Hi Guys

So, I received the Bronco Jeep a few weeks ago and have the Tamiya and DML Jeeps in my stash, so I thought I’d do a 3 Jeeps Comparison build review.

Here are the tree boxes for size comparison:


The contestants are
Tamiya kit 219: Willys MB Jeep
DML kit 6748: Armored Jeep with Bazookas, reviewed here
Bronco 4x4 GPW with trailner, kit CB-35106, reviewed here

Some general remarks on each kit and the box contents:

Tamiya’s kit is by now probably some 20 years old. 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.


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 ort he armored Jeep with twin bazooka on a pintle mount. No figures or accessories.


Bronco’s kit ist he most recent kit of the three (2012). It contains 5 sprues, 1 figure sprue, 5 accesory sprues, 1 clear sprue, 1 PE fret, seprate body, .50 cal machine gun, a piece of string and one decal sheet. Instructions are 24 pages. There are 3 figures 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.


The idea is to build all three in parallel from the box and compare them. I will follow the Bronco construction sequence as this ist he most complicated kit of the three.

So off we go. Comparison of the chassis:


Engine parts:

The most simple ist he Tamiya kit with the lower portion molded to the chassis and a further 4 parts for the engine.


DML has a complete separate engine made up of 12 parts.


Bronco’s engine is also completely separate and is made of 20 parts.


When built, they all look good and in most cases they won’t be seen under the hood anyway...




The Bronco Chassis has some nice PE, this is made of 5 separate PE parts, though I replaced the two PE nuts with plastic.


Next up, axles and leaf springs.

Tamiya has some very complex parts here which really facilitate the assembly.


Dragon has a mixed bag here. Some parts are nice separate parts, on the other hand, the shock absorbers of the front axle are molded to the leaf springs.


Bronco has the most parts fort his subassembly and no compromises here. All parts are separate.


With the assembly the Tamiya kit is as expected the easiest („shake and bake“). DML has quite a complicated build sequence, which doesn’t really help. In the end however, the parts fit well and no problems were encountered. Bronco is actually quite simple to build, though I did have some issues with the fiddly steering assembly. The Bronco kit gives you the possibility to model the wheels in neutral, full left or full right position.



Wheels:


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.

So this ist he state where I’m at now:


Note, wheels are not glued on yet.

And here’s a preview of the chassis:







That’s all for now, folks! More to come, stay tuned.

Any comments, hints, tips and especially comments regarding accuracy of the details by some of you more knowledgeable people are highly welcome!

Cheers!
Stefan

Stefan, this looks like the kind of thing Terry used to do over on PMMS. I love the concept of your build review, and appreciate the work and time your putting into it. Keep it coming!

I agree...very similar to PMMS comparison reviews. I appreciate your work here and look forward to the next installment!!

Very nice. I have built the Tamiya one and have both Bronco versions (w/trailer, and w/37mm AT Gun) on the shelf.

A couple notes on them:

Tamiya's is from 1997, so not quite 20 years old yet.

The Bronco version is not the same as the other two. Dragon's and Tamiya's are Willys MBs. Bronco's is a Ford GPW. They are similar, but not exactly the same.

With its proven production ability, Ford was awarded a contract to license build the GPW version of the Willys "Jeep" after Willy's couldn't keep up with the full demand required by the US Government. The Ford GPW (Government, 80” wheelbase, Willys-pattern) differed from the Willys MB in a few areas. The most noticeable was the front frame cross-member under the grill. On the Willys MB, a tubular piece is used, while an inverted "U" is used on the GPW. Also, Ford instituted the familiar stamped grill that was also adopted by Willys. The other noticeable difference is on the lids for the toolboxes located on either side of the rear seat. The Willys MB uses a plain flat cover whereas the Ford GPW has an embossed lid.

Per the Government contract, Jeeps had a full warranty, if anything broke, Willys or Ford would have to replace it, but old man Ford wasn't about to replace a Willys part. To keep track of "his" Jeeps, "Ford" was written in script on the rear plate. This was only done on the early GPWs. Early Willys MBs had a block letter “Willys” in the same place on the rear as well. To take the labeling one step further, Ford marked many pieces with a script "F" to identify it as a Ford part. In July of '42, the US Government made a change to the contract and no longer allowed the manufacturer to put their name on the rear plate.

Good work Stefan...I'll follow...

Thanks for the comments guys, much appreciated. The comparison to PMMS flatters me, though I won't comment on the accuracy since for one my knowlege is limited and for another, the Bronco, as Gino rightly pointed out, is a different manufacture. I still think it's interesting to see how different manufacturers tackle the same problems.

