"old" vs "new Airfix jeep

 A head to head comparison of the "old" Airfix/Heller jeep on the left and the "new" Airfix Willys British Airborne jeep on the right. Please see blog entries for each vehicle below for more detailed pics of each model.

Airfix/Heller vs. S-model

 Here's a head to head comparison of the Airfix/Heller versus the S-model jeep.

Comparison Line Up

 A comparison line up of some of the jeeps mentioned. Above from left to right: Airfix/Heller, S-model, Dragon, Academy, Hasegawa.

New Airfix Jeep - Willys British Airborne Jeep

Edit: April 2015
This "new" airfix jeep item is called Willys British Airborne Jeep and is in 1/72 scale. It came out mid 2014. I've added photos of my unpainted out of the box build for those interested in how this kit looks like. (see above and "more" section)

Photos of Hasegaw Jeep added

There's new photos of the Hasegawa Jeep built out of the box (unpainted). See here.

Roco / Herpa Jeep (1/87)

Ok, this breaks the current theme of 1/72 scale jeeps, but since I had this hanging around my shelf and was so impressed by it's quality, I had to post it.

Yup, hard to believe that it's 1/87. This tiny model is significantly smaller than it's 1/72 counter parts but the quality and detail can give them a run for their money. It comes with a trailer. More photos on the "more" page.

Braille Jeep article on Military Modelling Magazine

Wow, I just picked up the September 2013 issue of Military Modelling Magazine and in it is Steve Guthrie's excellent article on Braille scale jeeps. It features photo comparison of the airfix, dragon, matchbox, nitto and academy jeeps. Plus some great jeep builds!

S-model Jeep

Johnny come lately, there's a new kid in town, and it kicks a**! The latest and dare I say greatest addition to the Braille stable of plastic jeep kits. Early indications point to this kit as the hands down winner among all the jeep contenders. We may have to close this blog and go home.

S-model is a relatively new manufacturer and comes with an eclectic list of model releases so far. Their rendition of our beloved 4x4 seems to be a mix of all that is good in braille jeep land. The size and parts breakdown are similar to Airfix's offering, without the accursed bridging plate on the grille. The tires look to be better and it comes with 2 jeeps and trailers in a box. The armament included is a .50 cal. No figures and canvas top though.

Hot on the heels of the Jeep with Trailer, S-model has released the jeep with 37mm anti tank gun!

I've already got a set and I'll post more soon.

They also do a russian Gaz 4x4.

Dragons (wee) Jeep

Finally model manufacturing giant Dragon puts up a contender with their wee offering of the venerable jeep. We first had a whiff of this model in the form of a prebuilt version. Then came the one included with their sherman and LVT kit.

      So after further ado, they finally released a dedicated set to the jeep in the form of Armored 4x4 Truck, followed quickly by the SAS raider 4 x 4 Truck. The first set comes with 2 jeeps complete with photoetch parts for the extra Armour field conversion. It comes with a nicely detailed .50 cal on a pedestal mount and twin bazooka on the same mount.

The SAS flavor is the ETO version and only gives you one jeep plus the extra parts such as guns, fuel tanks, etc.

These are wonderfully detailed kits, nice one piece body simplifies assembly and looks really good. The tires and wheels are spot on. The biggest downside to this is that the overall size looks to be a wee bit smaller than 1/72 scale. Closer to 1/76 as it seems, though it's advertised and sold as 1/72.

A preview of the SAS jeep oob. 

Italeri Jeep

I encountered this at a LHS once but didn't get it. Now it seems quite difficult to find this kit, especially here in Singapore. Part of Italeri's expanding 1/72 scale models (mostly ex-Esci), this kit is an all new moulding by Italeri. It comes 2 jeeps in a box and is targeted at the wargames market. Only 11 parts to a jeep and half of those are the wheels, this certainly a quick build model kit.

Overall, the kit builds to a decent representation of the jeep, and I dare say it looks more like a jeep than Academy's offering. It is somewhat chunky though, which would be perfect to withstand the rigours of wargaming.
Only the second model kit to offer the canvas top in a deployed fashion. The tires look to be on par with Airfix's offering (if not better). Unfortunately it does not come with any armament whatsoever. The quick build is a plus as some may find Airfix's offering a bit fiddly to build.

