Keep on trukkin'

My LRDG project continues. I managed to get a hold of the Revell LRDG/SAS set with Chevrolet 30cwt and Jeep. This kit is starting to get rare, and I had a bit of a scare when I couldn't locate a single one on eBay. So when I discovered that Bromma Hobby had one left in stock, I immediately ordered it and a Flak38 kit from Zvezda (in the heat of the moment). I have to recommend Bromma Hobby to anyone living in Sweden, their service was outstanding, my order arrived the very next day.

Unfortunately I had to restrain myself a couple of days before starting the kit. Some WIP pictures and comments on the kit behind the break:

This kit is a Revell re-release of an old Matchbox kit. The contents are the same, except that it's all molded in one colour as opposed to Matchbox' practice of doing the sprues in separate colours. The details are fine, only a little flash except for a couple of parts where the mould obviously has deteriorated with age. One of the parts was the Chevrolet drive shaft which was just a lump of thin plastic without shape. I was tempted to leave it off since it wouldn't show much on the finished model, but the modeller in me took over and I managed to salvage the part. I don't know if they did these "reprints" off original masters or if they have remade them from the old moulds. Anyway the kit is easy to build and all parts go together well.

The sprues laid out. Note the diorama base and that I have started on the jeep already.

The old Matchbox kits hold a special place in my heart. I grew up with these and the airfix kits, since these were all that was available in 1/72 or 1/76 scale in Sweden. For the most part I preferred the Matchbox kits because of the diorama base included in them. My wargames table consisted of my model railroad layout with all the ruins from the various kits added whenever it was time for a battle. Building them again as an adult and experienced modeller I now notice some faults and accuracy errors, like the Africa corps Wespe that never was used in the desert, but the most of them are still really nice models. One bonus is that most of them also contain a couple of crew figures.

How far I got before I remembered to take some photos.

Almost finished. Stowage and steering wheel will be added after I decide what crew to use.

The stowage included in the kit and the original crew for the jeep.

I'm a bit curious about the stowage featured. There are a lot of jerry cans included, while British regularly used "flimsy" cans for petrols. Also, this excellent german site is quite suspect of the usage of oil drums and cloth sacks as cargo. So while I may adorn the jeep with some jerry cans I will relegate most of the stowage to the bits box for use as terrain, perhaps making targets for the LRDG to blow up. I will probably also swap around the figures a bit using the SHQ figures I bought for the resin radio truck.

The three subassemblies of the chevy before final assembly. 

Almost finished, with the SHQ gunner using the Browning .50 originally from the jeep.

The gunner is mounted on a piece of plastic card and can be removed.

View from above of the cargo bed.

I decided not to put the .50-cal on the jeep. While this is frequently used on model jeeps, in real life it was much more common with a .30-cal on small vehicles, because of the big Browning's weight made the vehicle top-heavy and more prone to tipping over. So instead I put it on a sabot base that fits in the back of the chevy. This way I can swap it out for something else if the scenario calls for it. I have seen pictures of LRDG trucks with either a Bofors 37mm ATG or an italian Breda 20mm AAG, and it would be nice if I could make one fit.

All three vehicles so far. I was a bit surprised that the Ford was so much smaller than the Chevy.

I still have the final detailing on the Chevy left to do. After that will paint the vehicles and decide on stowage and what crew goes where, and paint the crews of course.