Models

I bought the kit second hand, so it was mising the steering wheel and the decals as well as the trailer and the 37mm Anty Tank Gun. Otherwise it went together quite well. The front body and grill needed a bit of help to stay stuck together while the back needed a bit of bending to conform to the floorplan.

The chassi appears a little thicker than on a real vehicle, but insures it is sturdy enough to survive construction. The drivetrain and suspension inspire confidence and give the Hasegawa Jeep a little more ground clearance than its Airfix counterpart.

The entire built up body, chassis and wheels were primed in Hallfords grey and then sprayed in Tamiya Olive Drab 2. The drivetrain and grill were touched up with Tamiya Gun Metal. I sanded off a little bit of the paint on the bottom of the floorplan and on the top of the chassi on order to facilitate the automotive marriage. The tires received a coat of Tamiya Nato Black, which is more grey than regular matt black The pre painted wheels, jerry can and stick shift followed. After this the seats were glued in and painted with acrylic Khaki while the lights were done in enamel silver.

I had secured a white metal driver from a wargaming firm, which I had pre painted at an earlier occasion. This driver already had a moulded in steering wheel, which solved the problem with the missing orriginal.

Decals from Skytrex and lettering from Rocco Minitanks helped decorate the hood and bumpers. I decaled the Willys SUV in a Far East Air Force scheme as per a roughly 1952 photos in an Osprey book on Korean War Aircraft. Now it fits in well with Sabres, Thunderjets, Mustangs and Invaders on a base of PSP Planking. At a later stage I may weather it to fit in better with the muddy and dusty airfields of the epoch. PJ Productions also make Korean War Era Pilots which could possibly be made to fit the passenger seat.

Model, article and photographs by Alex Hunger