Gino, thanks for the additional info. I will eventually include it the feature I hope this will turn in to. If you have any comments on accuracy, I would be glad to have them. I can also take measures of parts if you have the original measures.

Cheers!
Stefan

While I applaud your work with a comparison Review of this type, there are, I believe a number of potential traps.

First Amongst Equals? The three subjects should be the same and, IMO, the same timescale of release. As Gino pointed out, it's two Willys Vs. 1 Ford. It's also two recent (last few months) against (again thanks to Gino)a release from 1997.

Format? Personally, if someone asks what's the best model out there of Subject X, i'd point them in the dbirection of seperate Reviews. If it was the Sd.Kfz 7, i'd point them in the direction of Bill Cross' work in this area. If someone asked about the Staghound, i'd be able to answer with my own builds of bothe Bronco and Tamiya/Italeri's (Bronco wins hands down in accuracy, Tamiya's on ease of build)i'm sure many other people could give an informed opinion on many other subjects.

Qualitative Assesment? Maybe i'm putting the cart before the horse, but if you're doing comparisons, then scale plans should, IMO, be used.Only in the case of the wheels, and there were a lot of different tire types, each type on each model should, once again, IMO, be considered.

Comparison Reviews? Once again, as someone who has published a lot o Reviews, i'm not convinced that thy are particularly helpful or, at the very least, something to be used sparingly. These type of Reviews are 'policy' on the other site mentioned, they've never been given a high priority here, if there are 3 Jeep kits, then we'd provide 3 Reviews. It's not 'better' simply a different way of approaching things...

Finally, reflecting the work you've obviously put into this, a thread in the forums is not the best 'shop-window' for this effort. It should be published as a (permament) Feature.

Thanks for your thoughts, Jim. I realize there are some pitfalls here. My intention is to give the modeler some info on how the three build and which would be the one to buy for his needs/skills.




Like I pointed out myself, I realise they are two subtly different subjects and Tamiya is (15 or 20, the difference really is not that great) years older. However, the verdict is likely to turn out that Tamiya can still hold its own and is the easiest to build (shake and bake). Besides, most modelers wnat to build a Jeep, whether Ford or Willys most likely doesn't matter to them.




I guess this is up to personal taste. I for one always enjoyed the comparison reviews on PMMS.




Like I pointed out, it's not about accuracy, it's about showing how different manufacturer tackle the same basic problems and it's about buildability. The accuracy issues have been pointed out in the different reviews.




Well, if that's the case and site policy does not appreciate the work I put into this, I will stop immedeately, since I just spent a whole evening editing photos and writing the post.




That is the intent. However, since I do not claim to be a Jeep wizard, I wanted to give others the possibility to add information which can then flow into the feature (with due credit to the respective people).

Cheers!
Stefan

Oh, no. I'm convinced it WOULD be welcomed as a feature, it couldn't (as you know yourself) under the system that exists for Reviews, be published in the Reviews Section, but IMO, Features would be perfect.

The comparison Review is something that PMMS got a reputation for, it's not something that we gave a high priority to on Armorama - that doesn't mean it should be discounted - different horses for different courses?

Hey Stefan, great job on the jeep builds!! I say "build them all" and have fun . Personally I've built 2 of the first version of Tamiyas jeep (70's version) and 3 of their most recent version, I've just completed the Dragon version recently, and I just got the Bronco trailer version in the mail last week. Plus I'll also get the Bronco 37mm gun version soon. I'll always have a need for jeeps in all my dio projects. Models are for building and every time a new one comes out, I'm first in line. I'm not too much of a rivet counter so I don't sweat that stuff. Wish Tamiya had the hood/windshield latches, but I also love scratch building too, so it turned out to be no problem. 3 different models, 3 times the fun. I'm sure I'll eventually get even more, cause of course there are hundreds of versions of the Jeep. Military/civilian, American/British etc. etc. Happy modeling everybody P.S. I also have built one Italeri jeep, and the MiniArt Bantam...

Very useful Thread Stefan and I do hope it gets turned into a feature.



I like comparison reviews and while I doubt if I'll ever buy the Bronco kit I'll enjoy seeing it built. At the moment I have 4 jeeps on my bench The Tamiya SAS, The Tamiya new tool- okay 15-20 yeear old jeep, the Italeri jeep which is really quite good and the miniart Bantam. Whilke I'm not blogging the builds it is, as you say, really interesting to see how different manufacturers tackle the same subject.

