Naturally, I didn't notice the error until after a repaint, layers of Future and Dullcote. That said, I think the crate will remain marked "Not Open". LOL!

G

[spock1701]

Your work with the crates is great. They look fantastic. The figures are great as well.