¹⁄35

US Army deuce and a half

Basic Assembly

The kit is the Italeri offering that shows its age compared with the more recent Tamiya kit of the same vehicle. I had read other modelers horror stories about the suspension on this kit, so I was well prepared for it when I started. It did give me trouble at times, but exercising some patience paid off in the end. I was able to get all 10 wheels to set evenly on the ground.
The cab and body work was a different story! Try as I might I just couldn’t get things to set straight on top of the chassis. Taking into account that these vehicles were abused pretty well, I let it rest. It’s not all that noticeable, but the hood and grill are just a tad bit off from the rest of the truck.
I didn’t do a whole lot of painting prior to assembly if at all. I think the only item I painted and then installed was the seat. I assembled the model in its entirety over a week end while watching some baseball games in front of the TV.

Painting

It was now time for paint. While some folks out there dread painting, I look forward to it as it is the beginning of my model coming to life. I painted the entire model in Model Master OD Green. While a lot of folks wait several hours for their paint to dry, I take a more direct approach. If I can touch it, and it feels dry, I carry on with what I am doing. More times than not things work out fine. On the rare occasion where I end up with a smudge or finger print, I let it set, fix the problem and then carry on. Once my paint was dry to the touch I applied a nice coat of Future in preparation for the washes and decals to follow. This is where I wait a good amount of time, before continuing. If the gloss coat isn’t cured fully, things can get ugly with a capital “UG”.