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Land Rover Series III Commercial (07056) 1:24 Carrera Revell Following WWII, and possibly a little bit jealous of the Americans and their Jeeps, the British armed forces decided that they needed a British designed and built Jeep-alike of their own, although they approached the design from a different angle that led to long-lived series of vehicles that went by the name of Land Rover from 1948 to 1985, many of which are still in operation, and are supported by an ownership base that verges on religious in its devotion to the type. Built initially by Rover until they were merged into British Leyland, it developed from being based on a butchered Jeep chassis to a newly-designed welded box chassis that used an aluminium alloy for body panels as steel was in short supply at the time. It had the luxury of doors, and with a hardtop available to give it a more car-like experience, better suited to our British climate. Production began with the Series I, and evolved via the Series II to the Series III in long (LWB) and short (SWB) wheelbase versions, which had many cosmetic changes as well as those under the skin. Later improvements saw stiffening of the body, strengthening of the transmission that had been a weak-spot, and optional more comfortable trim levels that broadened its appeal, although the fuel consumption was always an eye-opener, even on those vehicles that had selectable two-wheel drive. For Landy fans today, affording the running costs of their fuel-hungry motors must now involve privations elsewhere, thanks to the current cost of fuel. Well over a million were sold all over the world, and some variants were license-built overseas, although they still followed the original pattern closely, so bore a striking resemblance to their progenitor. The original intent for the Land Rover was military service, and even though farmers and civilians alike took to it as well, various Land Rover variants saw military service with the British armed services, as well as those in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa amongst others, including the Forward Control that looked more like a truck, but still kept many of the Land Rover’s other design cues. Although it has been out of production for many years, there is still much love for the Landy out there, and now that Land Rover’s new owners Tata have created a modern replacement, it’s not hard to imagine how much the purists will hate its looks, as well as the price. Having seen one on the road recently, I’m with the traditionalists. It’s a bland, up-market pig. With the Electric version coming, that price is likely to soar to near or past £100k. The Kit This is a minor retooling of a new kit from Carrera Revell in 2019, representing the Long Wheel Base (LWB) Commercial, which is a little more ruggedised than the Station Wagon we first saw. Like much of Revell’s output, the kit arrives in a large end-opening box that’s a bit prone to crushing in the stash, sadly. Inside the box are twelve sprues and a bodyshell in grey styrene, six flexible black tyres, two sprues of clear parts, decal sheet and an instruction booklet that is printed in colour in an A4(ish) portrait form, with colour profiles in the rear to assist you with painting and decaling. Detail is excellent, and the bodyshell is almost complete out of the box, needing the bonnet and the under-pinnings, plus some windows to finish off. Maybe some paint and glue too. Both left- and right-hand drive options are provided in the box, which is good to see, especially as it was a British vehicle. Now, who is that young lady with a similarly young, but horribly mulletted and moustachioed Mel Gibson? Construction begins with deciding on which side the steering wheel goes, then plastic cutting starts with the engine, with a two-part block, sump and head of the V6 motor that drives the Landy forward. The serpentine belts and fan are assembled and glued to the front of the block, adding ancillaries to the sides and detail painting the assembly as you go. The floorpan is next, with transmission hump fixed into the gap in the centre and a detail insert glued against the seat base, with more detail painting, a couple of holes drilled in the right side, and a flat panel transverse across the underside. The front axle has its differential housing access hatch fitted before it is inserted under the box chassis rail, adding the steering mechanism, then lowering the leaf suspension springs into slots in the bottom of the axle, and adding dampers to the rear of the centre. The exhaust is created from two halves, breaking around the muffler halves, and this must be installed before adding the two-part rear axle, which has its own set of leaf-springs and damper arms. The finished engine is dropped onto its mount from above the chassis, and the two axles are joined to the transmission via short drive-shafts. The radiator has ducting tinwork fitted to its rear, and is then mounted on the chassis in front of the fan, joined to the cooling system via an L-shaped hose, after which the floor pan can be glued onto the chassis on its mounting points, clearly marked in red on the drawings. A pair of levers are glued into sockets at the front of the raised seat mound, with the rest of the control levers, gear sticks and drive-selectors inserted between them behind the transmission hump. There are three simple front seats for the basic interior that are built with separate rears, mounted in a row on the seat hump, and a divider is fixed on slots behind the seats, leaving out the centre seat and removing the central section for the German version. The three comfortable seats are pencil quilted and have a different divider with vertical supports behind them, and again, the centre section is cut out to match the missing seat. A bench seat is made and placed over the right rear arch after plugging the hole for the spare on that side, and the spare wheel is inserted into a dished insert on the opposite arch. The spare wheel is created from a styrene hub and retainer, with one of the black flexible tyres pushed over the hub for the left-hand drive option, with the reverse layout for the right-hand drive option, adding the lid of a stowage box to the rear of the right arch. The door cards are moulded as one part that extends to the rear of the vehicle with the additional of a filler-cap insert in the right-rear. They are glued into slots in the sides of the floor, with the tail-gate card fitted at the rear. The front bumper has a choice of number-plate holder moulded into the top, or it can be cut off and attached to the left of the bumper after drilling a pair of holes to match the pegs on the rear of the part. The dashboard is moulded as a single part with dial decals, fitting the kickboard and pedal box underneath, with a choice of left- and right-hand drive dashes, using the same column and steering wheel for both options, and a radio surface-mounted beneath on the opposite side. The finished dash is mounted on a portion of the firewall, which has the brake servo and a representation of the bare column next to it, plus more details on the opposite side. The instructions take a dramatic turn for a second, drilling out the light cluster mounting holes in the rear, although it is linked to the front headlight reflectors, which are installed before inserting the dashboard. The windscreen frame has its clear panes inserted from the outside, with separate styrene wipers added, then slotted into the open front of the