Considering how prolific a vehicle it was it continues to amaze me that we still have no updated kit of the venerable Willys jeep. We still need to make do with the Tamiya and Italeri kits which both date back twenty plus years. Of late we’ve had the Minart Bantam join the line-up but that isn’t really as useful as it wasn’t used by anywhere near as many countries, not least of which would be the U.S.
This kit is a rather simple kit, coming on four dark green sprues in a small open ended box, two larger ones for the jeep and trailer, two smaller ones for the figures. There is also a small clear sprue and a small sheet of decals. All the sprues, in true early Italeri fashion, 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, though none were loose or broken in this instance.
The mouldings are a little simplified and lacking in the finer details but the sprues are cleanly moulded with just some minor flash, minimal mould seams and discrete injector marks which for the most part are in areas that won’t be seen. Overall the fit and finish is reasonably good and the instructions are clear, though with the simplicity of this kit it is hard to get it wrong.
The chassis is rather simplified and includes the lower part of the engine moulded as part of the frame. The wheels and tyres are one piece parts with good detail and there is a reasonable representation of an engine together with a battery. Separate parts include the exhaust, muffler, springs and shock absorbers.
The body can have the bonnet positioned open if desired and includes alternate front guards. Gear levers and a dash are included though the gear levers are a little heavy and the dash is somewhat simplistic in detail, looking more like a series of bumps. A canvas roof is provided in two parts together with the side supports though it includes no internal framing so you’ll have to add this yourself. The canvas roof actually looks reasonably good, though there are some small injector marks to remove on the inside surfaces. A separate folded frame for the roof is also included if you wish to have this shown folded down.
The trailer is a very simple affair also, though I suppose so was the real thing. It pretty much just consists of the trailer pan, a frame chassis, the axle, two springs and two wheels. It isn’t actually that bad looking once made up, but could use a little improvement by thinning the chassis frame and adding weld detail, as well as thinning the sides of the trailer to give it the appearance of being closer to scale thickness. It could also use a bit of finer detail on the hitch with the addition of things like a parking brake lever, wiring, and the back-up tow chains.
The figures … yes, the figures. Bin them. There’s no way to sugar coat that. Italeri could never do figures and these are no exceptions. They do come with helmets, an M1 carbine, a canteen, a bayonet, a holstered M1911A1 pistol, and a 57mm Recoiless rifle which will be handy in the spares bin but the figures themselves are just awful. They’re too small, their arms are stunted, they lack any real detail and what is there is wrong. The only part of them possibly worth keeping are the boots.
Decals are included for four vehicles – 4th Marine Division, 14th Marine Artillery, 2nd Battalion, H.Q. Iwo Jima, Februaury 1945 : 3rd Marine Division, 3rd Marine Regiment, 1st Battalion, Company B, Guam, August 1944 : 5th Army, 34th Infantry Division “Red Bull” H.Q. Vehicle 2, Cassino 1944 : 101st Airborne Division, 506th A. B. Regiment, Company C, Vehicle 4, Normandy June 1944.
Despite the simplification of a lot of the detail, and the terrible figures, this still makes up into a reasonably good model of a jeep, albeit one that can be improved upon a lot. I’m sure a contemporay kit, if it were to exist, would be far superior but currently if you want a Willys you’re limited to the Italeri or Tamiya offerings, which are both equally old kits. So it pretty much comes down to what comes with each, the later Italeri kit has the pedestal gun mount, wire cutter and radio, this has the canvas roof and trailer. This will make up equally as well as the Tamiya one, and equally it can be enhanced a great deal with some TLC and some fine detailing.
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