Italeri 1/24 Land Rover Fire Truck Kit First Look

by Michael Benolkin

First Look

When Italeri first announced this kit, there was speculation online whether this would be something new or a reissue of their previous Series III two-door Land Rover kit (AKA 4 Wheel Drive 109" LWB). The answer is the latter, this is a rebox of their African Safari along with a new parts tree for the fire fighter gear. Actually, this kit started life in the 1970s as an ESCI kit produced in several configurations, and when Italeri acquired the ESCI molds, they added a new parts tree for the Safari version and its first hardtop for its debut more that 12 years ago.

Molded in styrene, the kit is presented on two parts trees molded in black plus the chassis, the body shell and hard top molded in red, one tree of clear parts, and one set of rubber (vinyl) tires. As you can see in the images, this is a simple kit that will go together nicely out of the box, and will also look even better with some selective super-detailing and aftermarket help.

Among the features and options in this kit:

• Choice of left or right-hand drive
• Good interior with lots of potential for extra attention
• Basic chassis with drive train and suspension
• Fire hose reel, water tank, and fire extinguisher bottles inside the cargo compartment
• Front doors, rear door, and hood (bonnet) are all molded closed but can be positioned with some careful surgery
• Roof rack with ladders and hose containers
• Water pump mounted to front bumper
• Rubber (vinyl) tires

Decals are provided for six options:

• Hampshire (UK) Fire Service, 1975
• Cornwall County (UK) Fire Brigade, 1979
• German Fire Engine (with EU license plates)
• Ville de Limbourg (Belgium) Fire Service (pre-EU license plates), 1980
• St. Urban (Austria) Fire Service (with EU license plates), 1975
• Santana (not Carlos) Fire Department, Spain, 1982

Despite its age, the tooling is in good shape with very little flash and is ready to head to your workbench!

Here is a list of paints Italeri identifies for use with this kit (minus the Italeri colors):

Thanks to MRC for the review sample.