One of the types of vehicles that seemed to appear during the Second World War and then fade away afterwards was the amphibious truck, perhaps because the advent of helicopters made them more suited to shifting loads ashore than something like the DUKW. But whilst the DUKW is quite widely recognised its little cousin, the Ford 1/4 ton 4×4 General Purpose Amphibian, or GPA amphibious jeep, seems to be lesser known. Though it did score a prime role in the final Indiana Jones movie.
This kit from Tamiya comes in a small tray and lid style box containing two dark green sprues and the hull to construct the GPA, as well as a third lighter green sprue holding the two figures and accessories. This is an older kit which also comes in a re-released form together with a russian crew ( same kit, new crew ), but it has stood up to the test of time and though is suffers from a little over simplification of the finer detail what you get looks good.
The moulding is the typical Tamiya quality which is to say very good with no flash, minimal clean up of mould seams and nice clean, sharp detail – at least on the actual vehicle, the figures are a little duller. Assembly is simple, Tamiya’s instuction being the usual clear and easy to understand ones that we have come to know. Helped of course by the fact that there really aren’t a lot of parts to this kit.
Building this kit is a quick and easy task because, as I said, there isn’t really a lot to this kit. The suspension springs are already moulded in place so the running gear consists of just adding the axles and single piece wheels. The upper decks and interior are where most parts are added but really there isn’t that much to add once you’ve added the assorted hooks and lights to the outside and the seats, gear levers and dashboard, which is quite good looking, to the inside. All that leaves is the spare tyre on the rear, the windscreen and the rope bumpers.
Two figures are included, these are older figures and the moulds are quite heavy with not a lot of sharp definition, especially around the faces, boots and clothing folds. They still are better than many, but compared to contemporary figures they show their age. One is standing and armed with a M1A1 Thompson sub-machine gun together with a set of Thompson mag pouches and a bayonet in a scabard, the other is seated and gets an M1 Garand together with a set of Garand rifle mag pouches and the bayonet in a scabard.
Also included are a few random accessories to add to the cargo area. These are made up of a large ammo box/tool box, a smaller tool box, a large folded tarp, two smaller rolled tarps, a stachel, and a jerry can which strangely has a vehicle mount frame moulded to it.
Decals are provided for three vehicle options, two U.S. Army and one U.S. Marines with both the U.S. Amry markings having personalised names – “Devries” and “Ike’s Invasion Taxi LEAKY”.
This is a nice, simple, easy kit to build that still looks pretty good. If you want more in the way of finer detail it’s currently the only kit of the G.P.A. around but it does make a good basis for better detailing, as mostly all it needs is some of the parts repalced with better scaled Photo etched parts and perhaps the wheels with resin ones.
You can check out a walkaround of a restored G.P.A. HERE.
Click thumbnails to enlarge images.
