I must admit I have a soft spot for Special Forces vehicles and especially vehicles used by the SAS. I’m currently finishing up Dragons SAS desert raider kit, but getting tired of painting I decided to start yet another Jeep… This time it is Dragons SAS jeep from the European theater.
The kit is the same as the desert raider kit, only with different parts. There is four figures coming with the kit, unfortunatly all of them are dismounted so a little re-sculpting will be the learning part from this project.
I had a pretty productive Day at the bench and got a lot done regarding construction. It helps that I have built three of these jeeps before since the frame and engine is a true nightmare. I built the engine (badly), and it is more or less a waist of time since it can not be seen when finished. That said, if you want to display it with a open hood the engine is way more detailed than Tamiya.
The twin Vickers-K is also a nightmare. The mounts are incredibly over engineered and they are very fiddly to put together. However, they look cool when finished.
More to follow later.
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Last thing I did to day was adding a search light to one of the gun shields. Some pictures shows them mounted like this.
I used a leftover from a SAS Landrover build, and it looks like this.
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How does this model match up against Italeri’s “Commando Car”? If you/anyone happens to know of course.
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I would assume the Italeri Commando Car is more in line with the Tamiya SAS jeep, being 45+ years old. The Dragon kit is much more detailed judging by the instructions.
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Thanks Erik. Talk about answering one’s own question: I’ve just discovered over on theTrack-Link site a build of the venerable Italeri “Commando Car”.
So, just for interest’s sake, here it is:
TRACK-LINK / Forums / Track-Link Build Logs / SAS Jeep North West Europe
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I have four others on the last leg…
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Nice thread. I’m planning something similar with mine. This picture is my inspiration
I like the fact that the crew is wearing helmets in stead of berets.
I will also use a twin Vickers with the ballistic shield as a rear gun. It looks cool and I found a picture of it in one of Gavin Mortimers books.
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Changed the title to 1SAS since most of my references is covering said units late war Vehicles
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Two things that are not very good with this kit: The instructions are typical Dragon with errors and things missing. The second thing is the PE. Even with folding tools they are difficult to bend.
Otherwise it is an enjoyable little kit. I installed the stowage racks, front armor and the blackout shield on one of the front lights. Also aligned and dry fitted the guns. The figures is also soon ready for some Magic Sculpt.
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I mentioned the errors in the instruction. So far I have found the exhaust pipe (just cut away), the drivers armor plate is not described and there are two support struts from the fenders to the front fender not mentioned (They are included as PE parts).
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Nice work there, it’s coming along.
Working on three desert raiders simultaniously and later I will build two ETO’s.
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The build is allmost finished. I added a blackout light and fuel can from a Tamiya Jeep and a Bren Gun from the spare box. All guns and spare tyres are just tacked on. Tomorrow will be figure «sculpting» day…
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A little work on the crew to night. Some magic sculp and fitting the weapons. I also but on the brackets for the ballistic glass and the support struts on the fenders. These are part of the PE fret and on the box art, but as earlier mentioned not in the instruction. That said, a lot of the jeeps did not have them but I like this little detail. The figures need some more work, but so far I’m happy since I’m a total noob with sculpting.
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Primed and ready for some paint.
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So I have entered the paint stage. The Jeep was sprayed with Tamiya OD and then high lighted with some Mig OD in lighter versions. The decals are on as well. Not a big job, a SAS badge at the rear, dials and thech data at the dashboard and Vehicle number at the hood.
Also did some basic painting on the crew.
I also painted the Vickers guns but more of that later.
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Wow that jeep looks excellent Erik, great build and paint job as well!
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A last update for today, Vickers K. Very fiddley and fragile.
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Italeri Comando Car is vastly superior to Tamiya’s SAS Jeep. Closer to Tamiya’s latest base Jeep. Tamiya’s SAS jeep is the worst of 1/35 scale jeeps.
Really if you get get sucked into a time warp and are forced to build a 1/35 Jeep before 1980 then use the Heller Jeep as the base and take other detail parts from other kits.
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