We Got a Convoy!

 Or more of one anyway.

While I was painting the Opel Blitz, I started thinking about more vehicles I might need for some Raiders of the Lost Ark gaming. Motorcycles were a definite must. And one with a sidecar. So I started looking around on the Interweb.

A search for Warlord Games DAK motorcycles turned up a result for $9, which seemed like a pretty good price. The motorcycle and sidecar was $12. There was also a Kubelwagen for $18, so I threw that in the cart as well.

When they arrived, they were in clamshells and were all metal. Must have been why they were so cheap. Then I looked at the backer card in the package and discovered that I had ordered models made by Offensive Miniatures, not Warlord.

The mistake had been made. So I figured I'd give them a try.

I opened the Kubelwagen. The first thing I noticed was, "Parts, Mr. Rico, millions of them." OK. There were only about a dozen.

The second thing I noticed was that there were no assembly instructions. There weren't any online, either. But a look at the photos on the website showed what most of the parts were and gave me a general idea of where they went.

I decided to add the passengers before painting, since some of the parts would make fitting them in afterward a problem. The gun rack in the back seat and the steering wheel were two of the worst offenders.

Assembly was a little rough. As with a lot of metal models, some parts were slightly misaligned or twisted. The most frustrating part was the connection points. They were not well defined and, in some cases, were practically non-existent.

Patience and a liberal dose of colorful language persevered. I think.

And the Kubelwagen was assembled.

Things were fairly straightforward from there. I painted the base colors, then gave everything a wash to bring out the details.

Next, I added the highlights.

I scrounged and cobbled together some decals from the other vehicle sets and applied them. Then I added some chipping and rust. Finally, it was weathered with Vallejo dust and mud pigment powders.

There are a few things to be aware of if you decide to purchase one for yourself. First, it is scaled slightly smaller than the Warlord Games miniatures. The passengers are close to the same height, but noticeably slimmer. The other issues I've already covered: assembly, lack of decals, and so on.

For about half the price of the Warlord version, though, it turned out to be a nice addition to the DAK/Lost Ark project.