Review
This offering from Hobby Boss of the MAN LKW 7t truck is provided in a robust cardboard tray, with a segmented area protecting some of the model, and is further protected by an equally sturdy cardboard lid showing the artwork. The sprues of the model are packaged in individual plastic bags unless duplicated, with some sprues being further protected inside bubble wrapped bags, or with strips of foam taped around areas of concern. Clear parts, photo etch, decals and masks are bagged singly, with stiffeners in some cases. An examination of the parts reveals no areas of concern with the moulding, being free of flash and common issues other than ejector pins marks. Access to parts is good, and the small number of gates means that required clean up is kept to a minimum. The one thing you will need to be careful of not damaging some of the finer mouldings when you are removing them.
This offering has a multi part chassis, and so a high level of detail is brought to you at the expense or risk of not assembling the rails squarely. One of the benefits of this particular model is that the rails are all but flat on one side, and so placing and assembling on a gridded cutting mat will enable the ease of eye balling the accuracy of the chassis assembly. Hobby Boss has gone to a lot of work with the axles and suspension assemblies, with the drive shafts also being well catered too with regards to detail. The suspension springs are moulded solid, and so could be replaced if the modeller desires to protect that route. The drive shafts and exhaust systems are fully replicated, but the engine and gearbox itself are not included in the model. Wheel detail is good, as is the tyre detail but these are vinyl rubber which I know is not popular with many and the front wheels cannot be assembled turned.
The cab interior is one of those locations where you will need to do some sanding in order to make sure that any ejector pins marks present that are an issue are removed, and also on the roof of the cab is part details is letters and numbers and you may wish to remove that as well. Interior elements of the cab look good to me, but I was not able to verify all of the details via on line images. The seats themselves have a ‘brand new’ look to them, which many know is a bug bear of mine, and there is no harness detail present, when I believe there should be. A raised moulded detail panel is added to the underside of the cab to represent the sump of the engine and transmission.
The cab doors have good detail to them on both faces. The clarity of the plastic parts where need be is good, and there is also a very good level of interior door detail added. The doors are not indicated as having the ability to be shown open, but as the hinges detail is split between the two areas it cannot be that difficult to deal with. Fuel tanks, storage bins, bumpers and light fittings meet my requirements and the position of the spare wheel means that it could be added after most of the painting has been done.
The man motif across the front of the truck is very well defined, and the armoured shielding that I would imagine would be optional depending on purpose the vehicle is for-filling, With that said, the armoured panelling does look very good. The machine gun station on the top of the cab looks to have a good level of detail. The machine gun itself is the standard small calibre machine gun mounted on most German armoured vehicles, and those in the know may wish to alter this weapons to whatever they wish to use. One negative in the machine gun area is that it has no ammunition or belt present.
The truck bed is assembled pretty much as the real thing, with split side rails that attach to arms that secure to the bed and which can be removed to allow loading of pallets with a forklift. The parts all being separate means that the modeller who wishes to do a little work, can show them as wished. The support frame on the underside of the truck bed, is correctly replicated, with the mud guards for the rear wheels utilising some photo etch to replicate the brackets and mud flaps. Stowage bins are again nicely replicated on the underside of the vehicle, with separate doors which could be shown open. The rails for the roof frame of the bed, are all provided as individual elements and so it could be depicted with no roof rails, with the rails in place, and/or with a canvas over them. HobbyBoss has only provided one finishing option for this vehicle, and again has not identified it as anything significant beyond a three colour German camouflage pattern.
Conclusion
This offering from Hobby Boss is fundamentally a very nice representation of the MAN LKW 7t truck, so far as I am able to ascertain. The moulding quality is good, and from what I can see all aspects of the model are acceptable, with the exception of my gripe about the finishing options. I do like this model a lot, but the price within the UK does make me baulk as to if you would be getting value for money. I would have liked to see the engine and gearbox included with the ability to display it.