1/6 WWII Willy's Jeep

Mr. Nagata

Sr Member
RPF PREMIUM MEMBER
I did this a while back, but thought I would post it here. It started out as a Hasbro GI Joe jeep. Only the main body is from the original toy. The grill, bumpers, windscreen, canopy rails, seats, etc. are all scratch-built. Pretty much every little detail was shaved off the original toy and replaced. It's also RC and has working headlights:

http://www.ryannagata.com/otherstuff/16-wwii-jeep/
 
I did this a while back, but thought I would post it here. It started out as a Hasbro GI Joe jeep. Only the main body is from the original toy. The grill, bumpers, windscreen, canopy rails, seats, etc. are all scratch-built. Pretty much every little detail was shaved off the original toy and replaced. It's also RC and has working headlights:

http://www.ryannagata.com/otherstuff/16-wwii-jeep/


Very nice, but the fire extigusher is too big (it should be shorter) and they never painted them white (O.D).

Also, I've never seen one with the stenciled specs on the side...did you have a pic of one that was like that?
 
That's incredible, Im a huge fan of the Willys and plan to buy one 1:1 very soon !
You did a great job, love the Lucky pack ;)

Did you have any pics of it under construction ?
 
Thanks everyone.

Ham Salad, you're incorrect about almost everything you said. The thing on the side isn't a fire extinguisher. It's a decontaminator, which was painted light gray. And it was scaled directly off the real thing (the fire extinguiser is under the dashboard, also scaled off the real thing, but not really visible in my photos). Later war jeeps had the decontaminator in a bracket under the passenger seat, so they're not always visible.

Also, almost every jeep in Normandy had stenciled specs on the side. I have many period photos. Not restored jeeps in museums that are often painted wrong.

There are a few inaccuracies though. The invasion star on the hood is in the early war position, so for a Normandy era jeep, this is incorrect. I have actually since changed that. The blackout lights on the back are also incorrect. The configuration is for an early war Willy's slatgrill (which the Hasbro is a copy of). I didn't really care to cut them off and reshape the whole thing). There are also a lot of scale and proportion issues inherent to the Hasbro toy. I fixed what I could, but some stuff would require a complete overhaul.


Very nice, but the fire extigusher is too big (it should be shorter) and they never painted them white (O.D).

Also, I've never seen one with the stenciled specs on the side...did you have a pic of one that was like that?
 
Thanks everyone.

Ham Salad, you're incorrect about almost everything you said. The thing on the side isn't a fire extinguisher. It's a decontaminator, which was painted light gray.

Huh. never seen one.

Later war jeeps had the decontaminator in a bracket under the passenger seat, so they're not always visible.


Oh, that: I've only seen that under the back seat. Must be uncommon, I've never seen one come up on the surplus market.

Also, almost every jeep in Normandy had stenciled specs on the side. I have many period photos. Not restored jeeps in museums that are often painted wrong.


You got photos? Maybe I'll add that to my real jeep, it would be fun as nobody else I know of has that on theirs.

Museum jeeps? No, most of what I know about ww2 jeeps comes for the collected wisdom of those like myself who own them. It's hard to nail down many specifics, though, as there wasn't a great deal of uniformity in the way things were done in ww2 in general: for example, I was tempted to say the typestyle of the markings looked wrong, because it doesn't match the two typestyles I know were in use. I didn't, because in the field lots of things were done that weren't in the book, so to speak.

I've seen over a hundred restored jeeps, but I've only seen one ever that had the decon tank...and that was hard to see, as it was stowed under the back seat.
 
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Mr Nagata,
A very detailed piece of work, impressive.

I am building a 6th scale trailer for a Jeep (see my post in the general modelling section).
If you have the time to look I would appreciate any suggestions you might have as to how I could improve it.

I ahve seen a few radio controlled model Jeeps on the web but most have very odd looking drive parts/suspension/wheels. Yours are very much in keeping with the vehicle.
Would you mind telling me what you used please.

I am also looking at adding headlights and sound to an old 6th scale Jeep by modifying an MP3 player and LED torch that has inbuilt speakers. Its marketed by August International here in the UK. Model MB100C.
Regarding this I am not linked to the company in any way I am just passing on information which might be useful.

Kind regards,
Bern
 
This is the first time I've seen this thread and I love the details! At first glance, it looks like a full scale jeep. Excellent work.
 
Thanks! At one time, this model was quite unique being the only hyper detailed 1/6 Willy's Jeep with RC that I had ever seen. Most were more modest conversions of the Hasbro or SOTW jeeps that still looked like toys. Mine was a complete overhaul. But shortly after, Dragon released their 1/6 Willy's Jeep kit and really blew this out of the water.

As I recall, I attached a drive sprocket directly to the rear axel and attached a micro roller chain from robot marketplace to the most powerful motor I could find that could still remain concealed in the cavities of the plastic chassis. Which is to say, not very powerful. It really doesn't have much torque at all and it's just barely enough to get the jeep moving at a moderate pace on a flat surface. It can't go uphill or over uneven terrain very well. The suspension is really just simple springs mounted on the front part of the chassis. It's not a great recreational RC vehicle at all. It was just meant to drive around a little bit in a short film I did a few years back.
 
Mr Nagata,

Thank you for such a quick and helpful reply.

I admire your modesty.

Incidentally I have a "real" 1975 Mitsubishi J26 Jeep which my Grandson likes to be driven around in.
I think it was probably this which prompted him to ask for a trailer to go with the 6th scale Jeep (I think its Hasbro) and my old Action Man figures I seem to have lent to him to play with. :)

Kind regards,
Bern
 
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