German STAFF CAR Type 170V

 Having a break from my Seaton Scale Modellers group build, so that I don’t finish it too early! 

I thought, during this interlude, I’d revisit a WW2 Generals project that I kicked off earlier in the year by building the MiniArt Mercedes Type 170V Cabriolet B German Staff Car.

I acquired this MiniArt Mercedes Staff Car some months ago as part of a 1:35 scale WW2 Generals project. The subject for this build is none other than Erich von Manstein and having been one of the generals to launch the Barbarossa campaign, I decided on an early Eastern Front scheme of dark yellow and green, understanding the brown in the box art camouflage was a later addition. 

The Master Box Models General figure built very nicely and I think the addition of 3D-Gizmo’s seated officer adds to the scene of open door and bonnet so as to expose some of the great detailing in this kit.

Erich von Manstein was the military strategist who devised the 1940 plan to invade France through the Ardennes bypassing the Maginot Line to cut off the French and Allied armies in Belgium and Flanders. For his mastery he was promoted to the rank of general and given command of the 11th Army for the 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union. Early victories and the capture of Sevastopol in July 1942 saw him promoted to field marshal, however, although avoiding being implicated in the assassination attempt through illness, disagreements with Hitler over the conduct of the war following the disastrous battles for Leningrad, Kursk and Dnieper, he was dismissed from his command in March 1944.

Taken prisoner by the British in August 1945, he was tried for war crimes and convicted for the poor treatment of prisoners and failing to protect civilian lives. He served just four years before being released in 1953. In his 1973 obituary it was said "He assisted in the march to catastrophe—misled by a blind sense of duty."

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The Kit

Brand: MiniArt
Title: German STAFF CAR Type 170V Cabriolet B
Number: 35107
Scale: 1:35
Type: Full kit
Released: 2012 New parts