# Italeri screwup...



## Owen E Oulton (Jan 6, 2012)

I just picked up my latest Jeep kit, the Italeri "Commando Car" kit no. 320. They really messed up on the grill on this one. It's a model of the SAS Jeep from the Northern Europe campaign. The picture of the kit sprues on the box with the correct grill, but the actual plastic has the grill with all the slats cut away. This is not accurate for this vehicle. True, the North Africa campaign Jeeps had most of the slats removed, but even that version had the centre two left in. The kit is otherwise fine, and is moulded in olive drab styrene. A Previous copy of this kit I got was moulded in light grey styrene, but showed the cut-away grill on the box. I don't know what's going on here. there seem to be teo separate tools for this kit and two different versions of the box cover. To further confuse matters, I saw a tamiya version of this vehicle in a hobby shop a couple of months ago, and the cover art on that kit shows the same wrong cutaway grill. Is it some sort of conspiracy, or are our Italian and japanese cousins in the grip of some intercontinental delusion?

Oh well, time to haul out some .030" styrene rod and correct it.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

The Tamiya kit is a rebox of the Italeri kit (It says Italeri right on the front of the box anyway).

Photos of British SAS Jeeps in Europe clearly show the grill cut away too, so the kit is not incorrect. Some vehicles have a couple slats in the middle left, but some have none at all. 

http://www.jeep4ever.ca/images/heroes/sas/sas_HWORTH.jpg


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## Owen E Oulton (Jan 6, 2012)

All the shot I've seen of the cutaway grille show the centre two slats intact. This was done to protect the radiator. I've been assuming (perhaps incorrectly) that the cutaway ones I've seen in NW Europe were left-over Jeeps from the sahara campaign, but even so, the kit is incorrect. They could have given us an intact grille and said "cut these slats away". As for the Tamiya kit being the Italeri one reboxed with new figures,, that's unacceptable. The Tamiya kit runs 30 bucks and I can get the Italeri kit for 15! Tamiya's newer basic Jeep kit is far superior. They'd just need to give us a new sprue for the machine guns, gas tanks and rear body plate. Those could have incorporated the new figure parts as well. Then at least it would be worth 30 dollars.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Well there may be other photos of jeeps showing the grills cut in different manners. The Italeri kit is also pushing 40 years old now. Lots of new info has come to light since their jeep kit came out in the 70s. 

Tamiya has reboxed Italeri kits for sale in Japan for decades. Tamiya, apparently, is the Japanese importer and distributor for Italeri, much the way Testors used to rebox Italeri kits for the US market. Until very recently the reboxed Italeri kits really were not available outside of Japan. Even today, they clearly say Italeri right on the front. In Tamiya's catalogue, they are in a seperate category too. You are right that, for you, the Italeri kit may be cheaper, but the kit is aimed at the Japanese market. You can also buy these kits cheaper mail order from places like Lucky Model. Again, the newer Tamiya jeep may be better, but its NEWER. The Bronco Jeep blows both of them away now, too. Dragon's NEW SAS jeep is also quite well done. Their first one, in the white Cyber Hobby box was poor, but the new general release is vastly improved and is quite nice. Plain Italeri kits are not cheap these days either. I think their old Peerless Dodge reissue runs about $50.


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## Owen E Oulton (Jan 6, 2012)

I was just at the LHS and saw an old out-of-production Jeep kit from Italeri, the original that was modified to become the Commando Car kit. You know, the one with the Trailer and three figures. I forgot just how much I like that kit. I know, it's not as detailed as the newer kits by Tamiya, Bronco and such, but it does have separate side panels, which are a bonus if you're doing a conversion to a kit with different side panels. My new project is the Bombardier T-28, a proposal by the inventors of the snowmobile to produce a half-track Jeep for use in the North. I'm assuming that if it had entered service it would have seen action in the winter in Europe. The Russians would have loved it. I'm using a motorcycle wheel for the back drive wheel and small aircraft landing gear wheels for the bogie wheels. The track is a rubber-band style similar to the Weasel and the M3 Half-track, and it should be easy to build (I have a PLAN!).

