German 3T Cargo Truck with MG 151/20 Drilling
As World War II progressed and Germany lost control of the sky the need for anti-aircraft equipment that could travel with troops or vehicles and provide a modicum of cover became a must. The German military installed static anti-aircraft equipment onto trucks and half tracks to provide that service to them. As such, no one can say that any vehicle with anti-aircraft equipment mounted is incorrect . Providing the base model or models is an accurate representation.
This 3T truck which I believe is the Mercedes offering has been released a few times in different guises. So what do we get? You have a model that has exceptional replication of the oily parts, with those demanding greater detail just needing to add wires, fuel lines and the like. However, even straight from the box, you still have an exceptionally detailed interior for a model. The cab interior is equally impressive, and again should meet the requirements of all. You have the ability to show the side windows wound up or down and you can even set the position of the quarter light. I like that fact that the doors have door cards with them, which takes away concerns about molding issues. The doors can be shown open or closed, as can the hood but a small amount of surgery will be required as the hood should fold in half when up. My one critique is knowing that how well MiniArt can replicate tyre detail, on this release the tyres have been molded in 2 half's. However, with attention to detail the result should be reasonable.
The bed of the truck is I believe a wooden plank construction, at least that is what the detail indicates to me, and the level of detail again is of exceptional standard which I believe shows MiniArt being one of the companies that could take the crown for model detail diversity and variety of sets covering all of the elements needed to make a decent diorama. The side walls of the bed can if desired for some reason, be shown in the down position.
The drilling machine guns on their pedestal mounts with 3 ammunition feed bins on each station, included molded ammunition belts travelling from the bins to the point where they enter the breech of the weapon. With the need for 6 belts of ammunition being needed for the 2 weapons stations, I would have liked to have seen more than 4 ammunition bins. However, there are other sets that can give you more, but I still feel that more could have been included.
MiniArt has provided 2 finishing options:
Unidentified Unit, Western Front 1944
Unidentified Unit, Winter 1944/1945
I should note that the fact that the units are unidentified does not concern me, as you could in theory at least, mark the vehicles up with a unit of your choice as long as they were still active from late 1944 to the end of the war in 1945.