Pinky, there are several variations of the SAS Jeep. We have 3 hard cover books on the Jeep, and each volume had different configurations. We are using the one which is most common.
Yes, there were variations (as you'd expect from rugged individualists like the SAS - and of course the improvised nature of the conversions). There are actually relatively few photos of late war SAS Jeeps - most are the more familiar desert version immortalised by the Tamiya kit. And those that exist aren't always very clear. The version in your first set of drawings, however, doesn't seem to be the most common. There is one very clear photo of an SAS Jeep with front armour similar to your design, but the rear armour is still different (and if you think about it, it would be much easer to attach armour plate to the rear of the Jeep than somehow attach it to the edge). Most photos also show a different layout for the front gunner's position. Maybe this was modified by the crews so the gun could rotate?
Your second set of drawings depicts a bit of a mixture of features. The HB version of Browning .50 cal appeared on LRDG vehicles later in the war, but they don't seem to have used the spare fuel tanks. SAS Jeeps in the desert used the earlier version of the Browning, with a lighter barrel (I explained this in my earlier post). I'd suggest that would be more appropriate.
I can't post any photos to illustrate what I mean, as for some reason I get an error message whenever I try to attach an image.
We also wanted to get the whole jeep (excluding the jeep body) to be on a single sprue, some parts had to be grouped together to form a single piece; otherwise will either be too fragile or too small for an average gamer to put the vehicle together. We will wait until we get the 3D prototype printed, then we can decide what to change before mould making starts.
Totally understood - things like the armour plate will have to be simplified in this scale to be practical. Although you've gotten pretty good at producing quite complex shapes as a single piece!
If the kit comes with a couple of twin Vickers as well as a 50 cal and a single Vickers ( or 2 ) I think most variations can be modeled . I think some of the problem with using war time photos in books as reference is that more than a few are miscaptioned . Stating a vehicle is SAS when in fact , a closer look using a magnifying glass , the shoulder flashes on the troops are for Airbourne . True these vehicles tended to be swapped around depending what unit needed them for the next mission , and they didn't always get repainted .
It appears that it was the SAS Jeeps which had the additional armour. Airborne vehicles were stripped down (as I mentioned in my previous post), but the recce version often had additional guns fitted.
For what it's worth, I agree that if Rubicon include a single and paired Vickers K mount and a Browning .50 cal (preferably the early version), it would cover most options for the early and late versions. A Bren gun mount would be good as well. That just leaves the armour plate, spare fuel tanks and revised grille. However, I'd guess that including crew for both desert and NW Europe versions would take up a lot of space on the sprue.
