Kit Build/Review: Heller 1/72 Jeep (+ Academy Jeeps!)

After reading and reviewing the inaugural Land Craft book on the Jeep, I fancied making another, having already built one from the Allied & Axis light vehicles set by Academy, many moons ago. In an excess of zeal I bought the Academy set again anyway, so I can rebuild that one as well. You can't have too many Jeeps can you? I think in excess of 90,000 were built during WWII.

I had hoped to build both Jeeps today. Indeed, I almost set myself the challenge of building and painting them both in this one day. But what with a lazy Sunday lay in and the World Championship snooker as a distraction, that was a forlorn hope!

Prepping all the parts, laying them out ready to assemble.

Jeep assembled, trailer ready to go.

I decided to do the Heller Jeep sans hood, so it'll make a nice companion for the Academy ones. This meant fabricating the frame, from wire and plastic card, as the only supplied frame elements in the kit were for the hood up scenario.* The hardest part of doing that was keeping the frame components separate. A very fiddly process!

I also broke one of the hood attachments on the windscreen, whilst masking it. The masking is made trickier by the fact that aheller have included windscreen wiper detail in the windscreen part. I fabricated a new one from plastic card. It's a bit chunky. But I hope I'll be able to pare it down a bit. I also had to repair the MG-mounting post, in a very minor way. As it happens I think I'll leave that off the model anyway.

Heller Jeep alongside the already built Academy Jeep.

* This is a bit odd, 'cause if you build this with the MG deployed, then the hood needs to be down, yet they don't supply suitable parts for that iteration.

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Day 2...

Academy Jeep #2

I've already built one of these Jeeps, but fancied making another. It's a nice clean moulding, and goes together nicely, but lacks one or two of the nice details the Heller kit has, such as the clear plastic headlights, or the wrap-around handles on the rear corners of the bodywork.

Parts prepped for assembly.

I've opted to leave the machine out again, so that's two for the spares box now.

Chassis first...

Body pan next...

And before you know it, done.

Loading with stowage...

I think I'll load this Jeep to the gunnels: just added two tarps and a box so far. But a load of jerry cans, and perhaps some scratch-built bits... maybe a toolbox? Hmmm... time for a break. Keep tabs on Trump vs. Higgins, in the Snooker final.

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Yay, the Judd-ernaut won! I had hoped the final would be Gary Wilson vs. either Trump or Dave Gilbert. But as it was Trump vs. Higgins, I wanted Trump to get his first World Championship title. And what a game he played!

My next batch ready for undercoats and base-coats.

Anyway, back in Styrene-land, my two latest Jeeps are built, and a certain amount of clobber has been added. I thought I'd add some finishing touches and stowage to a couple of PSC Sherman's that had kind of stalled, so I could undercoat and base-coat a decent batch of models in one go tomorrow. 

1/72: Allied Vehicles, various

In order to get another post in, after yet another hiatus, here's one about a few recent builds. I've still been making German stuff - I have a whole heap of Pz IIIs, IVs (some of these can be seen on the shelf below the titular Allied Vehicles of this post, in the pic above), and a few SdKfz 251s, all currently on the go - but I've also made a start on various Allied/enemies bits and bobs. 

As well as in the region of 10 various different types of Sherman tank (more on these soon), by several different model manufacturers, I'm really getting into the rear-echelon stuff. On the middle shelf pictured above can be seen, l-r, an Austin K2 ambulance and Fordson WOT 1A (both from an Airfix RAF emergency vehicle set), a load of Academy American vehicles (Dodge WC 54 ambulance, 2.5 ton truck, Willys Jeep, and Clarkson tractor), and a Russian Zis 5 BS fuel tanker, by AER/PST. 

Experiment #1 in making headlamps: punching

discs from plastic card with applied foil.

Clear plastic 'glass' added. Original grey styrene 

headlamps visible above (notably smaller!).

Scratch-built headlamps attached to cab, and masked, along

with windows. Note also addition of bar and disc.

I put a lot of effort into some of these, not just making plastic windscreens, but adding extra details, such as foil and clear plastic headlights, and various other odds and sods. However, as is typical with me, none are really 100% finished. Nor, I have to confess, am I that happy with any of them. But hey-ho. They're near enough finished, and I might as well try and enjoy them for what they are. My perfectionist streak shan't be allowed to rob me of the small pleasures these small treasures can/ought to provide!

Component parts of the Fordson WOT 1A.

Blocking in driver and interior colours. Fiddly painting

assembled interior! Couldn't fit the driver in either.

Constructing wing mirrors.

Opted for thinner wire supports for mirrors.

Fordson assembled: wheels weathered; note added

pipe and handle on water cannon.

The wheel weathering looks better on this side. Note also

added torch on left of cab.

Masking wheels prior to RAF grey/blue base coat.

Base coat applied.

Starting to block in other colours, and some detail.

Wheel hub masks removed.

