1939 Citröen Type 23

72th scale Citröen Type 23
Original: Citröen met the 1939 demands of the French governement to rationalize automotive production and scale it up with a different aproach than that of Renault. The 1935 Type 23 was only introduced to the French forces in 1939 with a set of expliciet specifications. Most noticable the water container on the right side. Late 1939 / early 1940 the fenders are changed and they get flat. Most type 23's used by the Wehrmacht had these. There is also a tropical version with extended front fenders and that is to be the main version after the war, as this sturdy solid truck has a similar history as the Opel Blitz 1,5 tonner, eventually being updated with a round cabin.

Model: 72th resin kit from Alby. Superbly detailed, but with it's exact pinpointed year of 1939 and its spot on accesoires must be in French army livery.

Build: January 2020 to July 22 2021. Base coat of yellow, spots with brushes in acrylic. Oil wash and a touch of drybrushing.

February 7 2021

After all the spots have been drawn a cirkel around them and a wash and a hint of a drybrush layer are added where getting ther. Just a layor of dust separates us from the finish. Camuflage on a tiny modell like this realy makes it disapear.

February 6 2021

Even more painstaking, cirkles around all these spots. I've made them too small. All pictures I've found on the type 23 and type 45 have much bigger spots. The ring around the spot does look good though!

February 1 2021

After the green base paint and the removal of the masking fluid the yellow spots are a lot of work. It looks like a mess. What have I done!

October 26 2020

Masking fluid on the windosw makes it ready for the spray gun.

October 18 2020

Radiator fixed, several small details added and the canvas cover added. A piece of single sheet toilet paper and metal struts. The CA-glue is also used to get all the straps on the cover.

October 11 2020

Fitting the cab and getting an idea of what it looks with the new front bumper froant and back fenders reveals anothe issue. The radiator is to short. fitting a piece of plastic with cyano glue gives it a huge chin!

August 30 2020

The 2 tiny trucks both get their fenders repaired. It's just a couple of mm's but it makes a huge differnce in apearence.

August 29 2020

Comparing all pictures and info reveals a flaw in the kit. It's fenders are too short. So tine bits of plastic carefully placed in layers with cyano glue, and sanding all excess away. And photographing these tiny modells is not easy.

January 19 2020

What I got actually where 3 of these. One mint in the box and 2 partialy build, not complete, and a bit crooket. The first intention is to build a radio or ambulance box from one of them and I found a picture of a magnificent mover van. Than the axe falls on these plans. This version of the type23 with all it's neat boxes, cargo bay and details is 1939 only, and though the German army gladly took over these reliable trucks, they are relatively rare in this form and I have to sacrifice half the kit to make another version.

Now I know a couple of people that can build a kit like this, so, I'm going to build one, make the 2nd complete and leave the 3th mint.

January 15 2020

A great find indeed! And a great friend to let me have this magnificent Alby kit. It's a simple kit, by today's standards, but it even has a PE-set(!) and has superb details.