IJeep Wrangler Rubicon Brush Fire Unit Review
By:  Len Schwartz
 

 had seen pictures of a 1:18 Maisto Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Brush Fire Unit. Well, the other day, while in a local wholesale club I found it.

To start off, this model is a modified Jeep Wrangler Rubicon made into Jeep Fire Dept. Brush Fire Unit 313. It has a decal on each door and on the hood. On the doors it says "BRUSH UNIT 313". It also has two white stripes on each side. The vehicle comes with three removable tools, opening doors, opening hood, and an opening trunk to reveal the extinguisher and hose. The vehicle comes with a light bar that is surprisingly very detailed. It has a roll cage and a small brush guard.

The inside of this car is very well detailed. You can clearly make out everything from the dash all the way to the cup holders next to the drivers seat. The seats in the car are very well detailed to make it appear like they are cloth seats. Hanging from the middle pillar of the roll cage are two CB radios. They are very accurate in making it look like a real cord when in reality, it is plastic. This vehicle also has a nicely detailed engine. Opening the hood on this car, it is the same as opening the hood on the real thing.

The Brush Fire part it self is pretty detailed. As you can see Maisto did their homework on this one by adding the decals to the extinguisher and hose bed. The hose bed on this is lacking. The hose is painted yellow and so is the nozzle. Also, there is a chainsaw which is on the drivers side. I personally am not happy with the color and detail since the holder it is in and the saw itself are all one piece. This and the hose bed are the two worse things about the model in my opinion. The removable tools are very detailed. The shovel is the best of the three, but they do look great hung up on the side of the vehicle. The mountings for the tools also look realistic.

The rims for the car are accurate, but the tires do not have any writing on them. The spare tire is on the back. It is not removable, but I'm sure there is a way because you can spin it.

All in all, this model is my first in 1:18 scale. It is hard to get items in this scale, but this is one truck that you do not want to miss out on. Maisto is not the most detailed brand, but they are known to be VERY durable if you want to give them to a younger kid who is a little rougher on cars. This Maisto has to be one of the most detailed that I own/ have seen and that has been many. Maisto went all out on this model from the interior, to the light bar, and down to the decals on the extinguisher and hose bed. I recommend this car to anyone who collectors fire trucks, model cars, Jeeps, or just likes unique models that stand out. I also think that the model has potential to be perfect for kit bash since there are enough Fire Departments that run Jeep Wranglers.

To get one of these models I recommend visiting your local wholesale club that sells Maisto cars.