German BMW R75 Motorcycle with Sidecar

Matchbox/Revell 1:76 Scale Vehicle Review

BMW R75 Solo Motorcycle, 1:76 Model Kit Revell 03150.

The picture shows the BMW R75 without sidecar. The model easily converts to a solo machine, leaving the sidecar off, and removing the attachment points on the frame. The rider has been equipped with an MP40, a map case, and other items of equipment one would expect to see on a soldier. Motorcyclists typically wore the rubberized overcoat, and there are pictures of it in use even in North Africa. Dressed as he is, wearing the early war temperate uniform with closed collar, this man is probably riding the BMW in perfect weather. The goggles are a typical item of equipment worn in Europe and on the dusty roads of North Africa or the Russian plains.

Contents

Evaluation

Excellent choice of subject. The BMW R75 with sidecar was a standard military motorcycle combination, it features prominently in many pictures and movies.

Scale model with acceptable detail. The entire frame is a one-piece casting, and some simplifications have been made.

Easy to build, only 9 parts. The model is much easier to put together than some of the more detailed motorcycles on the market. The result is good enough for simulations games, even if it may not satisfy the purist.

The rider is an excellent figure, although he could use a few items of personal equipment, and an MP40. The model is probably most useful as a solo machine carrying a traffic controller or dispatch rider, because the man is looking sideways and signaling to other traffic. There is no passenger for the sidecar, and it is not fitted with a machine gun.

The kit includes decals of the 15. and 21. Panzerdivision in North Africa, but the vehicle crew figures are actually more suitable for the European theater of operations.

Compatible with Airfix, Fujimi, Nitto, and VAC-U-CAST.

Parts of the frame are filled in, and they will prove difficult to drill open. Other motorcycle kits in this scale are more detailed, but this is a very serviceable model.

The tires of the BMW are without tread or spokes, but those of the sidecar are nicely detailed. If the model is deployed as a solo machine, spare tires scrounged from the sidecar may be used to build a carriages for the Austrian 3.7 cm Infanteriekanone M.31, and the German 7.5 cm Leichtgeschütz 1 which was issued to Fallschirmjäger paras, and Gebirgsjäger mountain troops.

The rider is dressed in the early war temperate uniform instead of the tropical uniform worn by the Afrikakorps.

Modellers should not be mislead about the fact that the vehicles in this boxed set are actually 1:76 scale Matchbox re-releases.

The Matchbox model of the BMW R75 with sidecar is a quick and easy kit for simulation gamers, but expert modellers will find it lacking in detail. The rider is in a very versatile pose, he may be used as a vehicle crew member of the Sd.Kfz. 251 Schützenpanzerwagen APC.

German Heavy Motorcycle with Sidecar