Tamiya - Simca 5 Staff Car

Tamiya has produced a little gem with this Simca 5 kit.

The car is a French copy of the Italian Fiat 500 "Topolino".

Once France surrendered, this car, which was built in huge

numbers, was commandeered into German Army service.

Box Contents

Typical, high quality, Tamiya instructions....

well laid out steps with color call-outs.

Instructions were easy to follow, and no errors were found.

Kit contains 50 grey plastic parts. The quality of the molding

is of a very high caliber.

NO flash was found, and only the faintest of seam lines exist.

The driver figure is a BONUS IMHO...crisply detailed

and well animated.

The clear parts have scale thinness and are crystal clear.

An open or closed option is provided for the side windows.

Decals are cleanly printed and are in good register. 3 marking

choices are provided...2 military and 1 civilian.

Construction

Building this kit was a "Breeze", typical of the well engineered

Tamiya kits. Only minor corrections were made to improve

accuracy....references from the WEB aided this process.

Construction of the under carriage. Multiple sink holes

found here required sanding.

A "build and paint as you go" process was adopted in the

making of this kit.

Minor corrections added....indicator lever on steering

column, sun visors, and door latches.

Another correction added....the void behind spare tire is blanked.

Kit has 2 options for headlights....black-out covers for

military(shown) and clear lenses for civilian.

Kit driver built, painted, and inserted. Nice figure IMHO.

Final Construction/Painting/Markings

During final construction; a fire wall was added to the interior,

a wire frame and latches were added to the soft top, and

toggle locks were added to the hood.

Vallejo acrylics were used for base coating and Testor's

enamels used for weathering.

Kit decals were used, with the addition of Balken

crosses(spares) used on the doors...

an artistic embellishment.

Visible is the addition of the wire frame/latches to the soft top.

Conclusion

This was a FUN/FAST build. I enjoyed making this tiny,

utilitarian vehicle....Tamiya never fails to deliver good quality

for your modeling dollars. This kit should prove to be a valuable

addition to ones soft skin collection.

GOOD

-new kit/new molding.

-unusual/interesting subject.

-well engineered.

-nice figure.

-configuration/marking options.

Not So GOOD

-lots of sink hole marks.

-soft interior details.

Highly Recommended

Thanks to Tamiya America for review kit.

Review done by William Herd , Central Maryland AMPS.