Italeri 1/35 2½ ton 6x6 Water Tank Truck Kit First Look

By Michael Benolkin

First Look

While tanks, infantry, and artillery are essential weapons in any battle, none of them can either get to the battle nor keep loaded with the critical ammunition, fuel, oils, food and supplies. For the US military in WW2, the essential weapon to keep its fighting forces engaged was the truck.

GMC developed a family of trucks with a basic load capability of 2.5 tons. The chassis was driven by three powered differentials giving the vehicle six sets of powered wheels (6x6). The rear wheel units had double tires to allow for more traction under muddy conditions and allow for one or more rear wheels to go flat and still get the vehicle away to safety.

The GMC truck not only served throughout the US military, it was also widely distributed to our allies to keep them mobile as well.

This kit has been reissued by Italeri as part of the D-Day 70th Anniversary and represented the CCKW configured as a 700 gallon water tanker. Molded in olive drab styrene, the kit is presented on two parts trees plus a third containing the cab's clear windows. The molding on this kit looks as nice now as it did back in its first release - no visible signs of flash. The surface detailing is still nicely done.

Construction starts with the chassis and drivetrain. The tires are molded in styrene, so if you're going to flatten them a bit to indicate weight on the wheels, now is the time. KMC did resin replacement wheels and a set of snow tires for this truck before they went out of business. I'm sure someone has a set of GMC weighted tires for this kit.

From the front bumber to the hitch on the rear, the chassis is nicely detailed with powertrain, suspension, fuel tanks, stowage, and other details. The oil pan for the engine is represented as art of the front fender assembly, but other than that, there is no engine under the hood.

With the highly detailed chassis complete, next comes the cab and hood assembly. The kit provides an optional driver figure to sit behind the wheel. All of the essential details from brake lever, gear shifts, and steering wheel are all here. The windshield can be posed up or down.

The water tank provides positionable fill domes as well as the valve enclosure.

Markings are included for two US Army Red Ball Express tankers circa Normandy, 1944

As much as these vehicles were mass produced and distributed around the world, there is no shortage of subjects that you can model including re-purposed post-war construction and fire department vehicles.

A 2.5 ton water truck may not be as 'glamorous' as a Tiger or Sherman tank, but no war would have been successfully completed without them. Given the wide range of modeling possibilities with this one kit alone, you could find even more interesting modeling possibilities in the supply side of the military!

Thanks to MRC for the review sample.