Headlamp interlude: adding lamps to ZIS 5 BS.

Foil superglued in place. 

Glass superglued in place. K2 ambulance in background.

The finished headlamps. I'm reasonably pleased by 

the results. Prob' ought to be covered tho'!

Gloss varnish applied, pre-weathering.

And viewed from t'other side.

Hmmm? Not too chuffed with pin-wash/weathering.

Dull and messy looking. 

Pin wash not sitting in recesses satisfactorily.

The gloss varnish, rather ironically, dulls the metallic

colours on the water cannon.

Headlamps and searchlight torch foil and 'glass' unmasked.

I couldn't find much in the way of decals for the Fordson WOT 1A. And I might've put the wrong ones in place of registration plates. I just used a 7 numeral form a random sheet for the yellow plate. And I had to paint the RAF roundel by hand, mostly, after an attempt at freehand concentric masking failed, on attempt #1. As per usual, my clear plastic glass never satisfies me, coming out too mucky - from the gluing process - without resembling real 'scale' dirt.

RAF roundel: blue circle masked (2nd attempt!), 

white and red hand painted.

Window mask of ZIS 5 BS removed.

Weathering, although very basic, worked better on this vehicle.

Fire  extinguishers need a bit more detailing.

Fordson WOT 1A, ZIS 5 BS, and 'Katy' K2 ambulance.

Academy 1/72 2.5 Ton Truck

The second of the two US military models Teresa treated me to at a recent '40s show, this 2.5 ton truck is another nice model from the ever reliable Academy. The pics that accompany this post aren't strictly chronological; I totally lost track of the build, somehow! I started it whilst we were away on our recent holiday in Suffolk. And now, back home and back at work, it's nearing completion.

The major sub-assemblies; sanding the wheels.

As with the Dodge ambulance, I went with the principle of building several major sub assemblies. These could then be painted to a certain basic level, before assembly. Thus process giving one the opportunity to paint certain parts - wheels, cabin interior - before final assembly makes them awkward or impossible to access.

Ready for a dry fit.

Dry fitting the various elements of the sub-assemblies is great fun, and especially so with a kit as well manufactured as this. I'm still well off perfectionist levels re perfect alignment. But plonking the parts together to get a sneak preview of how the vehicle will look is highly satisfying. 

The dry-fit, or temporary assembly.

The circular opening in the cab roof is an optional thing, as the kit allows for the building of several variants (with or without the cable-reel at the front, and with or without the MG mount over the cabin, etc.). And cutting it out was tricky. I got the smooth circular hole by wrapping sandpaper round a paintbrush handle.

Dismantled. Starting on window masks.

A YouTube video on aeroplane canopy masking has helped me improve my window masking on ground vehicles. The technique involves tracing the masks out in situ, on the model, with a nice sharp pencil, and then removing them and cutting them on a board, before re-applying the accurately (one hopes!?) trimmed masks. I'm no ninja with this technique, yet. But it has improved my working with 'glass'. I've included that video in this post, down the bottom somewhere.

Windows masked. Willys Jeep joins the party.

It was at about this point that I spied my old and neglected Academy Willys Jeep, which has sat unloved whilst the accompanying Kubelwagen and Kettenkrad were completed ages back. Adding the Jeep to my current workload seemed a no-brainer at this point. So I determined that I would replace the missing MG - one of the reasons I'd abandoned it - with one from the 2.5 ton truck set, which includes all sorts of useful extra stuff.

Grey primer, then Olive Drab.

After undercoating the truck with grey primer, both vehicles got their coat of Olive Drab. Then engine, tires, and sundry other bits (seats, steering wheels, gear knobs, etc.) were painted. The sub assemblies are still separate at this juncture. I rather like the pristine simplicity of the block-colour finish at this stage.

Tires in black, seats khaki.

Finally the sub assemblies are glued together, and the two models start to look quite nice. They're ready for a gloss coat at this stage, and then decals.

Ready for the pre-decal gloss varnish coat.

With the decals in place, it's time for another gloss coat, to seal them in, and some hand-painted detailing. By now the models are looking, though I say it myself, quite handsome.

Decals in place.

Okay, so after a few days off this model, working on some others, I got back to it today, and sealed it all in with a coat of matt varnish. I ought to do a bit more: some pin-wash detailing, highlights, and the reel of cable on the front fender. 

But for the time being, here she is in her current state. I'm quite pleased. Particularly with how the windows came out. So many of my other models end up with cack all over the windows, despite careful masking. These aren't perfect, by any means. But they're better than most of my other efforts!

Okay, not 100% finished... but they'll do for now!

And the jeep's come out alright as well. I had to snip off the old gun-mount, and then drill a tiny hole for the new MG, from the 2.5 ton truck collection. The glass on the Jeep is good, by my standard, as well. Very gratifying. Bit late to add a driver to the truck. But I might populate the Jeep...

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Here's the canopy masking tutorial that I found very helpful: