German STAFF CAR Type 170V
Field Marshal Erich von Manstein

I acquired this MiniArt Mercedes Staff Car some months ago as part of a 1:35 scale WW2 Generals project. The subject for this build is none other than Erich von Manstein and having been one of the generals to launch the Barbarossa campaign, I decided on an early Eastern Front scheme of dark yellow and green, understanding the brown in the box art camouflage was a later addition.

The Master Box Models General figure built very nicely
and I think the addition of 3D-Gizmo’s seated officer
adds to the scene of open door and bonnet so as to
expose some of the great detailing in this kit.

Erich von Manstein was the military strategist who
devised the 1940 plan to invade France through the
Ardennes bypassing the Maginot Line to cut off the
French and Allied armies in Belgium and Flanders. For
his mastery he was promoted to the rank of general
and given command of the 11th Army for the 1941
invasion of the Soviet Union. Early victories and the
capture of Sevastopol in July 1942 saw him promoted
to field marshal, however, although avoiding being
implicated in the assassination attempt through illness,
disagreements with Hitler over the conduct of the war
following the disastrous battles for Leningrad, Kursk
and Dnieper, he was dismissed from his command in
March 1944.

Taken prisoner by the British in August 1945, he was
tried for war crimes and convicted for the poor
treatment of prisoners and failing to protect civilian
lives. He served just four years before being released
in 1953. In his 1973 obituary it was said "He assisted
in the march to catastrophe—misled by a blind sense
of duty."

As usual, I love studying the history behind my models,
as harrowing as they may sometimes be.