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The Isuzu TX-40, made to the
specifications of the Type 97 utility truck, was heavily
supplied to both the Japanese Army and Navy for use as a fuel
truck. The strong resemblance to certain pre-World War II
American Army trucks is not accidental. The basic design for the
Type 97 truck was based upon the U. S. Army's design, which were
built on license from the American manufacture. As the war
progressed and shortages became more prevalent, it was not
uncommon for this type of truck to be supplied with only one
headlight, no fenders or radiator grill, and possibly even
without the spare wheel.
I had recently come into
possession of this kit and I guess its companion, a starter
truck. I thought that it might be (1) fun to build, (2) could be
one of a number of kits that might make up my first try at a
diorama and (3) would let me see if these old eyes can work with
this small scale and (4) I wanted to build something besides an
airplane.
The kit contains two sprue trees
and the parts were cast in a light brown color. The plastic is
soft and I found it quite easy to cut the parts away from the
sprue and the trimming away of excess plastic was easy. The
instruction sheet is made up of seven pictures showing numbered
parts and how they fit together. Like so many other modelers I
"sort of" followed these instructions. As to the parts
fitting well together I found that they seem to match quite well
with one or two exceptions.
The painting instructions for the
vehicle were fairly simple. The entire truck body was painted
tan and the canvas cover was to be painted light tan. The only
other color mentioned was the black undercarriage and black
steering wheel and gear lever. I painted the parts still
attached to the sprue. In order to add a little extra to the
vehicle I decided to paint the canvas with sand color and then I
dry brushed it with black which seemed to add some aging to it.
The main truck was painted "Dark Tan." After this had
dried well I dry brushed the truck with silver to age the truck.
I fill that this worked well. The piping was painted with a
metallic finish.
There are three figures that come
with the kit and I decided to paint them all although I do not
plan to use all three in the future diorama. This turned out not
to be as difficult as I had anticipated. With the kit is also
some fuel barrels that I decided to paint black and then used a
metallic pencil to give them the old ware and tare look. A
barrel cart is also part of this kit and it all fit together
very well. This and the barrels will probably all be a part of a
diorama someday.
I personally feel that this is a
fun kit for the hobbyist that is interested in the 1/72 scale
modeling. I had fun and think that I did a right neat job.
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