The Little World

You never think of the more humble vehicles in war – the dump trucks, re-fuelling trucks, and dustcarts. Yet they were manned by service personnel just as dedicated as the tankers and aircrew they served. I always leap on 1:76 service vehicles when I find them in the hobby shop.

This Isuzu showed up at Tactics – the war games store. It was probably destined for some gamer who needed a target. In my case it will fit well on my fictitious Japanese Island airfield.

Hasegawa have my immense respect for the models they make – though I suspect they are a domestic-market firm above all. I have never had a bad kit from them though I have stuffed up a couple of them through my own errors. Aware that it is never over until the fat lady sings, I now approach the end stages of a build with more respect.

This vehicle is said to have been copied from a US prototype, but I cannot guess at the make. The bonnet is neat, the cabin grotesque, and the carrying area so divided as to suggest afterthought. But that’s what makes it so fine for modelling.

The kit is also a gem in that it includes an airfield trolley with 5 fuel drums and three Japanese soldiers as accompaniment for a diorama. I can only hope my figure skills will improve enough to let me do them justice – I have two more foot soldiers from a hard-plastic Airfix kit who will be perfect for the field as well. Now to see if Zvezda or Model Box do some Japanese officers or fliers…I hate the old soft Heller or Airfix. They were always so near to being good but so far from it as well.