This firetruck kit represents a German vehicle with a body by Schlingman and a cab by Mercedes-Benz. Ten bags contain 23 trees of parts.
Everything fits with almost snap-kit efficiency. Indeed, some parts didn’t even need glue. The transparent pieces are nearly perfect and afford a great view of the interior.
Add the transfer case (Step 5) to the chassis in Step 7 before the exhaust pipe (Part L20 in Step 7). The pipe attaches to a point on the lower left block, not on the bell housing as shown. Paint instructions are hazy regarding the muffler; it should be aluminum with gray straps. Also, not all the holes you’re instructed to drill out are indicated.
Tires and wheels were the biggest assembly problem. The latter have a large flange to keep the tire on (like the wheels of some die-cast models). I had to carefully squeeze the tire onto one part of the wheel and, working along the edge, press firmly toward the other side of the tire. The wheels should be painted aluminum; make sure the paint is truly dry before mounting the tires. Nevertheless, the tires are gorgeous Dunlops that can be improved with a little sanding of the tread.
Make sure the mounting holes for the light bar are large enough to accept their mounting tabs. I didn’t discover this until after the headliner was installed, which made attaching the light bar more difficult. The two roof antennas (parts 84 and 85, Step 22) are best left off until the entire cab assembly goes onto the chassis in Step 36; they’re easily broken.
In the equipment compartments (Step 37), add Part I89 to the floor (Part O86) before adding the compartment sides. Make sure the latter parts are square and secure before moving on; misalignments will only give you grief later.
I had trouble mounting the body on the chassis; this was the only instance in which the locating tabs and pins didn’t fit their slots and holes. It may be best to attach the body floor to the chassis in Step 37 before adding the compartment sides. Step 38 is not quite accurate in attaching Part Y169 to the floodlight stand (Part Y168). Despite the illustration, the hollow side of Y169 indeed attaches to Y168. A caution for Step 47: The lower pump panel (Part S114) fits into the compartment before the upper panel (Part T115).
Equipment compartments can be posed open or closed. Tape the doors to the equipment body sides (parts H157 and 158) when attaching the latter pieces to the body in steps 63 and 64. But if you glue the hose dolly in Step 81 to the rear bumper, it will interfere with the rear compartment door.
The kit has two options for the lower tool compartments (steps 72 and 73). I chose the closed version, as the open faces of the compartment doors on Parts Q208 and 209 have some pretty deep ejector-pin marks.
The decal sheet has nearly 100 images pertaining to three different vehicles. You can even make your own German license plate; there are four sets of letters A–Z and numerals 0-9. I chose Option 84, the Freiwillige Feuerwehr Lohne (Volunteer Fire Brigade Lohne), because I liked the prominent vehicle number decal on the roof.
There were only a few fit issues with the decals. Put the side-strobe decals on before attaching the door handles in Step 21. I also found in Step 47 that the gauges did not fit easily onto the pump panel. In Step 84, the right-hand strobe decal (No. 73) for the rear end needed trimming to fit around the raised detail above the license plate. The decals conformed to the complex tread-plate patterns without decal-setting solution.
An entire parts tree was left unused in my kit, along with some clear parts; Revell Germany is clearly planning on alternative versions of this pumper body.
Note: A version of this review appeared in the February 20112 issue of FSM.