Italeri 1/72 Dodge WC-51
& Battlefield Accessories

Reviewed By Howie Belkin, #16

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Re-release of very good ESCI kits
WC-51 Kit #7010
Battlefield Accessories Kit #6049

Whenever you see a “new” kit release it’s good to know if it is new or a re-release.  In this case it doesn’t much matter as Italeri’s re-releasing some of the 1980’s ESCI line is good news for small scale modelers.  Those old kits have become scarce and in most cases, were as good or better than other kits that came after them.  If ever anyone released a model of the same kit!  To my knowledge, nobody else ever modeled any of the WC 3/4 ton series vehicles in injection molded 1/72 scale. 

This review sample is a  Dodge truck, 4X4 weapons carrier, 3/4 ton WC-52 (the WC-51 is the same exact vehicle with a solid one piece bumper and no winch, I believe.  Over half a million of the 3/4 ton variants were made).  Markings are included for a WWII US Army and USMC vehicle, but it would be just as at home on an airfield.  The 86 olive parts have minimal flash.  The one piece chassis frame simplifies construction and keeps everything squared away.  The open cab features a dashboard with raised detail that can be drybrushed, or you can sand it all down and add scrap box dials and gauges (the actual panel was pretty spartan).  A stickshift is included but you can add  a handbrake and other levers.  No windshield “glass” is provided, but that’s common in this scale and not difficult to make.  The optional canvas top has molded on tie down straps/buckles but there a couple of sinkholes that need filling.  All the tires come in halves with ejection holes that need filling.  Aside from the pickax, the pioneer tools are molded separately.  The winch has no cable, but would look great if you wound your own.  The model looks good out of the box yet there’s room for improvement.  I highly recommend it if you want to add this important member of America’s arsenal to your collection.  $9.50 retail.    

Battlefield Accessories, kit #6049, provides you with a tan plastic assortment of eight 55 gallon drums, 4 large wooden crates, 44 sandbags, several iron beach obstacles, triangular wood barbed wire obstacles, telephone poles and sign posts.  Almost all of the “wood” items have an engraved wood grain to make painting easier.  For those who feel the telephone poles or sign posts are too tall, it’s a simple matter to shorten them. My eyeball says the two types of obstacles look large for 1/72, but again, you can shorten them.  There are few ejection pins and minor flash to be cleaned up. I’ve heard the complaint that there are no printed or decal “signs” as these have to be hand made or borrowed from Verlinden or other sources.   I recommend this set for your dioramas or to enhance your model’s base. 

Thanks to Testors/Italeri for the review samples.      

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