One thing I do like about the Tamiya Jeep is that you can pick it up very cheaply and it is ideal for conversion.

Just to mke it crystal clear, and to avoid this going off-topic, what I expressed above were simply my PERSONAL opinions I'm no longer involved with the Site at all but was simply expressing some thoughts on practicalities in the presentation of this type of work.

I apologize for any confusion.

I for one think that you have done a great job and i hope that you will continue. I disagree that you necessarily needs to have line drawings and lots of references when you do a Review. Even if the accuracy of the models we build is important where are also supposed to build the damn thing. So in my opinion it's great that someone is tackling that side as well as I believe that how enjoyable build is mostly relates to engineering of the kit and how they are to build. I really hope that this turns into a feature and I will definitely be following your progress

Keep up the good work

Jakob

Stefan, Great job. I for one have a couple of the tamya kits. You opening the boxes here was great. Helped in letting everyone else that might be looking at the other kits see what is behind the box top. I don't think it matters if it is tucked away in other areas of this site or not. You put it right here the 1st place most folk go to on Armorama. So again Great Job!

Stefan: Jim is correct in that we do not run comparison reviews however there is nothing to stop this being run as a feature. I have read and looked carefully at what you have done so far and I am very impressed with your efforts and I am sure that Armorama would be very happy to publish a feature like this. I look forward to continuing to watch your progress.

I think you should keep posting as YOU see fit Stefan. If YOU want, they can turn this into a 'feature' or whatever. But you get to choose the form.

I really like this thread. Good examples of the various philosophies of making models. Not everyone is going to pick the 'most accurate' or the 'easiest to build'. This gives a reader a good synopsis of all 3 kits.

My $.02,
I really like seeing the various parts and assemblies side by side. I do not have a closet full of Jeeps and seeing these three kits progressing side by side is helpful to me. I will go for the one(s) that "trip my trigger" so to speak. I have to be smarter about how I spend my $$$ these days and this is a big step in getting me there. While I like "in depth" individual reviews, I tend to only read the ones on subjects of interest. This one is kind of a "one stop shop" time saver on a subject I may not have looked at before but is now peaking my interest in a big way. Anyway, enough rambling. I hope you continue this build "AS IS"!

Guys,

I never thought this would launch such a discussion! I DID take it with a grain of salt (yes, I have read the deleted posts) and I DO intend to go forward as planned. Especially after alle the support from you guys. It's hard to convey irony and sarcasm in writing...

I was never planning to submit this as a review, as I know it's not compatible with the site's system. Those of you with access to the contributor's forum will see in the January thread that I announced my intention to do this and submit it as a feature.

So, enough of the policy. I hope to continue this weekend (unfortunately no bench time until then) and get the next installment up then. So stay tuned!

Thanks for all the support and encouraging words! Glad I can be of help!

Cheers!
Stefan

Good job so far Stefan.


This is mostly the reason why I have enjoyed the builds so far. Considering the Tamiya kit is as old as it is (and Im no Tamiya fan), this kit still stands up quite well compared to the modern releases. Im looking forward to the remaining steps to see if holds up right through. This should be an excellent feature and something that should be encouraged. Would be great to see more of these comparison builds.

A very useful build comparison. How about a ball-park figure price comparison? Bronco will probably be the best looking one in the end, but will it's price justify it (not withstanding the fact that it comes with a trailer [or A/T gun depending on the kit] and crew figs)?

Stefan love it I've read what you have posted three times going over the photos picking out the different things each kit has.
My favorite is Tamiya's for price look and how it assembles.

Stefan, I missed this one completely...excellent work and I'm very appreciative of all the time and effort you are putting into this. I can see already that this feature will be top notch

Hey guys,

Frank, glad to have you on board, and you’re right, Tamiya still holds it’s ground even though it’s min. 15 years older.

Biggles and David, I’m glad it’s of use to you both. As fort he prices, it’s not easy to compare as you can get them all for a good price if you shop around. Also, there’s more or leas in each box, with TAM a simple Jeep without any extras, DML having PE and Bronco giving you the full monty of weapons and a trailer or 37mm AT gun.

Officially, at my favorite Asian Hobby store (won’t make any advertisement here...) TAM sells for USD 11.50, DML for 37 USD and BRO for 30.50 USD. So with regard to price, TAM is clearly the winner. DML clearly the loser, as it is the most expensive with the least options (and less detail and accuracy than the BRO one...).

James, thanks for the encouragement.

Next (small) update is in the works, should be up within the hour...

Cheers!
Stefan