HobbyBoss 82451 - M3A1 “White Scout Car” Early Production
One of the first model kits I ever built was the White Scout Car, though I couldn’t tell you the brand, back then there were a couple of people doing the same old Peerless Max mould ( with a few more doing it still ). I just loved the skate ring and all the guns, so when Hobbyboss announced that they were doing an up to date version I had high hopes that it would be as exciting as that old kit was back then.
This kit represents the early production M3A1 and comes in a medium sized tray and lid type box containing seven sprues ( two of which are a duplicate ) moulded in dark yellow, one clear sprue, one small sheet of decals, one small brass photo etch fret, a double sided sheet of painting instructions on high gloss paper and the instructions, which are a twelve page A4 sized booklet done in the standard black and white line diagram step-by-step style with twenty four building steps.
The mould quality is very good with little or no flash and just faint mould seams. The detail is very sharp, very clean, though there are a few parts that are a little heavy. The level of detail is also very impressive, much better than the old Peerless/Italeri/Revell kit, as you would expect. This definiely doesn’t dissapoint on first impressions. Enough parts to make a good kit without being so many that it looks daunting. One other very nice touch is that many of the more fragile pieces, such as the skate ring, come packaged with soft packing tissue wrapped around them. Big thumbs up to HobbyBoss for that one.
The chassis is pretty much one full piece including the running boards and front fenders, very much in the manner of the old Tamiya M3 based kits. All that really needs doing is to add the front bumper and mid cross member and then it’s rock solid. The exhaust needs the end drilling out and for some reason it seems to end in the middle of no-where, though this won’t be seen in the normal course of events.
The suspension is one of the kit disappointments for me. The level of detail is fairly good but it could have been better and the front wheels are designed to face straight ahead with wanting to articulating them taking a bit of work to do. The rear set up looks good whilst not being the best of the best as it still could use better detailing around the U-bolts, and I hate cleaning mould seams off leaf springs. That said it’s simple and easy to construct and again very liitle of it is seen when complete.
The Wheels seem less detailed than we’ve become used to, with the wheel drum being made up essentially of one large drum with the rear sidewall of the tyre attached to it, and with a seperate hub to fit on one side and brake disc on the other. They rest of the tyre is then one piece that fits to this. That said the tread is good and the wheel drums look the part and include an air valve, though there is no tyre branding.
One point is that the wheels are technically incorrect for an early model as they are the later combat rim wheels with the non-directional military tyre instead of the civilian wheels with directional tread tyres that these had until 1942. These would look okay on a Kiwi vehicle in 1945 but if you wanted to do a 1941 or early 1942 version they really should be changed to be fully correct. They also have what is one of my other pet peeves, a flattened base with a slight bulge. Properly infalted tyres don’t bulge, this is just a fad, stop doing it.
The engine is a nice, though simple representaion of the M3A1′s Hercules JXD gasoline straight six engine that includes a photo etched fan. This is quite a good looking piece when done, though that said only if you want to display it outside the vehicle as it appears to have been modelled on one that was removed. It lacks all the essential fittings like the fuel pump, radiator pipes, air cleaner pipe, starter motor, and accelerator cable, all things that are quite prominent and are removed to get the engine out. Not to mention no battery or horn either. Points off there, though it must be born in mind that you normally would not model this with the engine showing.
The body panels all have the correct rounded screw heads though the footman loops are moulded in place, but these are well enough done that you could probably open them up with just some delicate scribing ( assuming you are so inclined ). All the panels are overthick scalewise but not much you can do there without going to PE for almost all of it. The fit is a bit tricky and you REALLY need to make sure you test fit all the panels, floor, lockers, skate ring etc as often and as far ahead as you can as you will need to do some tweaking here and there to get the best fit. When you do it all correctly though the end result does look very good.
The headlamp guards are a bit boofy and really need some serious thinning down or replacing with photo etch. Likewise the rear bumper mounts could also use a little thinning, but everything else looks fine as is, with things like the tools, hood hinges and grab handles being very nicely done, including the tool straps. Being the early model this lacks the jerry can mounts though the mounts are still provided as part of the PE fret so if you wanted to do this as a retrofitted version you could.
