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A Tale of Three Jeeps

Canvas frame

Tamiya and Bronco basically have the same layout and include the straps in the plastic part. DML has a more complicated setup and separate PE straps. All three work well, though personally I prefer the Tamiya and Bronco approach, as it is much simpler. Also, the frames are of slightly different thickness on the DML kit.

Jerry cans

All three have a somewhat different approach. DML and Tamiya have the same basic breakdown of the parts, but DML is more detailed (lid) and has a separate rack from PE. Bronco includes the rack but has a different breakdown. On a practical note, the handle on the DML kit is connected to the sprue with three (!) attachment points, which makes cleanup unnecessarily complicated and of course I broke the part while cleaning it. Both Bronco and Tamiya were able to make one attachment at the base, so I don’t see that it should be so hard?

Keeping with the DML part, be sure to cut off the locating lugs on the main parts, because if you don’t the parts won’t line up. The DML rack is made up of two parts. It’s not that easy to fold and align them correctly, I just got them lined up as best I could and then put a load of Mr. Surfacer on the edges as well as the folding creases around the round edges. After a quick pass with the file the part looks quite nice. Overall, I think it’s worth the effort, as then not all Jeeps in the modeling world will have the Jerry can facing the same direction and you have the option to leave it empty or include different kinds of jerry cans. The strap from PE leaves too much slack if folded as intended. I replaced the strap with tape and added the buckle from the PE strap.

No issues were encountered with the other manufacturers, except for the attachment of the Bronco Jerry can to the Jeep. There seems to be no attachment point, which would add any strength to the assembly. I decided to add a little shim from plastic leftovers.

Another note by Gino P. Quitiliani here: “The early script jeeps (Ford and Willys) did not come with fuel cans. The fuel can is not intended to be mounted if you want to have an early script GPW, hence the FORD on the rear plate and no mounting pins. The fuel can was added later in the field and it went right over where the Ford script is, so you can add it for a later jeep.” This should explain the lack of attachment points. Only later did I notice that the jerry can rack is indicated as optional in the instructions. I would nevertheless have expected some sort of attachment point.