I have to admit to having a big soft spot for World War Two truck kits and this one has always been a personal favourite. There’s just something about the old deuce and a half that draws you to it. A truck that went everywhere and did everything that a truck could possibly do. I just wish Tamiya would bring out more versions of this, and that someone would do a set of seated figures for the bed.
This kit comes in a medium sized tray and lid type box and contains five sprues moulded in dark green plastic, one small sprue of clear parts, and a length of string for the winch cable. Two of the sprues are a double to provide all the wheels, twelve in total – ten on the road and two spares. Because of this doubling up of the one sprue you get a few extra parts such as an extra grille frame.
The mouldings are the typical Tamiya quality which is to say that they are very good with no flash, and minimal clean up of mould seams. There are some injector marks to deal with but nothing that should detract from the kit overall. The detail is nice and sharp. It can be a little over simplified in places as is the Tamiya way, with some pieces being a little heavier than ideal but overall the finish is very good.
The entire chassis is very well made with a lot of excellent detail. It includes a very nice engine which is somewhat wasted as the hood lacks the hinges or underside detail to display it open ( a job for AM detail kits ). In fact in most cases little of the superb chasis details will be seen. The winch drum at the front comes with a length of string to be wound onto it to represent the cable.
The wheels are all moulded in two halves and have good tread detail, although it could be a little deeper towards the top, and as a nice touch the kit comes with two optional brake drums to attach in place of the wheels if you want to model it with one or two of the wheels removed.
The cab detail is a little simplified inside with the levers needing a little thinning down and the pedals are just moulded as part of the floor plan with little definition. The dashboard is quite good though, but I do wish Tamiya would start including decals for these. Clear parts are included for the headlights and windscreen though the headlight lenses lack the ribbed detail that they should have The hood sides are well moulded but are a candidate for PE simply to get the open vents, or if you want to have the sides removed to show off the engine.
The cargo bed’s wooden parts have exquisitely fine woodgrain detail which will require the builder to go light on the paint to avoid obscuring it completely. The bows for the canvas tilt can be modelled in position or stowed at the front of the cargo bed. There is however no canvas tilt included in the kit so you’ll need to make your own. There is though an optional canvas roof supplied for the cab.
A driver figure is included who has a well defined face and good detailing on the uniform but as with a lot of Tamiya’s figures ( and drivers in particular ) he does seem rather small. Equipmentwise there are several haversacks, two Garand M1 rifles in vehicle mounted holders and three jerrycans which all have the correct three carry handles.
Decals and a paint guide are provided for one of four vehicles : 10th Armoured Division 55th Armoured Engineer Battalion HQ Company No. 40 ; ASCZ 3886th Transportation Corps Truck Company no. 49 in the Red Ball Express ; 1st Army 3549th Transportaion Corps Truck Company No. 37 ( July 1944 Normandy ) ; 3rd Army 8th Corps 637th AAA Battalion HQ Company No. 1 ( February 1945 Belgium ).
This kit makes up into a very, very nice model and it can be enhanced even further with some modelling TLC. Add Tamiya’s own accessories set, resin wheels and a good photo-etch set and it becomes a brilliant model. But whatever your style of building I’m sure this kit won’t disappoint. In fact I like this kit so much I own several of them myself for that day when the right diorama inspiration hits me.
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