The doors are seperate as are their fold down tops so can be positioned how you like. If you go with buttoned up however the armoured visor plates on the door tops and the windscreen cover are all moulded in the closed position. While we’re on the subject of the visors the really picky will want to add the small wingnut used to hold them in position and the handle on the draw bolt that locks the door tops into position. The door handles also really need replacing as they are moulded on and lack undercut definition.
The drivers compartment is one of the best bits of this kit. The fighting compartment floor is all one piece with good tread detail, and to this you fit the two front seats which look very good with the exception that the rear edges lack the texture of the fitted material ( an easy fix with a bit of Mr. Surfacer 500 ) and the back panels of each seat are also missing the two thin metal supports/mounts that held the back in place with two screws in each.
The dashboard is very well done and includes full detail plus decals for the dials and info plates. All the pedals and levers are very nicely moulded with the lever for adjusting the radiator louvers being done from photo etch. The only area that really needs pruning down is the steering wheel but again only if you care that it’s 1/4 of a mm too thick. Likewise the truely dedicated may wish to add the securing wingnuts for the windscreen panels. Speaking of the windscreen the kit supplied windscreen wipers are very fine, still overly thick but then you’d need to use fuse wire to get them down to scale thickness.
The crew compartment is actually pretty simple, so much so that you really need to find a few bits to add to it to fit it out properly as it lacks the fire extinguisher, first aid box, and stowage straps that should be in there. The seat back covers also aren’t long enough at the back, they should come down as far as they do at the front and then be open half way up each side to allow them to slip onto the seat backs.
The stowage lockers are very nicely done, full credit there, beautifully moulded and they do look correct. On the other hand though the instructions would have you fit a central pintel mount with an aerial base on top but don’t, these were seldom seen on the Whites and only when they had a radio which this kit doesn’t. So leave it out and fix the floor which will require removing four bolt heads, filling the hole and adding back tread plate detail.
The skate ring itself is a very nice three piece assembly, but use it as a guide for where the mounts attach to the side walls rather than adding the mounts to the walls first as otherwise you’ll find the ring sitting too low. The gun mounts really are very nice, they did themselves proud here with each one being made up from seven parts. All they really need is a knob added to the side wheel and a bit of Mr. Surfacer to tie all the bits together and give them that proper heavy cast look.
The guns are one of the big disappointments with this kit. The two early water cooled M1917A1 .30 cal Light Machine Guns aren’t too shabby, just needing the muzzle drilled out and a trigger and cocking handle added for the gun to be okay. Their cradles are fine but they are completely missing the water cans which sit in the truck and the long hoses which attached from the can to the front of the gun. The two folded bipods for these would also have been very nice but for one small point … bipod isn’t a typo, they only have two legs, the third is missing.
The Browning M2HB .50 cal Heavy Machine Gun though is a let down. They got the correct early style barrel jacket, they got the cocking handle, they got the D36960 cradle with the attached 50rd ammo box, and they even put a hole in the muzzle. But the D36960 cradle is completely solid and lacking any real detail at all. How can you make such nice skate ring mounts and then make such a crappy cradle for the gun. Also the tripod for this is like the ones for the M1917A1s, it only has two legs, the front one is missing.
The decals that come with this allow you to make it up into one of two versions though you are given no information on what units they represent, just where to put the decals. One is the white star with a blue centre inside the red circle of the 2nd Armoured Division prior to WWII, the other has the markings for a New Zealand vehicle from C Squadron of the 20th Armoured Regiment near Triests in May of 1945 ( based on these being the same markings provided in the Bison 20th New Zealand Armoured Regiment in Italy set (BBD35096 ).
Conclusion. I have to admit that I had high expectations for this kit and a do feel that it didn’t really live up to those expectations. Don’t get me wrong, at the end of the day it is a good kit with a lot of good detail and it is streets ahead of the old Peerless/Italeri/Revell/Zvezda version. I just feel like a few very simple things let it down a bit, mainly the M2HB cradle, lacck of water cans for the .30 cal guns, the tripods, and the fit issues. The rest really are just little things, small faults that can be found in every kit if we look hard enough. All up it’s a good kit that with a bit of old fashioned modelling skill will be a a real winner.
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