MiniArt’s A400-series 3-wheel vans and tucks have been a big hit. We think this one has the best marking scheme of all – and it makes a ton of money! We look at the five marking choices, sprues, etch & info of the kit’s contents in our preview…
Tempo A400 Lieferwagen. Bakery Van
From MiniArt
Kit No #38049
1/35th scale
The kit contains three marking choices in the box.
Photo-etch & clear parts are included
The Subject: Tempo E400 3-wheel van
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On September 25, 1928, the sales company Vidal & Sohn was established to distribute the three-wheelers of the brand Tempo in Hamburg. Tempo is a trademarked three-wheeler designed by Gustav Ehlers. Vidal & Sohn, despite the fact that the two parties’ cooperation ended very quickly, brought their own three-wheeled truck to the market within a few months. It was a fierce competition, but both Hamburger were able to understand the requirements of small traders. After only two years, in November 1930, the completion of the 1000th Tempo three-wheeler was celebrated.
The Tempo “boy” is an early model of the truck. The boy versions were equipped with smaller engines, a 244cc 10hp motor, to allow them to be used by drivers who held a category IV license. This was much easier to get. The 400 represented the exact capacity of 396 cc rounded to the nearest cc, and the E was for Eisen (German for Iron). The new letter was a way to communicate the condition of the body. In place of the mixed plywood-steel construction that was used for the former driver’s compartment and chassis, a steel construction has been adopted. The E400 in the modern era
A restored E400
With the E200, E600 and their brothers the E400 could push sales further and Vidal & Sohn was pleased to have full order books The E 400 was also called “Athlet”, and was available at dealers with a two-cycle water-cooled engine mounted to the steering. The engine had a performance of 12,5 hp, which was transferred through a 3-speed gearbox and a chain to the single front wheel.
The Tempo cars are sporty on the road, but the driver should slow down before corners.
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Although the E400 was very popular, it could not reach the success of its small Brother; the E200. The Tempo factory at Harburg, 1949. The yard is well stocked with cars from their recent production.
The kit from MiniArt:
The feature set of the kit is already known from the first release that we are showing the build preview.
– Two licence plate holder options for customization.
– Two-wheel cover choices and an alternate number plate position on the rear.
– Both the doors and the bonnet can be opened
– The highly detailed engine can be seen through a fine photo-etched grille
– The rear doors can be posed open or closed…
– The whole structure of the underside of the vehicle is replicated faithfully on this model
CAD shots of the sprues:
MiniArt has provided us with CAD sprue shots of the kit that give us a little more idea of the kit that is the second in their Tempo series.
The two sprues of bread are included as well as the photo-etch for the finer/ thinner parts of the kit.
Also, two deal sheets are supplied for six versions of the Tempo…
There are five marking choices, most of them in delivery or civilian service in the 30s – 50s…We think these are amongst the best seen so far in this series.
That is all we know about this release so far. The MiniArt kits are available in a variety of versions.