The lowly truck served a major role in the war, tanks may have been the face of the war but the fuel that ran them, the ammo they fired, and the men that supported them were all bought up in trucks. Without them the tanks would never have been able to go as far as fast. Yet trucks, particularly British trucks, still remain an mostly untapped subject when it comes to 1/35 scale plastic kits. So I thought it time to take a look at one of the older OOP kits from Italeri that is still floating around here and there.
This kit comes in a open ended style box and as mentioned is an older one of Italeri’s kits. You get three dark olive green sprues, one black sprue for the wheels, a small clear sprue and a dark olive green tilt cover. In true Italeri fashion these come loose in the box with no bags, which probably keeps the price down but I do find frequently it results in loose and/or broken parts. That was the case with this particular kit which arrived with a few loose parts floating around though nothing was broken.
The moulding quality overall is good, with detail that is sharp, though there is a degree of cleanup required with light flashing in some places and mould lines that will need to be removed. The plastic used is also quite a hard and brittle type so care needs to be taken when removing parts so as not to cause any cracks or splits. The instructions are clear and easy to follow for the most part, and whilst they could be improved upon the kit is a fairly simple one so it’s hard to go wrong.
The chassis is fairly simple, with the frame, underisde of the cab, and the lower engine half ( mainly the sump ) all moulded as a single piece. To this are added the transmission, drive shafts, differentials, springs etc. The springs have large moulding sinkholes in them that will need to be filled and there is some minor flashing that will need to be removed. Other than that the detailing of the underside is quite good and includes the gas tanks, exhausts, battery box and steering assembly. The wheels are moulded as two halves each with a reasonably good level of detail, though the builder will need to remove the join seam around the middle once they are assembled.
The cab includes a fairly good interior, with tread plate detail on the floor and separate doors. The various levers, pedals, and seat frames are all provided as separate pieces though some of these are a little on the heavy side and require a bit of clean-up to remove excess flashing. The dash is quite good though no decals are provided for the dials. The doors have a reasonable level of interior detail though it could be improved a lot as there are no map pockets or doorhandles. The radiator grille is moulded as part of the bonnet and the headlights have no clear parts which is two areas where I felt this kit could be improved, along with the mirrors which are a little thick and heavy. The exterior has good bolt detail and the roof gets a separate part for the hatch cover.
The rear cargo bed is also very simple and includes moulded on wood graining that is rather poor, looking more like a few random raised lines, so best removed and redone some other way. Four seats are provided in the rear which look reasonably good though they could use a little surface texturing. The tail gate can be posed up or down and there is an optional canvas tilt cover though it is a little thick and heavy and has four large injector pin marks on the inside which would need to be removed. Alternately the vehicle can just be portayed with the three supplied bows which could use a little thinning down but are otherwsie fine.
Decals are included for three vehicles – Australian Army : British Army : Canadian Army - though no unit information is given for any of them so you may need to get out the reference books if this matters to you.
When it comes to kits of British trucks of this type this kit is pretty much your one and only choice, and all up this is a good little kit that could be made even better with a little work and some fine detailing added. As it is it will still look the part quite well, but for the builder who likes the best in detail you’ll need to be prepared to roll up your sleeves and spend some extra time on it, but the end result is well worth it.
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