I've decided to do these experimental Jeeps as a sort of ground war version of Luft '46. Is there an official name for this genre? If not, I propose to call it Combat '46, assuming that the war didn't end in early '45 but continued on and many of the "paper projects" got built. I've already built the Willys 1-ton 6x6 Jeep MTC, and I've got plans to do the Tuffield Mechanizations Light Air-Portable Jeep (a scratchbuild on top of a cut-down Willys MB chassis). 

God, I love this hobby! Being disabled and unable to work, it keeps my brain from liquifying and leaking out my ears.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Italeri has several versions of their jeep. Its not like one kit was replaced by another. They still sell the regular jeep with trailer and three figures, along with an ambulance jeep and the commando jeep. There is also a version sold by Revell with a MG mount and wire cutter. All are rather nice kits given their age. It is definitely better than the crappy old Tamiya kit. Tamiya's newer kit builds much easier than Italeri's though. While tricker to build, the Bronco Ford Jeep blows the 40 year old Italeri kit out of the water.


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## Owen E Oulton (Jan 6, 2012)

Niope, the kit is officially out of production and has been removed from their catalogue. I ordered on last winter and was told it was no longer available. It is included in the LCVP kit, but has been replaced in the catalog by one with a radio and .50 cal, but bo trailer or soft top. I'm making a mould of the grille so I can use it with the Commando Car kit. I've never seen the ambulance jeep - what comes with it? I assume stretchers, but what else.

I just converted one to a firejeep, basing my build on an article dealing with the 1/24th Firejeep. I wonder why they never released the Firejeep kit in 1/35.

I've never seen the Revell kit. I used to have the old Monogram kit, which was very primitive , even worse than the old Tamiya kit. I'd like to get the Bronco kit, as it comes with a m3 37mm gun, which I've only ever seen with the old Monogram kit (equally pathetic) and in a Peerless Max Dodge kit (since rereleased by Italeri).


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

It might be discontinued as of today but its not permanently gone. Its been sold off and on since the 70s either in Revell or Italeri boxes. Plus its still in the supply chain. Tower Hobbies has the Italeri kit in stock for $14. The kit is hardly rare. The Ambulance jeep is identical to the other jeeps except for a couple of rather crudely done stretchers. 

The Monogram kit is ok for its time. Remember that model was first released around 1958. The Italeri and Tamiya kits came out in the mid 70s. Bronco has a couple jeep kits. The one I bought has a trailer and crew. Then they came out with the version with the 37mm AT gun. I imagine they will sell the gun individually.


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## GunTruck (Feb 27, 2004)

This is a cool thread - I rarely see one talking about Jeeps in particular.

Djnick66 can't say it enough - for all the Jeeps I've modeled, Bronco's really is the nicest out there right out of the box.


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## Owen E Oulton (Jan 6, 2012)

I've seen a couple of reviews of the Bronco Jeeps and I'm impressed. Unfortunately, they cost three times what the Italeri ones do. This is a problem for me, as I'm disbled and can't work. I have to make do with my disability payments, and after paying for my phone, basic cable and Internet, I have about 25 bucks left over per month. Sucks to be me.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Yeah the Bronco kit is not cheap. On the other hand, you get a lot for your money. I buy my Bronco kits from Lucky in Hong Kong, and they are considerably cheaper than if you bought it in the USA. They are only about twice as much as the Italeri kit that way. And, for your $$ you get good, usable figures (Italeri's suck), lots of building options, not only the trailer, but also a lot of equipment and accessories. You pay more but get a lot of bang for your buck. 

IMHO Instead of the Italeri kit I would go for the newer Tamiya offering. It's quite nice and much cleaner than the old Italeri kit. From Tower Hobbies its only $2 more than the Italeri one. 

