Ertl issued four copies of the IH Scout II

[ranma]

Ertl's First Scout II kit was the 1976 Scout II which was molded in Orange, The second issue was the 77/78 Scout II which was molded in Yellow. Around the same time came the other two scout kits Both "Off Road" with the scout II Off Road molded in dark red, and the Scout II SS which was molded in tan/gold.

I recently bought the rare Scout II Off Road which is molded in red, But this copy maybe even more rare than it normal is. This is due to a molding error made by ertl! It seems that the interior pan is actually for the scout II SS (tan/gold) , but it's molded in the dark red! The interior pan should have just been the standard scout II with the door panels molded in,  How do I know this? because I have built two others of these rare kit's the first one was given to me by the late impcon {Gary Cook) but it lacked the decals. Number two was at the toy show in Toledo Ohio in 2021. Which leads to this one that I bought off ebay. See last photo.

Edited July 10, 2023 by ranma

[stavanzer]

Cool History!

Thanks for sharing the pics!

[ranma]

For those who want the Scout II Off Road kit, but finding one it's easy to get other wise. Just get both the scout II and the Off Road Scout II SS, and switch the interior (seats/steering wheel, Wheels ,plus the brush and off road lights. The only thing will be you won't have the decals from the Original (red) off road kit.

[Bainford]

Thanks for this. I was often curious about the Ertl Scout offerings, and often keep an eye out for the 77/78 Scout II.

[stavanzer]

Isn't it about time for Roubd2 to re-issue the Scout SSII again?

It;s been a few years, and it seems to have sold well.

[ranma]

10 hours ago, stavanzer said:

to re-issue the Scout SSII again

Who knows? But I'd actually would like to see the Off Road Scout II be finally brought back, and with the expanded decal treatment! While the one year and done '76 will more than likely never see reproduction as it's just a different grill design.. Or they could how surprise everyone  and make the 71/72 or the 73-75 Grill design that Olsen brothers had made. Highly doubtful that Round2 would go that far though!

[ranma]

Ok Here are the front grill's for The 71-80 IH Scout II And Scout SS. The scout in dead center is a '76 Which Ertl issued in Orange. To the right is the 77-78 grill . Below that is the 80 scout II. The scout above the '76 is the 71-72 grill design, next to it is the 73/74 the yellow scout II is a 75 but the grill basically about the same as 73-74. While the Scout SS bottom center had its own grill design which ran the same from start .

[Motor City]

I didn't know there were so many grille variations over the years.