cab, making it look much more Land Rover-like by putting the lenses in the revised wing-mounted headlights, and the grille that is pure Land Rover. The rest of the glazing is popped in around the cab on the sides and rear, remembering to simulate the black rubber seals that keep them in and the water out. The Commercial had a higher roofline, and what can only be described as an area of duck-boards over the flat portion, which require drilling out of mounting holes in the separate roof extension. At this stage the body can be lowered into position over the internals, then the various side lights, indicators (blinkers to the Americans), number-plate holder and illuminator on whichever side is appropriate to the side the steering wheel is on. They are surrounded by more lights, painted clear orange or red, depending on their role. Reflectors, towing hitch, windscreen wiper and tailgate latch, plus a pair of steps on each corner of the rear are all installed, with a deflector behind the tow-ball and mudflaps behind the rear wheels. Up front, the bonnet is filled with more engine-related ancillary equipment, including a battery and dash-pot, then the bonnet has two holes drilled out for another spare wheel that is made and mounted in the same manner as the one in the cab. The road wheels are more complex, having hub halves on each side, with a top-hat washer between them to let them rotate, then the flexible tyre is slipped over the hub and they are all mounted on their axles. The bonnet is slotted into its hinge-points over the engine, and a pair of mesh protectors are glued over the headlights to shield them. You’ll need to drill out the holes to mount them if you plan on using them. The same is true of a vent that is added to the rear of each front wing, with a choice of decals for each one. Two sets of wing mirrors are included on the sprues, one pair that live up to the name and are sited on the front of the wings in holes you drill out, the other pair fit on blocks moulded into the front of the doors. You then have a choice of three aerials, one long, two short, and these too need their holes drilling out, which are flashed over, so are best drilled earlier in the build. The final part is the bonnet stay in case you want to display all your hard work under the hood. Markings There is only one colour choice offered on the profiles, but you’re free to paint it any colour you like, or stick with the colours that were offered by the manufacturer. There are decals for the bare metal stripping externally and internally, number plates and country stickers for various nations, mirror inserts, and a host of other details. From the box you can build the following, substituting whichever colour you choose: Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion It looks like a Land Rover and has plenty of detail baked-in, plus a good quality decal sheet by the world’s premier decal printers. There’s a lot of love out there for Landies, so it should sell pretty well. Highly recommended. Carrera Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit or

Jeep Gladiator Overland Quickbuild (J6039) Airfix The Gladiator is Jeep’s (allegedly) medium-sized pickup truck that seems pretty massive to my British eyes, but America likes big trucks – just because. It was based upon the Wrangler JL platform, and went on sale in 2019. It was named after the 1960s original, and was initially available with various specifications, the luxury one being the Overland that is depicted here. It is unique amongst trucks in that it has a retractable top, and using a tool-kit supplied, the owner can remove the doors and even flip down the windscreen to give that bugs-in-the-teeth feeling. It is available with various power-trains, the usual fuelling options and with automatic or manual transmissions, and a hi-tech camera system gives the driver a view of frontal obstacles when in off-road mode, which should allow the driver to spot dangers in treacherous conditions without needing a spotter. There have been a number of special editions since launch with individual features that appeal to specific demographics, but an early recall was necessary after it was found that some of the rear drive-shafts had been assembled without grease, which could lead to issues in fairly short order. The Kit By now we’re probably all familiar with the Quickbuild range, combining assembly brick simplicity with custom parts that give the finished article a realistic, smooth surfaced model that’s able to withstand even rough play without the use of glue or paint, and with simple stickers finishing off the model’s look. The box is a standard flimsy red-themed end-opening Quickbuild style, with a small tab preventing the contents from tumbling out when handled. The contents are in one bag in three colours of ABS and another for the clear part that makes for greater flexibility that is needed for the friction fit method that allows the bricks to fit together, as well as allowing it to stand up to the gentle ministrations of 6-year old children and older. There are 44 parts in black, grey, white, clear and four flexible rubber tyres, with all the parts except the tyres having a nice shiny surface. The sticker sheet is outside the bag with the instructions, and over 14 steps plus stickers the vehicle is made up, with all parts fitting together snugly and very little flex in the assembly. Where there are some important parts that should be clicked into position for correct alignment, they are identified with a set of pointy hands emanating from the area. These occur in the later stages when the front wing panels are put in place (although mine didn’t click), and of course it is critical to follow the instructions because of the way the parts intersect with each other, only fitting in place at the correct stage of the instructions. The tyres slip over the wheels from the front, with a small lip on the outer face to stop them from sliding off easily. The axles have been sensibly placed under the main floor pan during the later steps, so that the downward pressure of anyone “driving” pushes them home and prevents them coming loose to ruin play. My example arrived without scratches but if yours has any, there’s a simple way to remedy this. I removed a scratch from a previous kit by using a green/white buffing sponge, greenish side first, then the white side perpendicular to the original direction, which made it disappear and returned the part to full shine. Markings The stickers are printed on a clear adhesive surface and are die-cut to ease application. There are instrument dials and MFD screen in the centre of the dash, but most are left to the end, with headlights, side-lights, rear light clusters, and branding badges on the bodywork, plus a JEEP number plate and two Gladiator badge styles to personalise your model. Printing is good quality, but as I found before when using tweezers to remove them, the ink is prone to scratching and the ink will also come off if subjected to rigorous burnishing, so take care when applying them. Conclusion Every new release of these innovative kits is better than the last, with improved fit all-round. The Jeep Gladiator was previously unknown to me because SUVs and trucks don’t interest me, but it has the familiar Jeep look, and once completed with stickers it felt more like a pre-built than a construction toy. My son is getting to the age where he’s beyond toy cars now, but his eyes still lit up when I showed it to him. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of