For fun I bought a couple of the ooold Tamiya jeeps off eBay for cheap. It is a tough kit to build but it looks like a jeep and will work fine in an old school diorama project. I modified the kit driver and passenger using parts from Tamiya's half track crew figure set. Lots of fun and little money. The jeep is largely OOTB with some minor scratch built stuff like the light guard on the fender. The kit's .50 cal was poor so I made a new mount from Evergreen plastic rod and detailed the kit MG to make it look better.


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## GunTruck (Feb 27, 2004)

I admit to not messing around too much with the ancient Tamiya kit - though I should. It's not too bad. I think the new Tamiya kit can be had at a good price for conversion.

Here, I converted a 1:35 scale Japanese (by Okuno - related to Skybow) "comical" toy into the Mitsubishi-built CJ3B-J4C "High Hood Jeep" used by the US Army back in the Vietnam era. This one took a lot of research, but was a fun project.


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## Owen E Oulton (Jan 6, 2012)

I do like the newer Tamiya kit, but it has a one-part body. The good thing about the Italeri kit is that the body is in several parts. This is importang because it make doing custom models easier. I finally got some batteries for my camera, so tomorrow I'll try to post some pics showing what I'm getting at.


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## Zombie_61 (Apr 21, 2004)

GunTruck said:


> This is a cool thread - I rarely see one talking about Jeeps in particular.


On that note, this seems like an opportunity to ask a question that will likely be answered by people who are more knowledgeable on the subject than I am.

I'm looking for a decent 1/24 or 1/25 scale WWII era Willys jeep kit. After doing a little Interwebz research, it appears the general consensus it that the Hasegawa kit is best if you can find one for a fair price, the Italeri/Testors kit is a close second, and the recently reissued MPC kit isn't bad if you can overlook the inaccurate tires and wheels. Any and all opinions on the matter would be greatly appreciated.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Depending on how much you pay, the Hasegawa and Italeri kits are both good. Hasegawa's kit is newer and overall cleaner and better. Italeri's is older and a bit trickier to build but is well detailed. The MPC kit is a distant third choice. It really is NOT a WW2 Jeep. It is more or less something like a CJ1. The wheels and tires aren't correct and the detail is what you would expect from a 40 year old MPC car kit.


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## GunTruck (Feb 27, 2004)

I concur with djnick66 - can't add much more than what he already posted.


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## Zombie_61 (Apr 21, 2004)

Thank you djnick66 and GunTruck--I knew I was asking the right people!

My sincere apologies to Owen E Oulton for derailing the thread slightly.


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## Zombie_61 (Apr 21, 2004)

After receiving your recommendations I rolled the dice and bid on (and won) an evilBay auction. The seller had a 100% rating, but the listing had some mistakes--a "1/25 Tamiya Jeep Willys MB Sealed Kit" with an accompanying photo of the Hasegawa 1/24 Jeep Willys MB kit.  After wondering for six days about what I would actually receive, the kit arrived today and, sure enough, it's the Hasegawa kit. The best part is, I got it for $21 shipped. 

Anyway, I just wanted to step in and thank you again! :thumbsup:


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Hasegawa's kit is "okay". 

While talking about Jeep kits... the old Mitsuwa jeep is not half bad. It's 1/20 scale but overall a very good kit for its age. They sold the same basic kit in a couple versions (with trailer, with .50 cal, etc.). 

Fine Molds is putting out a new 1/20 scale jeep too. Not sure why 1/20 is so popular in Japan but it is...

http://www.cybermodeler.com/hobby/kits/fine/kit_fine_82001.shtml


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## Zombie_61 (Apr 21, 2004)

djnick66 said:


> Depending on how much you pay, the Hasegawa and Italeri kits are both good. Hasegawa's kit is newer and overall cleaner and better...





djnick66 said:


> Hasegawa's kit is "okay"...


Interesting; within eight days your description of the kit has downgraded from "good" to "okay".  No matter; this being my first jeep kit I wouldn't know the difference anyway and, compared to some of the prices I've seen this kit selling for currently, I think I got a pretty good deal.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

No change in quality implied. Its a solid kit worth building.


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## Zombie_61 (Apr 21, 2004)

Oh, I know that; I just found the differences in your descriptions amusing. :dude:


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