Vulcan 1/35 Zundapp K800 Motorcycle in-box review



As noted in a previous post, I received from Vulcan Scale Models a sample of their latest kit, the 1/35 Zundapp K800 Motorcycle, kit #56006.  I have not had a chance to start building it but the following are my impressions of what you get inside the box.

The kit consists of 79 plastic parts on 3 sprues, 2 stainless steel PE frets for the wheel spokes, a 24 piece brass PE fret.  Also included are 4 tiny springs for the the seats and a small decal sheet with markings for 2 different bikes.  A 6 page instruction sheet rounds out the kit.

Sprue "A" is essentially the same sprue included in Vulcan's earlier Zundapp K500 kit.  However, the handlebars, part #34, were redesigned to better reflect to slight "W" shape of the real thing.  The incorrect shape of the handlebars in the K500 kit was noted in the PMMS K500 review.  When assembling the headlight, you can only add the blackout light cover as a clear lense piece is not included.  The quality of the molding is pretty good.  There is some lite flash on a few parts with few injector pin marks. 

Sprue "C" is an entirely new sprue and features the engine parts.  Photos of K800's that I found online show 7 vents on the engine block, while the kit part C1/C2 only have 6.  These missing vents can be scribed into the parts without too much trouble.  The cylinder head covers, parts C3/C4 have small sink marks in them.  They'll need to be filled with the cooling fins rescribed afterwards.

Sprue "FA" is the figure sprue and is the same one included with the K500.  Overall, the figure looks pretty good.  However, his dust goggles are pretty flimsy and are molded in solid grey plastic.  I'll be replacing mine with some clear plastic ones from the parts box.

The photo etch wheel spokes are a nice addition.  Each one gets sandwiched between a 5 piece tire assembly.  The brass PE fret contains some very small parts so care will be needed when removing them from the fret.  The 4 springs that are mounted underneath each seat are quite tiny and will disappear into the jaws of the "Carpet Monster" if one is not careful handling them.  The decal sheet has license plate, manufacturers and a speedometer.  If you want to add tactical markings to your kit, you'll need to find another source for them.

The instruction sheet consists of 23 steps written on 6 pages.  The assembly sequence appears to be logical and clearly written.  Painting call outs are noted in each step.  Recommended paints are Tamiya, Mr. Color and Life Color.  No historical background about the motorcycle is included in the instructions. 

Overall, it looks like Vulcan has done a nice job producing this kit.  The inclusion of a couple of clear parts for the rider's goggles and the headlight would be nice.  However, seeing how the corrected the handlebars compared to the previous K500 kit shows that Vulcan is willing to make changes to its product in order to make them accurate.  I look forward to building this kit during the next couple of weeks and will post another build type review at that time.

Thanks again to Leo at Vulcan Scale Models for the review sample.

My online references included:

http://www.autogallery.org.ru/zunk800.htm

And Zundapp Fool:  http://www.zundappfool.com/  Visit this site if you want to download owner's and parts manuals for this and other Zundapp bikes.