ICM 1/35 Type 770K Tourenwagen with open cover WWII Leader's car

[benjaminsummerfield]

1/35 Type 770K Tourenwagen with open cover WWII Leader's car

ICM
Catalogue # 35534

 

 

The Mercedes-Benz 770K was the most expensive motor vehicle on sale in Germany in 1938, its iconic styling clothed independent coil spring suspension and a 7,655cc straight 8 producing 230 Bhp in supercharged form. Throughout World War Two it was the transport of choice for the Fuhrer himself and other high ranking Nazis such as Goring, they were often fitted with armour and mine proof undersides although the value of these in an open top Tourer seems questionable! The 770 can often be seen on news reel footage of the time striking an impressive presence on the road, Surviving examples are sought after to this day and have been seen to sell for $100,00 or even allegedly Millions of euros in some cases.

 

 

ICM steps up with their latest offering of the type 770, an impressive injection moulded 1/35 kit with 241 parts; I believe this is a re issue of the kit first released in 2012 albeit with an extra sprue giving the option to have the roof up. The latest ICM kits seem to come in a sturdy open top boxes which are always welcome over the side opening boxes their older releases came in, contained are one clear sprue and five tan coloured plastic sprues all beautifully moulded and flash free, and a small decal sheet.

So what's in the box?

 

SPRUE A

Dominating this sprue are the parts for the ladder chassis, this has several mounting points for the body and other external parts but does suffer from some slight sink marks on the rear end of the chassis although nothing a bit of Mr Surfacer couldn't fix. We also find the exhaust which is a multi part item and should benefit from some rusting and weathering, the bumpers which must have been hefty on the real machine!

 

 

 

 

There are a few under bonnet items such as the exhaust and inlet manifolds as well as the pipes for the intercooler which have some nice finely ribbed detail. Interior parts are also on this sprue and a highlight for me is the steering wheel, ICM have moulded this as two parts, the inner and outer rims, this allows it to be commendably thin and captures the characteristic steering wheel very well with even the finger grips being depicted. Amazingly minute interior and exterior door handles and window winders are given and are extremely thin and well moulded, just be careful removing them as the carpet monster will be ready to swallow them up!

 

SPRUE B

Here we have the external body panels, the swooping lines of the Grober are captured nicely and the front wings are moulded as one piece with large recesses for the spare wheels which were carried on the sides, the engine covers which hinge up from the centre on the real car are a nice scale thickness and you should be able to pose these open although no interior detail is given on their engine sides.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The suicide doors are moulded shut with the interior detail moulded separately on sprue D although I can't see a lot of work needed to separate them to be posed open, the rear boot panel is a lovely curvy shape and has a fine Mercedes badge moulded on which will present a real challenge to paint. The large radiator grill which became an iconic Mercedes feature is a good representation and again has the famous three pointed Mercedes badge and fine radiator mesh, then we have the side runners and rear wings which are one swooping moulding and have the ribbed foot panel so the Fuhrer doesn't go flat on his arse when exiting the car! The front bulkhead includes the windscreen framing, the floor panel is one large part.

 

SPRUE C

ICM have moulded all 6 wheels and tyres in five parts! This might seem a strange approach but their aim is to reproduce the tread pattern accurately and each piece has a ribbed edge which when put together will make up the block tread, then the outer sides of the wheel and tyre have the sidewall and hub detail and the hubcaps have the Mercedes badge moulded on them.

 

 

 

 

Also on this sprue are the parts for the De Dion rear suspension and the front wishbones and springs, the 770 was a very advanced car for the 40's and had independent suspension all round and ICM have captured this very well, top and bottom wishbones are provided as well as the shock absorbers and the steering arms and roll bars; all of which will build up into a very good representation of the chassis should anyone look at the underside of your model.

 

SPRUE D

This is a real mixed bag and has everything from the engine block to the seats, the engine block is moulded as two parts and with a separate sump and features some nice nut and bolt detail, the cooling fan is especially nicely done and they've even given us the fan belt. We get the ribbed fuel tank which will be very visible underneath the car and has a nicely done drain plug, and the gearbox completes the mechanical detail.

 

 

 

 

Moving onto the some of the interior detail we get all 7 seats, these are a good shape and have some raised cushion detail but lack any creasing of the leather which would have been a nice touch as they've managed to do that on the folded hood; then we have the interior door panels that have some door pockets and chrome rails moulded on, remember the tiny door handles and winders off sprue A will make them look very busy when complete.

 

SPRUE E

 

 

Now we look at the clear parts, as you would expect we get the windscreen and side glass all of which are flat on the 770, these are lovely and clear and have the sliding channels moulded on so these may need masking to paint them properly. The headlights and the many spotlights the 770 is doted with all have individual lenses, these are transparent and don't have any ribbing on them, this is correct for the headlights but I think some of the small front mounted lights are fogs and should have ribbed lenses. The clear parts are bagged separately so have escaped any damage.

 

SPRUE F

 

 

This is the new extra sprue over the previous release and provides the hood in the up position, as such the characteristic hinges are provided in the extended position, the hood is taught in the up position so doesn't have any creasing like the folded part but they have moulded the very slight ridges where the folding hinges would be underneath and there is a subtle step up all along the surface.

 

Decals

 

 

A small sheet is provided, this includes dials for the dashboard instruments which are unfortunately out of register so raid your spares box or source some aftermarkets ones, oddly the number plates are in perfect register. We then have the Nazi flags which don't have the swastika as ICM market their kits in Europe so again you'll need to source these, the decals themselves are similar to the old Revell decals with a matt finish but I can't comment on how they are to apply.

 

 

 

 

 

INSTRUCTIONS

ICM's instructions are very simple but clear and easy to follow, the build process is logical starting with engine and chassis before adding the external panels and interior, colour call outs are given throughout and relate to Model Master Paints, military colours are named eg Panzer Dunkelgelb 43 etc. Four colour options are given, three in Henry Ford's favourite colour and a late war one in Military colours however no distinction is made as to who the passengers were. I think it would just be a matter of researching the numberplates but I suspect most people would wish to model one used by Hitler or Goering etc.

 

 

 

 

 

Conclusion
There is a lot of potential with this kit for dioramas and given the scale I'm sure it will find its way into several, it's not a complicated kit but has excellent detail under the bonnet and chassis and builds up to a very nice size so represents value for money. The kit still includes the parts to have the top down so the interior can be shown off if you wish to super detail it, given ICM's skill at producing figures in injection I can't help but feel a mini Fuhrer would have been a nice inclusion.

 

Highly recommended

 

Ben Summerfield

 

Our sincere thanks to ICM for the review sample. To purchase directly, click the distributors link from the ICM website.

 

 

 

[Fran]

Great review!!

[JeroenPeters]

This is the Mercedes of all reviews!

[Wingco57]

Oh Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz....

 

Cees