M6 TruckGMC

Manufacturer:ESCI (ESCI/Ertl Kit #8358; Revell #H2340; ESCI #8040; AMT/Ertl#8516)

Abeautifully detailed model, and a very simple kit to build. Thiskit is based on the US 3/4 ton Light Truck WC 51 kit. Like thatkit, this one has a very detailed suspension, excellent drivingcompartment, and well detailed flatbed. This GMC (Gun MotorCarraige) kit contains a different flatbed for the 37mm anti tankgun mounted in the rear. It has ammunition storage bins withpositional covers, the windshield can be positioned up or down(but no clear plastic is included), a winch is included for thefront bumper, and plenty of stowage for the outside, such astools, gas cans and bedrolls.

The gun issimple, but very well made. With decent photos, I'm sure asuper-detailer could add more to the gun, but it looks very goodright out of the box. The gun shield is very thick, however.Perhaps this was the limit of model making technology 20 yearsago when this kit was released, but today, hopefully, similarparts can be made much thinner. The bedrolls are stiff andlifeless, but the rest of the external equipment is pretty good.

There'sreally not a whole lot to say about building this kit. Theconstruction was very straight forward and simple. No fitproblems anywhere. The figures are actually not too bad. Thedriver is fairly decent, and the gun loader, but a couple ofpassengers are pretty stiff. I painted my kit in AeroMasterAcrylic Faded Olive Drab.

I haveheard from other modelers that the suspension is far too high,which you can see in the above scan. I have no drawings of thisvehicle, so I don't know how much it needs to be lowered to becorrected.