ACE 72612 WC-51 3/4 ton truck "Beep"
ACE's 72612 is a lovely looking kit of an earlyish Dodge WC-51. The kit consists of three sprues, one clear plastic one, and a small sheet of PE. There are 110 plastic parts, 5 clear and 7 PE, which is a hefty parts count for such a small truck.
Sprue A has all the common parts to any weapons carrier variant, including the frame parts, with 2 frame pieces "not for use" but clearly for a later 6X6 variant. It also has the cab, hood, front bumpers, one for the winch also labeled not for use, seats, dashboard, and tires plus a spare molded in halves.
Sprue B has all the bits for the drive train, 2 grill protectors, the leaf springs and smaller parts like the tools, head and taillights, and the M2 .50 cal. It looks like parts of the bumper winch system are there too, labeled "not for use".
Sprue C would be unique to a WC-51/52 as its the parts for the short cargo bed/troop seats. There's also the machine gun pintle mount and the cab floor as well.
Sprue D is the clear bits and has the windshield, head and tail lights.
E is the photoetch sheet. its small, and has the rear bumperettes, the windshield wipers and the channels to tilt the windscreen in the framing.
Making the bumperettes will be a bit fiddly, and perhaps a former should have been provided to make it easier, but there is a plan view of you it should look at 1:1 size on the instructions to use as a pattern, which is a big help.
I can't overstate the level of detail they've achieved here as even the back of the brake drums are nicely detailed, despite the fact in /72 they won't normally be visible. The separate tools are a nice touch and while I would prefer a 3D or laser cut set of grills, the plastic ones provided are quite nice and acceptable. None of the sprues have any sign of flash on them and even the smallest parts are crisply molded and easily identifiable. Even the sprue attachments seem to be getting progressively smaller on their kits.
Even though most builders of this kit will probably use a 3D .50, the one provided is molded in halves and has petite detail down to the barrel changing handle, and the almost in scale charging handle. The spade grips are separate, because of how the gun's frame is molded in halves, a clever and thoughtful arraignment.
my biggest concern is the way the instruction sheet is presented. there's really just 5 not quite exploded views with a lot going on in each. Most of its pretty clear, but in some cases where there might be a question, like the spare tire mount, best to look at the parts carefully and some of the other steps to be sure. In any build, though, I always consult and keep handy whatever references I have on the vehice and there's no shortage of books and online resources for the Dodges.
The decal sheet allows for 4 different examples, a wartime US vehicle in France, a wartime Soviet one, a post-war Soviet one, and a post-war Israeli one.
Overall, this looks to be a great kit, and it clearly corrects everything that was hair pulling about the Italeri nee ESCI weapons carrier, especially the excessive height of the body over the suspension. I can't wait to see if they do an M6 GMC and I'll snap up a WC-62 as soon as it's available. I'm also looking forward to their M2/M3 halftrack series which includes 3D printed track and suspension.
This kit was bought by me from Plastic Models Store in Ukraine.
Slava Ukraini!
sprue A
Sprue B
Sprue C