Godzilla Army Jeep

This is a great kit, very detailed and very authentic, with multiple military options like guns, stretcher, portable radio, folding windshield, opening hood, and even parts for a civilian version, and a multi piece full color backdrop of Godzilla, I would highly recommend this kit.

The Godzilla Planetary Defense Willys MB Jeep is a lot of fun to build and offers many options for customization. In the kit, the modeler can make either the Planetary Defense Jeep, a World War II Jeep, a machine gun or recoilless rifle-armed Jeep, or a tourist-type Surrey. The box indicates that MPC includes parts for a roll bar, but this is incorrect. However, the kit does contain two smaller rifles, a radio, a stretcher, and a cardboard fold-out diorama with Godzilla. I wanted to build my model as a World War II Jeep, so the Godzilla branding was of little interest to me. The frame is one piece with separate bumpers and leaf springs. The main part of the body is also one piece with positive mounting points that meet the frame. This design makes aligning the body and frame easy. If you plan to use the recoilless rifle, machine gun, or Surrey roof with poles, drill out the holes on the underside of the body before attaching it to the frame. There are well-defined places for each hole, but the instructions show little detail about which spots to open for which part. The machine gun mounts to a hole in the center of the floor just behind the front seats, and the recoilless rifle mounts to holes in the top of the rear fenders. The Surrey top poles mount in each corner of the interior rear fenders. The parts on the sprues lack clear part numbers, but most pieces are easily recognizable. Also, thoroughly wash the parts, especially the body, hood, and windshield frame. Even though I rinsed these parts on my kit, the olive-drab paint I used reacted and left reddish-brown residue in the corners, edge seams, and splotches on the flat areas. All parts need some flash clean-up, but it is reasonable, especially considering the age of the original molds. My windshield frame and hood were warped, so that is another thing to watch out for when building. I rate the MPC Willys MB Jeep with four stars because of the ambiguity in some areas of the instruction sheet, the warped windshield frame and hood, the lack of clear part numbers, and the strange paint reaction even after rinsing the body. However, the kit provides various options and features for different versions, allowing the modeler to customize it easily. The decals lay down smoothly, and there is more than adequate detail in the motor, frame, suspension, drive line, and body. A beginning modeler could put this kit together without too much trouble. With some effort, a modeler can make a detailed and unique Jeep with this kit.