Introduction

SKP Model has continued to expand their range of Lenses and Taillights and this time it is a set for the Tamiya GMC CCKW-353. The Beauty of this release for me is that having just reviewed the new Tankograd Publishing title U.S. WW II GMC CCKW, I was not aware that the Tamiya model sold under the title US 2.5 ton 6x6 Cargo Truck was a GMC CCKW-353, and as such I now have plans for a scratch build of a GMC CCKW-353 Wrecker Truck.

Contents

The product is supplied in a clear zip lock bag which is a attached to a card hanger with the details of the product on a sticker. The product consists of a single photo etched fret.

Review

SKP Model with the release of a set of their lenses and taillights for a GMC CCKW-353 has now increased their selection of specific light sets to 38. This set consists of;

• 2 headlights
• 4 reflectors
• 2 rear lights
• 6 backing plates for the rear lights and reflectors
• 2 wipers and wiper arms
• 2 oblong white lenses
• 1 red elliptical lens
• 3 black strips

Looking first at the headlight, reflectors, and rear lights you will note the detail behind the coloured lenses, this aspect for me is what marks out SKP Model’s lenses as the best currently available on the market that I know of. The detail behind the lenses consists of a diamond pattern on the reflectors and rear lights and a square pattern on the headlights. While I do not have access to one of these vehicles and the reference in the Tankograd Publishing book is not clear enough to verify accuracy they do have the correct look to them.

I am not completely sure of the use for the black and white lenses as I do not have a copy of the model the set is designed for to hand, and unfortunately SKP Model does not supply any instructions with this lenses and taillights set. The lack of instructions is I believe the only weakness of this product and for that matter the product line in general. The elliptical red lens is I believe to be mounted on one of the photo etched backing plates supplied in the set.

The photo etched backing plates are supplied I believe in order to make removal of the kit parts and replacement with these parts easier. To clarify this; I believe the reflectors and rear lights are moulded direct to larger parts of the model and so it would be very difficult to remove the lens without damaging the mounting plate. The other item supplied with the set are two photo etched wipers and wiper arms which I suspect will look more accurate than the moulded ones in the kit.

Conclusion

This is another great set of lenses and taillights from SKP Model with the only surprise for me being how long after the kit was released. I cannot recommend strongly enough that you try this or one of the other lenses and taillights sets available for one of your builds as I believe you will be impressed.

Reference

The very nice example the images came from can be seen in the link below.
GMC CCKW-353 Live links

Related reviews

U.S. WW II GMC CCKW Live links
U.S. 2.5 ton GMC 6x6 Cargo Truck Live links