Packed in a sturdy, well illustrated box, the kit consists of 28 sprues of dark grey plastic, 1 clear sprue, and 2 photo-etched frets, one of which consists of the weld seam inserts for the spare jerry cans. Also included are 5 each of three slightly different back packs, a covered and folded windshield, one folded-down top, and one full closed top with a clear rear window. Decals include pre-made and make-your-own registration plates, instrument faces, stencils, and division and army group markings. Paint call-outs for detail and overall colors refer to Mr. Hobby, Hobby Color, Humbrol and Tamiya brands.

The glossy instruction booklet is broken down into 25 assembly steps, with some options for early and later versions. I found it prudent to deviate from the published sequence, but each builder may feel differently.

History

In the early 1990’s, Australia established Project Bush Ranger. The idea behind this project was to support an infantry group of nine (9) men for a three-day operation. Development was not without difficulties, but the Bushmaster has matured into one of the premier, light mine-protected vehicles in service world-wide. 299 vehicles have been built in 6 variances, with additional contracts pending. Vehicles have been in Afghanistan, as well as purchased by the Royal Netherlands, British, and Danish armies.

Items in the Box

The model is made from injection-molded plastic, grey in color. The plans are on a fold-out sheet, printed on both sides and well presented. Clear plastic sheets are intended for windows and lenses; also included are a photo-etched detailed sheet and a decal sheet.

The Sd.Kfz. 263 Funkspahwagen (8-rad) is part of Dragon’s 1/72 “Armor Pro” series. You get 91 medium gray hard plastic parts on five sprue trees with minimal flash. The instructions are very well illustrated with six sequences of assembly and painting guides for 5 marking options. The detail is exceptional and is consistent with other armor kits in this range. The decals are in perfect register and allow you to customize the license plates numbers.

The Panther. Do I really need to say more about the history of this tank? If you do desire more information, I suggest you go to Wikipedia, Google, Dog Pile, or Bing and research it. You will find more than you can digest! Come on…it’s a Panther!!!

On to the kit. The box says it is a Panther Ausf. D early production, kit number 7494. The kit has over 80 parts on 4 sprues and DS tracks. Five different painting and decal choices are available to mix the color pallet up for everybody’s taste. The directions are in color (and on very nice paper) and have 8 steps for assembling the model, starting with the running gear.

Tracing its origins back to a set of 1950 requirements for a replacement for the M38 family of vehicles of World War II “Jeep” descent, the M151 Military Utility Tactical Truck (MUTT) became the primary ¼-ton tactical vehicle of the United States Armed Forces until the advent of the HUMMWV in the mid-1980’s.

In the course of 80 pages packed with 220 photos – mostly color – and a handful of line drawings, author David Doyle captures the genesis and service life of this legendary military vehicle. Although “In Action” in name, plenty of detail photos and narrative are provided of the vehicle in various phases of development, assembly and maintenance – a modeler’s treasure chest!

Operational photographs and narrative capture the MUTT’s service in numerous configurations, conflicts, and theaters of operation, including Vietnam, NATO and PACOM exercises, Beirut, Grenada, and others.