Gecko

This is a very unusual kit of a very unusual vehicle in service with the South African Defence Force.
The Gecko was developed as a replacement of the Jakkals, a jeep-like vehicle, used by the parachute Battalions. The Gecko can be adopted to amphibious capability. It can be connected to a number of specially designed trailers as there are a load bed trailer, radio/command trailer and a 106 mm recoilles Rifle trailer.
It has a standard armament of a SS-77 MG and an 81 mm mortar can be added as well. It can also be used for medevac carrying 2 stretchers on top of the roll bar.

The resin kit consists of about 8 parts and 14 resin wheels.

First major problem with this kit is the lack of information about the vehicle itself. I searched the web and did find some pictures of the real thing although none of the instrument panel. Much more, I do not know if it has manual or automatic transmission and so the installation of the cockpit relies more on guesswork than on knowledge.
The kit does not provide details on the drivers compartment, not even a steering wheel, that needs to be found in the scrap box or to be scratch build.
So please don't shoot me if some details are wrong. I did build the model according to the few drawings on the instruction sheet and the pics found on the web.


Cockpit: addition of pedals, steering wheel, lever on the left hand side of the instrument panel (probably gear change), hand brake to the left side of the drivers seat, instrument decals, metal bar between the front seats, reducing height of the front seat backs and installing back seat rests.

Front: rebuilding the front towing pintle and addition of two towing eyes.

Left side: replacing side fender by PE not provided in the kit, addition of an exhaust pipe, replacing the radiator grille, addition of a hand rail next to the upper seat on top of the engine.

Right side: replacing side fender by PE not provided in the kit, replacing of fuel filler cap and its side protections, replacing the radiator grille, addition of a hand rail next to the upper seat on top of the engine.

Rear: addition of two towing eyes and six tie down bars.

The trailer received a similar treatment by adding 8 tie down bars, 4 towing eyes, replacement of the front and rear lower parts (white plastic on the pics) due to air bubbles in the resin and finally adding of triangular strengthening parts at the trailer front.

I wanted to present this diminutive machine on a small vignette and also started building this using a picture frame, an old Matchbox base, some modelling clay, bits and pieces of vegetation.

Once all parts added, I painted the Gecko various shades of green in the hope to match the colour of the real machine found on the pictures. I painted the tyres black with some grey highlighting. When presented on the base, I also added various shades of MiG pigments.
The earth structure of the base is real South African bush sand with the typical red brown colour.
Finally, with all bits and pieces brought together we ended up with the small vignette you can find in the gallery.