FEATURE ARTICLE Copper State Models 1:35 Ehrhardt E-V/4 M.1917 • Kit No. 35010
Copper State Models’ 1:35 scale Ehrhardt E-V/4 M.1917 was eagerly anticipated near the end of 2022, with previews of the kit being displayed on social media, and some modellers showing their builds of the test-shots in modelling blogs. I pre-ordered in October, and waited patiently until receiving mine a couple of weeks before Christmas time.
Not only did the kit look well engineered, but inside the box was a substantial 74 page reference book with many helpful photos of the vehicles in service during the Great War and after. The instruction guide was well illustrated and laid out as we’ve come to expect from CSM, and a choice of 14 different vehicles included for the camouflage and marking options.
In conjunction with the release of the kit, CSM also offered a new set of resin figures under the title of German armoured car crew, of which I acquired all five. My plan was to build the model and include the figures into a readymade vignette.
CHASSIS AND HULL CONSTRUCTION
Beginning with the chassis, I started to piece the frame and transmission together, with most of this detail being difficult to see on the finished model. Fit was very good, and I began to see the similarity between the resin K-Flak kit by St. George Model I’d built last year that seemed to be based on an identical Ehrhardt chassis. The frame was simple, sturdy and allowed the front wheels to be turned if desired.
At some point in the build, one has to decide which of the hatches and doors will be open or closed, and remove the moulded support tabs around the appropriate openings. Period photos were referenced to see how the hatches were typically positioned on vehicles in service, and the mounting of the MG’s. Since I was adding detail to the very front, I felt that I could leave open most of these.
INTERIOR ADDITIONS
One of the two figures wearing driver’s leather coats is posed holding open the front cabin door. Using this pose meant I’d have to incorporate more detail in the drivers position inside the vehicle since this area of the kit is very much lacking. An interior view of the two seats looking forward is provided in the reference book, and the brake/ transmission lever arrangements in my K-Flak model gave me some idea of what to add to this position using styrene and putty.
The chassis of the model goes together well and is mostly hidden by the low skirt of the hull on the finished kit.
Details added to the drivers position included a hand pump, steering wheel aid, and a handle the radiator louvre adjustments.
A second jack, seats and brake levers were fabricated from putty and styrene.