By Maz Woolley
This article continues my look at WIKING releases for October 2023.
Construction material vehicle (Mercedes-Benz) “Raab Karcher” – 1:87
This Mercedes-Benz tractor unit with its long trailer was designed to haul steel girders and long pipe sections. The ‘square cab’ Mercedes-Benz brings back a piece of German construction site history. In the 1970s, Raab Karcher was a large and expanding builder’s merchant in the Federal Republic. The tractor unit was made between 1965 an 1976.
Image from eBay listing
Of course this generation of Mercedes-Benz tractor unit has appeared in the WIKING range in the past with the tipper shown above an example of the earlier simpler finish provided in the past.
The new model is liveried in Raab Karcher logos and has had silver detailing applied with a neat Mercedes-Benz star on the front of the grille. It also includes a crane to handle loading and unloading of the heavy and long items carried.
Truck trailer – alpine blue – 1:87
Trailers of many kinds have been made by WIKING over the years with a wide variety of agricultural trailers in particular. The Photograph below shows an older item from WIKING with the simpler finish and limited detail seen in the past.
Photograph from eBay listing
Here WIKING produce a trailer to contemporary standards with twin axles and a draw bar to contemporary standards. It is based on a trailer produced between 1956 and 1968 and is based on an older moulding.
There is limited detailing on this trailer though it does get made in two plastic colours and has red printed rear lights.
Polizei – Unimog U 1700 – 1:87
The Unimog has featured in the WIKING range ever since its arrival on the market. It has appeared in many different variations just like the original vehicle. An early and very simple model from WIKING is shown below.
Here the latest version of this vehicle is a Unimog U 1700 in the livery of the German Polizei . This has often been purchased for use by the riot police. For this version WIKING have created a new tilt and added it to their true-to-life portfolio of German emergency vehicles. The type of Unimog shown was made between 1975 and 1993.
The model is neatly detailed with separate blue beacons fitted to the roof and Polizei printed on the bonnet. A nice separately inserted exhaust stack is moulded in black as is the chassis and grille. As ever the Mercedes-Benz emblem is silver printed as are the headlights, whilst the rear lights are printed in red.
Borgward flatbed truck – rose – 1:87
Borgward is a name from the past with the German car and truck maker having gone into receivership in 1963.
Wiking made Borgward commercials in their older and simpler style for many years including the models shown belwo.
Image from zuckerfabrik24
Here WIKING produce another version of the flatbed truck with much more detailing. In the 1950s, Borgward still ranked among the republic’s major producers of small commercial vehicles. This Borgward has the brand’s distinctive diamond shaped logo in the middle of the radiator grille. Produced from 1957 to 1961 it remained a common sight on German roads for many years after Borgward production ceased.
Here the model is produced in rose with yellow chassis, wheels and bumpers. The grille is black and silver printed and the headlights are printed silver and tail lights printed red.
Mercedes-Benz 280 SE Cabriolet, red – 1:87
The 280 SE Cabriolet has long featured in the WIKING range. Originally issued in the classic modelling style that lasted for many years with simple generic ‘turbine’ wheels and limited detailing and a scale of around 1:90. An earlier example is shown below.
Image from modellbahn-nuetz
Here we see the latest incarnation of this car from WIKING. It has previously been released in blue and brown. The model has been updated and a new interior created as the old tooling did not exist. The real car was made from 1968 to 1972 and is now a classic car. Here the new detailing includes a grille in black and silver, inserted detailed front lights, silver body trim and bumpers, as well as printed model number and rear Mercedes-Benz star logo.
DKW Munga Civil defence -1:87
Another vehicle that has appeared in WIKING’s range in many guises over the years. The DKW Munga was developed as a field car for the Bundeswehr (German Army) and carried on in production under Volkswagen’s ownership until 1968. The example shown below shows the simple self-coloured model with simple wheels and none of the detailing now expected.
Image from eBay seller
The DKW Munga was used by other government services in addition to the Bundeswehr. It was made from 1958 to 1968 and used the DKW car two stroke engines. The civil protection guards used these two stroke vehicles until well into the 1990s but they went out of service when the civil protection guards were wound up the re-unification of Germany. They then went on to have a variety of civilian roles when auctioned off by the government.
Here the model has a variety of added details like the separate steering wheel, emergency beacon to painted head and taillights and the ZS logo on the sides.
DKW Junior de Luxe, pastel blue with white roof – 1:87
The DKW Junior has long featured in the WIKING range. The Junior was the entry level car in the DKW range from 1959 to 1963. Below is an example of the model in earlier years with simple finishing.
Image from automodelly.sk
A competitor to the Volkswagen Beetle, though never sold in anything like the same numbers, this two stroke car was well made and performed well by the standards of the time. The Junior deluxe model was introduced in 1961 and had a 796cc engine rather than the 741cc engine in the base model. Here the moulds have been re-worked to produce a more detailed model.
Additional detailing on this generation of the model includes improved wheels, two tone printing, printed badging and lights.
Opel Rekord P1, beige with black roof – 1:87
The Rekord was Opel’s foray into US influenced mid 1950s styling. LIke their GM stablemates Vauxhall in the UK they enthusiastically adopted the curved front windscreen giving a ‘panoramic’ view as did the curved rear window. The Rekord is said to have been influenced by the contemporary Buick styling. WIKING made a contemporary model as shown below.
Image from eBay seller
The new model has been upgraded though it still retains the WIKING turbine wheels. It also gains a contrast printed roof like many of the original cars as well as silver printed Opel and Rekord badging. Opel sold roughly one million units of this model series between 1957 and 1962.
Flatbed lorry (Magirus) Union Transport – 1:160
WIKING has gradually added to its 1:160 scale range. These are not strong sellers when compared to the 1:87 range as they tend to appeal to few collectors other than those with continental N Scale railway layouts. They are considerably smaller than UK N Scale (1:148) so do not look right on UK N Scale layouts.
Here we have a flatbed lorry as made from 1958 to 1967 and made in the livery of Union Transport with white letters on a deep red background which were used in the 1960s. At that time, this former forwarding company had a headquarters in Düsseldorf and other locations throughout the country. WIKING has used their existing 1:160 Magirus round hood cab. For such a small model there is considerable printed detail including the period correct livery.
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