So, as mentioned in the Colours 2017 posting, I bought one of the new Rubicon Models Commonwealth Willy's MB (Jeep is trademarked).
The kit comprises one large sprue containing all the main components, a crew sprue, plus separate canvas tilt and upper body. The Commonwealth/UK and US versions differ on the crew sprue (the Commonwealth one comes with two LRDG/Desert SAS figures and two Airborne figures).
I had started construction when I spotted a fill issue on the upper body moulding.
Another view of the rear showing the fill issue. Now as this is going to be built as an LRDG gun jeep with plenty of stowage, it was not going to be too much of an issue. If this was a plain jeep, it would have been awkward.
Having looked at the Bolt Action Armies of Great Britain list, the (SAS) gun jeep has a forward facing HMG, either a LMG or MMG also firing forward, and twin rear firing LMG or MMG. The kit has the HMG, one forward firing BREN LMG (or a Vickers K MMG) and twin rear firing Vickers K MMG. So the twin rear mount was added to the back of the body.
The ABS type plastic used by Rubicon can react variably to Humbrol liquid poly. This kit does not particularly like it, resisting the solvent making assembly slightly difficult. The chassis, grille, wings assembly and upper body do not have any location tabs or pins/holes. This, together with the solvent resistance made this part of the assembly more difficult than it could have been. This contrasts with the seat assemblies which have very positive location points.
A very good point on the model is the pre-shaped wheels, they have a definite flat at the bottom showing the weight of the vehicle. The D shaped locating pins ensure that the flat is at the bottom. However they are all different so I decided that rather than leave them off for separate painting (and mix them up), I would glue them in place.
The two parallel pieces of Slaters Microstrip are not holding the moulding together but I thought I would use the excellent Rubicon Allied Stowage set British jerry cans with the WD logo. They are part of the mounting bracket (and should improve the adhesion).
I added the large fuel tanks in the rear of the jeep. The feed pip is difficult to clean up.
Before assembling the chassis I would some thread around the bumper as a tow rope. It is a lot easier if you either use a needle or (as I did) make a weight out of masking tape.
I was going to leave the figures out until they were painted, but I did find them very hard to position so ended up gluing them in place. Hopefully the desert sand/tan colour will cover them suitably.
The WD jerry can added with its holder.
Still some gap to fill.
So started to add stowage. If anyone has previously seen my work, you will know I have sculpted a lot of bags on my tanks. I decided for this one that I would use the soft stowage from the Rubicon Allied Stowage set. As I had had problems with getting a suitable bond, I used Greenstuff both as an adhesive and as a filler between the body and the bags. The front right rucksack had a 1.5mm hole drilled into the body and an Evergreen 1.5mm plastic rod pin added.
A Perry Miniatures 8th Army figure (with optional Keffiyeh head) for scale.
Just in front of the HMG is one of the pieces of rod fitted to the bonnet for a tarpaulin. I have added another WD jerry can under the front passenger's foot. It needs some strapping.
Now the vehicle comes with only two crew, but the rear mounted machine guns will need a crew member. The kneeling Desert Rat figure (I need to add some more greenstuff to make the Keffiyeh a similar length) will have some suitable arms added.
I have added the first roll of tarpaulin on the bonnet and two more rucksacks on the left rear of the jeep.
Front view. I have added a rack of ammunition boxes to the front right mudguard.
