Introduction:

This reissued limited edition kit of the Chevrolet 15cwt is a much travelled kit starting life as a Peerless Max kit some 30 years ago and having been released by Italeri as kit #233 in the late 90s.

The Canadian produced Chev 15cwt truck was the mainstay of the Commonwealth forces (Australia, Britain, Canada) during WWII as well as being used in large numbers by the Soviet Union, India and China and was used for a variety of transport duties on many fronts.

The kit:

The kit consists of 142 parts in olive green plastic, 10 in black plastic for the wheels and 3 in clear plastic as well as the decal and instruction sheets for a fairly conventional kit as things go these days.

Quality of the mouldings to quite good considering their age with some pin and small sink marks and a little flash evident on some parts with a number of the parts having been “tweaked” to eliminate the pin marks such as the door insides which are clear of any blemishes but overall you could best describe the parts as “chunky” by today’s standards

Chassis/Suspension:

The chassis is in one piece with the lower engine pan included with all other items such as the leaf springs, lower transmission and transfer case as well as the drive shafts and two part differentials/axles as separate parts.

This allows good definition but as mentioned most are a little on the heavy side although the detail included is quite cleanly moulded with few if any pin or sink marks to contend apart from a few along the sides of the chassis with the assembly being fairly straightforward given all the separate parts.

The wheels are in conventional black styrene moulded in two halves each with the rim and hub bolt head detail cleanly done including sidewall embossing and will look okay with the addition of the tyre valve. You have to take care when gluing the two wheel halves together to make sure the tread pattern is lined up correctly as there are locating pins on the parts.

Additional parts added are the front wheels steering linkages with the wheels are fixed in the neutral position plus the exhaust pipe and muffler plus brake drums included for all four wheels.

Additional items added to the chassis are the side mounted fuel tanks with separate mounting arms and the cab crew steps as well a basic radiator which is completely hidden after assembly but will be useful if you replace the front cab radiator screen with etched parts

Cab:
The lower floor includes the forward firewall with separate four parts seats and three very basic and chunky gear shift levers but no driver’s foot pedals with again a rather basic instrument panel and steering wheel to complete the interior.

The front engine bay assembly has the front radiator and side sections with separate side panels and top engine cover, there parts again have quite heavy detail but this is cleanly moulded and added to the back of the engine bay is the windscreen framing with separate clear plastic “glass” that includes the wipers moulded on. There are a few raised pin ejector marks on the inside of the framing that can be removed but are mostly hidden after the cab is assembled if you didn’t want to worry about these?

This assembly is added to the floor section alone with the rear cab wall, two separate side doors which have interior detail free from any pin makes along with more clear plastic glass sections.

The roof has a separate top access hatch with other detail being the side rear view mirrors, front bumper assembly and head light cover and blackout light, these are a little loose in there fit and will need care. These parts are again a little on the heavy side with a few large pin marks on the back of the bumper which should be easy enough to remove.

Rear Body Tray:
The large floor section has basic wood grain texturing added which is free of any pin marks and added underneath are four storage boxes and the rear mud guards that will need to be thinned considerably or replaced with thin card or even paper for a better scale appearance.

Added the floor section are the two side wall sections, front panel and folding rear gate and again these all have basic wood grain texturing included free of any pin marks thankfully while the troop seat cushions over the wheel wells have texturing included with assembly again being very straightforward. Unfortunately the fit is not the best with quite large gaps at the side-front panel joins that will need a bit of work to deal with.

The large spare wheel rack between the cab and rear tray is made up of 9 parts and the two part spare wheel and this fits neatly into place preferably before fitting the rear tray assembly.

For the tray cover you have a choice of the three rod tilt frames with connecting rods or the full canvas cover moulded in one large part with an additional rear section with partially opened canvas flaps depending on you choice.

This will allow the insides to be seen if you wish to add a load but the tilt frames are quite thick and you may wish to replace these with thinner wire or plastic rod for a better scale appearance and added some surface texturing to the canvas cover will also help with the final appearance.

Decals:

The colourful decal sheet is well printed with good colour register and provides markings for three Chevs and while you get the vehicle registration numbers and unit markings no actual unit information is provided other than the Country of use.

The markings give one unit from the Australian, British and Canadian Armies.

Conclusion:

It’s good to see the re-issue of this kit as it will have many applications for Allied modellers being used in just about every theatre during WWII.

The kit does show its age with the fairly chunky parts but the detail that is present while a little heavy is cleanly moulded in most cases with very few pin or sink marks to contend with.

You get all the basic parts and with some good old fashioned modelling skills a nice kit will result as well as serving as a good base for additional detailing if you wish.

Recommended for Allied modellers 6.5/10

The Sprues:

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Detail images

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Thanks to Italeri for the review kit.