The Pacific Theater of Operations (PTO) was a bitter campaign for Allied forces as they pressed fanatical Japanese defenders back towards their homeland. By the end of WWII, the Pacific War had resulted in the deaths of some 6 million soldiers and 18 million civilians. One of the costliest battles was the capture of the volcanic island of Iwo Jima from 19 February-26 March 1945. Codenamed Operation Detachment, this first taking of a Japanese home island eventually embroiled some 70,000 US Marines. One of the vehicles the Marines relied on to get them onto Iwo Jima was the LVT-4, also referred to as the Water Buffalo. This amphibious tractor had a ramp at the rear to allow troops to disembark after the vehicle had swum ashore. With a total of 8,351 LVT-4 vehicles produced, it was the most common version of the LVT family.

Dragon is releasing its first ever 1/72 scale plastic kit of the Water Buffalo, so naturally it employs all-new moldings. The arrival of the LVT-4 adds nicely to the armored LVT(A)-1 and LVT(A)-4 vehicle kits that are already available in the 1/72 lineup. It has crisp detail, with elements like the weld seams and complex suspension system carefully reproduced. The LVT-4 comes with DS tracks so that detail on the links can be as fine as possible. The rear ramp can be portrayed either raised or lowered, plus the inclusion of a 4x4 truck, an icon of WWII, provides the potential for an instant Pacific War diorama. The smaller vehicle comes with a mounted .50-cal machine gun, and the truck can be parked inside the LVT-4, or it can be shown embarking or even disembarking during a fierce amphibious assault on an Iwo Jima beach. Modelers have a novel diorama straight from the box with this new LVT-4 and 4x4 truck combo!