"Jeeps" Topic

It is amazing the differences you get in the same vehicle in the same scale, ok diff betwix 1/76 and 1/72 is understandable ( if dammed annoying), so far my current project re jeeps is okish re the different makes size wise but there are 'look' differences. The Academy one which various views expressed as being the best jeep is a bit odd to my eyes, especially the wheels. These are all sort of semi built at the moment so allowances should be made for that.

Left is the Airfix US jeep, next the Airfix Airborne jeep, both handsome little kits. Then the S-Models one, then the Italeri with modified wheels, then the Academy one.

this is the Italeri fast build which is pretty good, dont like the fixed windscreen without glass but the width of the wheels is odd to me. Wasnt sure at first if it might have been operator error but the wheel span looked wrong, so after building the second one and decided it wasnt me I drilled out the axle and replaced it and set the wheels in a better position to my eyes. On the right out of the box, left modified.
All the ones here are 1/72 nd, though the Heller US with trailer is often mis labelled on Ebay as 1/76th, its basically the same as the Airfix airborne one with a few slight differences so its not exactly the same tooling.
Planning to do an in depth review later when I've finished them but initial conclusions are:
I'm not keen on the Academy one, looks wrong to me too tall which makes it look too narrow.**
The S-Models one is fine, very tricky to get some of the parts off the sprue, plastic seems very brittle ( not noticed this on other SM kits, might be just the batch I got mine from) and some of the 'gates' seem overlarge and the etched parts are a pain.****
The Airfix Airborne is a lovely liitle kit. *****The moulded windscreen in transparent plastic with a bit of masking tape makes a tricky job very easy.
The Heller US jeep is good too, the corner 'handles once filed down a little look great even though at first you think 'umhhhhhh'. Leave the glued back plate to sit for a while and bending them around the corner is a doddle.***** moulded in bridging plate is annoying. You get the US model trailer with this one.
I need to do more work on the Hasgewa one to make a fair comparison but its certainly ok. If I saw some cheap I'd get em but the RRP works out to much the same price as the Airfix ones but certainly simpler to build and probably more robust with axles replaced with brass rod ( 0.8mm) which of course depends on you thinking the out of the box looks wrong. ****
L

They all look a little high to me.

The original Airfix jeep (came with the Sherman/75, IIRC) was 1/76, or so it said back in the day (a nice little kit).

I would not want the windshield up -- only a (short-lived) fool would get anywhere near a battlefield with all that glass in front of his face!

Nice comparison.
The most accurate to my eye is the regular 1/72 Airfix jeep. The only annoying thing being the molded-on round bridging plate over the grill which precludes it from being a US jeep. Someone, I forget who, makes an after market grill for it, or it could be ground off.
The Academy grill is in totally the wrong position.

It could be that the Jeep was sculpted from either an empty jeep or a drawng. In both cases it may be a little higher than you would expect a loaded jeep. By all accounts the Brits ALWAYS overloaded the Landrover. it they did this to Jeeps they would be even lower. You will have to look at the pictures! Scale the gap on the basis of wheel diameters if its a photo, should be easy to check. OOPS never checked that on the LUCHS.

Well thats certainly something to bear in mind UshCha, jeeps have fairly active suspension so theyd certainly 'hunker down' a bit with a couple of guys plus equipment in em, let alone with a full complement I'd have thought.
Though quick look at some pics shows not as much as I'd have thought, need to have a proper look when time allows.

Think the grille is Friendship/Wee friends models.

Oddly I too thought US vehicles didnt use Bridge plates but just found this in Wiki…………yes I know but research has to start somewhere………
Bridge plates

All vehicles had a bridge rating, the US regulations in 1942 and 1943 did not specify a system. In practice the British system was adopted. The rating was displayed on a yellow circle, with black writing. The circle was for most vehicles on an attached plate, 6 inches to 9 inches diameter. Tanks and many other AFV's had the marking painted on their hull. The location is on the front, often attached to the right fender, sometimes attached to radiators.[1]:65
L

Since US forces for NW Europe were based in Britain first, it makes sense that they would have British-style bridge ratings.

According to: link

The Willys Jeep's track width (tread center to tread center) is 49" Let's see here… convert to metric makes 1244.6mm, divide by 72 to get scale is 17.28mm.

Again, that's wheel-center to wheel-center. So let's make this easier.

Tires were 16x6, so make that 43" between the tires. Should be 15.17mm between the wheels at 1/72 scale.

This is why I try hard to buy all of any one vehicle or post-1700 cannon in any one scale from one manufacturer at one time. The least accurate of these, if they were the only one, would be more plausible than three or four different more accurate ones.

But you're not starting from there. If anyone calls you on it, point out the number of factories, variations (including grilles) and subsequent models. WW2 database has a start.

link

For "Cold War Gone Hot" some of the later ones were just an inch or two too wide to go two abreast in a C-141. Not our brightest move.

The original Airfix jeep (came with the Sherman/75, IIRC) was 1/76, or so it said back in the day (a nice little kit).

It came with the LVT-4 Buffalo. It was the LCM-3 that came with a Sherman, the standard Airfix M4. Having had quite a few in my youth the Airfix Jeep looks right to me, but that is probable because I am used to the look.
Maybe you should make your own Leon. Trying to get the crew to fit in all the different kits must be a PITA.

Nowt much wrong with the old Airfix jeep but of course its 1/76th, remember it with fondness.
A jeep in this scale is a major bit of design and as for production a nightmare………..
So far all the figs bar one fit in the jeeps with no mods needed, the one gonna need a foot shaving to fit the Airfix Airborne kit but fits the US version without any amputations needed. Difference in foot well moulding.
L

Ah, it was the Nitto Kagato 1/76 Sherman that came with a jeep as a bonus! (Nice model, with a .50 MG.)

Ah, it was the Nitto Kagato 1/76 Sherman that came with a jeep as a bonus!

I think the Nitto kits that came with a 'bonus' jeep were M4A1 Sherman, M3A1 Halftrack, M12 King Kong and M30 Cargo Carrier. It was also included in some of the diorama sets, or you could buy it as a separate kit (with a few other bits and pieces thrown in).