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Saturday, May 25, 2013

TAMIYA BRITISH SPECIAL AIR SERVICE (SAS) JEEP 1/35 REVIEW

Welcome to my first review of a model kit. I humbly strive to have all 1/35, 1/72 model kits and miniatures reviewed on this site. As obviously impossible as that is, I will try my best.

Let´s go on with the subject then;




BOX ART >> The box is the typical Tamiya one, with a nice illustration over white background. Always easy to recognize, artistically well done and describes perfectly what you get.

THE KIT - 9.0 >>

As usual with Tamiya, everything fits properly (even better than usual), the mould is as fresh now as it was back in the 80s when it was made for the first time, with perfect sharpness. It is indeed a very nice kit, unlike some cheap (or not so cheap) kits from lesser known manufacturers which you can be sanding and fighting to makea simple mudface fit .

The building is a piece of cake, and the resulting model is flawless. But in this world of near-perfection kits, I think we must focus onto other aspects, the aspects that make  one kit different from another.

EXTRAS - 8.5 >>

This model scores high on extras. You are given two very nice pilots, and all the equipment you could ask for and then some, boxes, petrol cans, machine guns, sand racks, flasks, etc.

POSSIBILITIES - 3.0 >>

The possibilities of this kit are somewhat limited, as if you have bought this kit instead of a regular Jeep, you can only make the Long Range desert group version, so there is not much to speak about here.

The basic possibilities I can think of are (besides the obvious);

Pink version, showing heavy discolour due to sunlight
A german captured version, which could be very interesting
Israeli army version for the 1950's
Egyptian army 1950's

PRICE/VALUE RATIO - 6.5 >>


It doesn't get a good score here. The average price on eBay is more or less 15 €/13 GBP/18 $, and let's face it, you can buy bigger and more interesting vehicles for not much more.


OVERALL - 8.3 >> 

Even if the price is usually high, it is a fine model nevertheless, and makes a good build of a Jeep that could be boring otherwise. There is a good balance between a nice detail and finish, without having to glue each miserable bit of unnecessary detail which you won't see anyway later. 

Sorry if my review can seem simple or inaccurate for the super-expert that researches the brand of tyre used during the summer of 1941, and each model takes him 6 months to complete, but it is oriented for the old-school fan that likes to build a model from time to time, and modelling is a  hobby and not an endless job. 


For those who think the plastic extras are not good enough, fine enough, etc, there are many resin-sets on eBay that will upgrade this model to the level they are searching for. However, in my humble opinion I don't think the kit needs any part replacement, as I show you in the images of the straight out of the box kit I built and painted myself;

IMAGES OF FINISHED JOBS








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