This kit is one of three 1/24 kits offered by Ebbro based on the Citroen H truck. This light-duty truck was made from 1947 all the way through 1981. Almost a half million were made, and sold mainly in Europe. The truck is front wheel drive with the same motor as the DS19. The corrugated body was inspired by the Junkers Ju52 airplane and the truck was simple, well-handling and versatile.

This truck represents a one built after 1964. The three options of the ‘H’ offered by Ebbro are a straight delivery truck, a crepe-mobile, and the review sample, a mobile restaurant from the streets of Paris. The box photos (which are tremendous) show many interesting details to make a mini-diorama without figures and base. Details include a menu board, food items and magazines, all of which offer the builder painting and building challenges. The model features poseable steering, positionable doors and a removable roof to show off the interior.

The contents of the tall box include:
- The cab of the truck
- Five tan/grey sprues which comprise the truck and body
- Two white sprues which comprise the restaurant fittings
- One tan sprue of ‘optional’ parts including shelving
- Two clear sprues; one for the truck windows and one for the restaurant
- One chrome sprue of handles and trim for the truck
- Three decal sheets, one for the truck and two for the restaurant
- One chrome mylar piece for the grille trim
- One photo-etched sprue with the fender step plates
- Two pieces of green tinted clear plastic for the restaurant display case
- Five vinyl tires
- Four vinyl poly caps

In total, the kit comprises over 200 parts in multi-media, but is mostly styrene.

Conceptually, one could break the kit into three major components; the truck chassis and cab, the rear ‘restaurant’ section, and all the great contents that will fascinate the modeler and the viewer.

Construction starts with the chassis, in steps 1-6. The model is curbside and has only the bottom of the motor included. It’s front wheel drive and the steering is pose-able, and the rear suspension consists only of a single piece torsion bar axle plus backing plates. Engineering and instructions are quite Tamiya-esque. The uni-body truck bottom serves as the frame. This segment ends with the attaching of the floor of the cab and restaurant. I wouldn’t spend a lot of time on the chassis as it is doubtful when done you’ll be turning the truck upside-down to show it off; all your little croissants might fall out!

Steps 7 and 8 deal with a nicely detailed cab that can be shown off by posing one of the suicide doors open. The simple seats have nicely detailed tubular frames. There are several decals for the dash, and separate parts for the mirror and sun visor. You can also see the cab from the rear restaurant part so time spent on painting and detailing will be well spent.

Steps 9 through 12 show the construction of the rear restaurant body, and most builders will build it with the side and rear doors and panels open; you can see in from the left, right and rear. You can pose them closed as well, but that would defeat the purpose! The body moldings are great with the corrugation well represented. As you can see from the photos the radiator grille is molded open and is quite delicate. The plastic is somewhat translucent and I think the builder will want to prime before painting.

It should be mentioned that the contents of the restaurant are mentioned briefly in this section but without description and painting information (unless you can read Japanese, and I’m not sure if even those captions have the information). More on the contents in a minute.
The final step deals with the front of the cab; mounting the doors and handles, et cetera.

But now for the fun part, all that restaurant stuff, most of which isn’t even mentioned in the instructions! The parts are spread out over several sprues, and frankly I can’t tell what every last piece is. However, the contents are extensive.

The equipment includes a microwave oven, what appears to be a gas operated hotplate (2 burner), a long display case (that’s where the green tinted plastic goes), a small cash register (no Euro notes, however), a 2 cup coffeemaker, and a large easel for the day’s menu (on the decal sheet).

The rest of the stuff is even MORE fun! The list includes magazines, tin cans, wine and water/juice bottles, many cups, glasses and mugs, large and small trays, bread, sandwiches and other baked goods, a pot and a pan, various shelves, and even two pairs of large tongs to handle the food. As you can see from the photos the molding are very crisp on all these pieces and should provide a great basis for painting.

I personally can’t wait to build this kit, and will report back when I do. I think this is where some of my armor experience will figure in, along with my imagination….for example, how do you paint a sandwich? Or a bottle of apple juice? For better or worse, you can’t look to the kit for answers. They supply the parts, but the builder must supply the ingenuity! And if you do it right, your model will look good enough to eat.