Here's an interesting video review on the Plastic Scale Modeller youtube channel.

Airfix / Heller Jeep

Not to be confused with it's older uglier smaller 1/76 sibling jeep in the Buffalo kit, the Airfix Willy's Jeep and Trailer is in fact 1/72 scale and is in fact adopted from Heller.

This little gem was quietly gaining it's supporters while the Academy Jeep was hogging the limelight. It might be due to Academy's kit having a greater distribution, though the same can't be said now as it's getting harder to find the Academy kit while the Airfix one has just been re-issued. The overall shape and dimensions look good. The wheels are almost correct (front and rear hubs should be of different lengths); tires (or should I say tyres?) are almost correct too, the thread is unfortunately not offset.

Here's a great comparison forum thread on the Airfix Tribute forum.
The big plus is the trailer and canvas top. Big minus is the bridging plate molded on the grille and the figures look to be too small even for 1/76.
It also comes with a pedestal mounted .30 cal which isn't too shabby.

This was definitely the best jeep kit in 1/72, I'm saying was because now there is a new contender out there - S-model's!



Here's a link to an awesome Airborne Jeep project by Stefan Landman.

Searching for this kit on Airfix's site now, I'm surprised that I can't find it anymore. The last known kit number is A01322. The kit falls through the cracks in category since most Airfix Military subjects are 1/76 scale.

Academy Jeep

I was in modelling hibernation when this came out. By the time I wanted to start my braille SAS jeep, this was touted as the best jeep available even though the better Airfix/Heller jeep as also available at the time.

What's good about this jeep? Looking at the photos, this really reminded me of the Hasegawa jeep. Upon comparison, the parts were very similar, though Academy had moulded on some additional interior details, most notably the engine. Apart from that, the overall dimensions and shape are the same.

The big plus are the Kubel, Kettenkrad and stores that come with the kit. Wheels, tires and front grille share Hasegawa's shortcomings. Comes with a .50 cal on the pedestal mount, but it looks very toy like indeed.

Hasegawa Jeep

The grand daddy of 1/72 scale Jeeps. It's getting hard to find it on the LHS shelves these days.

 

As you can see from the photo, it does look like a jeep. The obvious shortcomings are the lacklustre windscreen, wheel and tires. I had previously thought that this had the wrong number of slats for the front grille. This was based on the assumption that the academy grille was the same as this one, but it turns out that hasegawa's jeep does indeed have the correct number of slats on the grille.

The big plus for this kit is the inclusion of trailer, 37mm gun and hard plastic figures. More photos of the kit when you click more.

braille jeep lives!

This blog has been inactive for a while now, but fortunately the braille scale jeep scene has been quite the opposite. When I first started this site, there was only a handful of 1/72 scale jeep models available, but that number has grown significantly since then.

The plastic model kit contenders marked as 1/72:

Hasegawa - U.S. Jeep Willys M.B.
Academy -  WW.II Ground Vehicle Set
Airfix - Willys Jeep and Trailer
Heller - Willys MB (same as Airfix)
Italeri -  1/4 ton. 4x4 Truck
Dragon - Armored 4x4 Truck, SAS Raider 4 x 4 Truck
S-model - Willys MB & Trailer

The plastic model kit contenders marked as 1/76:

Fujimi -  U.S. Field Car
Matchbox (now released by Revell) - Morris C.8. MkII, L.R.D.G.
Airfix - Buffalo IV and Willys Jeep, another link

That's it for now, I'll keep adding to this list as and when I can find new info. Subsequently, the aim is to post in depth and comparative reviews of these kits!

Stay tuned.

The contenders

Welcome to my braille scale jeep blog. Over the next few weeks (years now), I will try to post a detailed comparative review of the following 1/72 scale jeep models:

1.) The Cararama Jeep - a diecast jeep, cheap, pre-assembled and surprisingly accurate! The biggest downfall is the front grille slats which are represented via decal as opposed to being moulded. Cararama does a larger scale jeep too.
 






2.) The Academy Jeep - widely regarded as the best currently (at the time of this post) available, does it deserve this reputation?








 



3.) The Airfix Jeep - not to be confused with the old 1/76 scale stuff, this I believe is an ex-Heller kit, comes with a trailer and looks promising indeed.