Have you noticed the plethora of Indiana Jones merchandise around at the moment? I was in the supermarket and couldn’t quite believe my eyes when I saw a toy model of the truck from Raiders of the Lost Ark. I just had to buy one much to the amusement of my sister (“I suppose that’s for Douglas?”).
I scratch built my own version from two 1/35th scale kits when I was living in London in 1995. It was quite a surprise to see how much I got right. After watching that part of the film over and over I guessed they had based the movie truck on a GMC “Deuce and a Half” and then added a mocked up almost period Mercedes cab (remember this is almost pre-interweb when such knowledge had to be researched in real books and “making of” videos), heightening the cab roof to fit the earlier style.
Looking at this new toy version I see I was almost spot on. I used a Tamiya deuce and half kit for the chassis and then a Mercedes 3000 light truck kit for the cab and flat bed. I think my homebrew model actually looks better! Although it hasn’t fared well during the many house moves done since it was made.
Not complete without the Ark!
I even had enough material left over to scratch build the scout car which meets it’s end over the edge of the cliff. Adding a squad of Tamiya Afrika Corps infantry gave it the authentic look.
However Ian has pointed out that: -
But, I think – of all movies! – “Kelly’s Heroes” was more authentic in using Chevy civilian trucks in khaki which were virtually what the Nazis used! (The Opel ‘Blitz’ was the same truck made under licence – presumably much to the Fuhrer’s annoyance!)
