Some year ago, I discovered a series of trucks and buses made by Märklin in HO scale, 1:87. I believe they were manufactured in the 1990’s and still seems quite detailed, although with some details that seem a bit crude by todays standards.
The series consist of several version of the same basic models, and one of my favorite types is the models depicting a truck from 1903 made by the German company Büssing, which had set up shop in Braunschweig in the same year.
The blue version above is a part of Märklin set #1899 from around 1990, also consisting of the Benz truck from around the same time.
The two-tonne truck was the first truck of the new Büssing company and its gasoline engine developed nine HP. After seeing the photo of this preserved specimen at the Deutsches Museum in Munich, I knew the plastic-looking blue model had to be repainted.
I tried to match the colours of the truck from the museum, although I tried to give it a more worn look. The short-legged driver or passenger is from a Preiser set.
I had planned to add some cargo to the truck instead of the cover, but I seem to have run out of crates, barrels and sacks, so instead I just painted and weathered the cover. 🙂
Seeing the pictures above I think I have to add a handle to start the engine and perhaps add a bit of weathering powder to the wheels, but otherwise I like how much better the old Märklin model look with a bit of paint.
Epoch 