¹⁄35

A Tale of Three Jeeps

Kits Used

• Tamiya kit 219: Willy’s MB Jeep
• DML kit 6748: Armored Jeep with Bazookas
• Bronco 4x4 GPW with trailer, kit CB-35106

Links to reviews of two of these kits is supplied at the end of this feature. Some general remarks on each kit and the box contents: Tamiya’s kit is by far the oldest, dating from 1997. It contains 2 sprues, 1 clear sprue, the separate body and a decal sheet. The instructions are 8 pages. The kit contains one figure. There are 5 marking options. Build options are the basic variant, a towing bumper, .30 cal. Machine gun on pintle mount and a wire cutter. When buying this kit, be sure not to confuse it with the old Tamiya Jeep, which was released in the 1970ies and can easily be distinguished by the box art, which includes a trailer and .50 cal. machine gun.

DML’s kit is a very recent release (2012). It has 3 sprues, 1 clear sprue, separate chassis, windscreen and body, one decal sheet and one PE fret. The instructions are 6 pages. There is one marking option and you have the possibility to build the plain version or the armored Jeep with twin bazooka on a pintle mount. No figures or accessories. There is also another version of this Jeep with .50 cal. machine gun and some SAS versions. It’s a pity that the .50 cal and bazooka versions have not been issued as a 2 in 1 kit as most of the parts are the same.

Bronco’s kit is the most recent kit of the three (2012). It contains 5 sprues, 1 figure sprue, 5 accessory sprues, 1 clear sprue, 1 PE fret, separate body, .50 cal machine gun, a piece of string and one decal sheet. Instructions are 24 pages. There are 3 figures of US paratroopers and a trailer. You get 2 marking options. It can be built with towing bumper, .30 cal pintle or co-driver mounts, .50 cal pintle mount and wire cutter. Bronco has also released another version of this kit with only one figure and a 37mm AT gun instead of the trailer.

Comparing prices at one of the major Asian online shops (this of course may change over time and depending on the vendor) shows Tamiya’s sells for USD 11.50, DML’s for 37 USD and Bronco’s for 30.50 USD.

Chassis, Engine and Wheels

At first glance the chassis of the three kits look dimensionally the same. Both DML and Tamiya have the correct round cross strut for the Willy’s and Bronco has the correct U shape, as described above. The most notable difference is in that Tamiya include the lower portion of the engine on the chassis. Detail wise, Bronco’s is the crispest, followed by Tamiya and DML. Bronco uses the first PE part on the chassis, while the other two have no particular add-ons to the chassis.

Moving on to the engine, the main portion of this on the Tamiya kit is made up of four parts aside from the lower half included on the chassis. The same portion is made of 12 parts on the DML kit making the engine a much more detailed affair. The Bronco kit uses 20 parts for the same engine making it the most detailed of the three.

Next are the axles and drive trains. Tamiya includes the drive trains with the axles and the front axle also includes the steering mechanism. This makes for a very sturdy setup though the detail is of course not as sophisticated as it would be otherwise. DML has the drive trains and steering mechanism separate, making it a more detailed affair and easier to modify to a steering position. The same applies to the Bronco kit, which actually includes three different optional parts for the steering mechanism, making it possible to have steering in neutral, full left and full right.

The solutions of the shock absorbers are different in all kits. While Tamiya includes them in the leaf springs, DML has them molded onto the axles and Bronco has them separate.

The muffler is included in one part with the protection plate in all three kits. The solution of the connection to the engine is however different in all cases. While Tamiya include the whole muffler in the same part – my personal favorite – DML makes this portion a separate part with the connection under the protection plate – also a good solution. Bronco however makes the connection in plain sight, with lots of care needed to get a clean transition.

Overall considering the underside of the vehicle, Tamiya’s is certainly the easiest to build and the sturdiest while Bronco’s is the most detailed though fiddly to build, especially with the steering mechanism.

The Wheels on all three kits are all very similar, no particular differences to note except for the Ford embossing on the Bronco kit. All wheels have the same dimensions and tire pattern. Both the DML and Bronco kits give you the full break drums, while the Tamiya kit is much simplified here. Bronco’s wheels can be built to be moveable to facilitate painting.