@p51 posted:I have WW2 Jeeps on the layout, I think at least 4 of them on the layout normally at any one time:
One is hidden in the trees in a far background; no visitors have noticed it yet. It's a 1/48 scale Ford GPW (yes, I CAN tell the difference between a Ford and a Willys Jeep even at a distance so long as I can see the front end well) with a Solido 1/50 scale CCKW GMC 2 1/2 ton truck.
Yes, I have a REAL one; a 1944 Willys MB:
This is why the Jeeps on my layout have to be correct, with proper markings for a stateside unit.
On Saturday, I took the MB out for the first drive around town since right before the pandemic started:
Just as the pandemic started rolling (with the first lockdowns and outbreaks occurring in my state), the Jeep's fuel pump had leaks and the battery had issues once I did it's annual 'spring check' before the show season, and never got back to it as all the shows and events to which I'd drive it were cancelled for a very long time.
I'm a second generation WW2 Jeep owner, as my Dad's first car was a 1942 Ford GPW. I have two snapshots of it. Grandpa sold it out form under Dad when Dad went into the USAF in the late 50s. I'd love to know if it still exists somewhere but the serial number is lost to the family.
Now, the question might be asked; I've developed a very detailed history for the fictional 796th Railway Operating Battalion on the layout, so why not put those markings on my Jeep? That thought HAS crossed my mind but I have decided to get new markings for the public relations section of the 12th Army Group HQ, which was responsible for the transportation of civilian war correspondents (another interest of mine) from the Hotel Scribe in Paris to any place in the European Theater of Operations which had something of note going on.
I'm also going to replace the hood markings with the serial number for the Jeep personally issued by 5th Army to cartoonist Bill Mauldin. That should happen at some point this summer before the show season ends.
P51 that is a great looking jeep, back in my day we had the M151A1 and M151A2, they put roll bars on them always wanted to get my hands on one, they took the roll bars off and they went to the range for weapons qual. for the USAF and the US Army. Very nice!
