US Army Staff Car

Plus Model, 1/35 scale

by Luke Pitt
 

Summary

FirstLook
 
At the outbreak of World War II a great number of standard passenger vehicles were pressed into military service. Plus Model's new release is labeled an US Staff Car but, in reality the correct term should be 1938 Plymouth P5 US Staff Car. I guess this labeling has occurred because of licensing issues with the Chrysler Corporation. This Plymouth was a huge car and was well liked by the buying public not only in the US where over 75,000 were made in their various forms, and it was also exported widely.

 
This new 1:35 scale model from Plus Model consists of 63 resin and 20 photo-etched parts together with an acetate sheet for the windows and a small decal sheet with three marking choices.

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Thumbnail panels:

All of the resin is well cast and devoid of pin holes or any other surface imperfections. The main body casting is a fine hollow unit with the front doors cast separately. The all-important shape of the coachwork is captured very well. The bottom chassis is cast as a one-piece affair and fits snugly into the main coachwork with few or no gaps in evidence.

The interior is well catered for, with all of the major components like the dashboard, seats and interior fitting presented to a high standard. The suspension is also handled very well with the leaf springs and steering hardware showing very fine detail. The wheels on this kit are cast and presented to a very high standard with and outstanding tread pattern in evidence. The hubcaps even have the Plymouth name embossed on them!

Some may be put off by the price of this kit but in reality it is the only game in town. Sure, it not a more commonly seen Ford US Staff Car but it is done to such a high standard. This really sums up Plus Models really, always different always interesting.

Highly Recommended.

Thanks to Plus Models for the review sample www.plusmodel.cz