WC 54 Dodge Ambulance
 I
wanted to build this with the rear doors open, and it took some
time to find photos of the interior. The kit's interior is quite
accurate. I thinned the litter braces and repositioned them to accept
the litters from Verlinden's M*A*S*H set conversion set. Handle
straps were fashioned for the ceiling. The entire interior was painted
and equipped before the rear compartment was glued together. Likewise,
the front cab was completed and the seated Yanks medic was installed.
It was a real challenge to get his hand properly placed on the steering
wheel, and I ended up lengthening the steering column slightly to
accomplish this. The chained wheels are from The Tank Workshop.
More detailed information on the building of this kit can be found
in my article Building
Italeri's Dodge Ambulance.
The
most significant error of this kit is the lack of door handles -
anywhere. I created these from plastic. There is no Eduard set for
this kit, so I used a combination of pieces from other photo-etch
sets and homemade doodads. The decals are from the kit, Pre-Size
and Archer.
WC 62 Dodge
"Beep"
 The
Beep was a standard part of a medical motor pool. Wounded either
sat in the back, or litters were laid across the compartment, resting
on the wooden backrests. There is an interesting photo of one near
the Siegfried line in U.S. Army Photo Album 1941-1945 by
Jonathan Gawne.
This
was one of the first kits I built when I returned to modeling in
1990. I picked up the Italeri kit (originally from Peerless Max
and now seen under the Bilek label) when it was reissued a few years
ago, and completed it before Skybow's version hit the shelves. It's
a decent kit, though like all of the Italeri Dodge vehicles, the
chassis is fiddly. I used Eduard and Tank Workshop on this kit as
well. A new rolled-up tarp was made out of lead foil. 
"Between
Life and Death..."
The
Battle of the Hürtgen Forest
Evolution of the Diorama
M3A1 Halftrack
Dodge Ambulance and Beep
Willys
Jeep, 2.5 Ton Cargo Truck, Trailers
The Figures
References
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