Military Illustrated Modeller – August 2019

AFV Edition 

countries in different theatres. The kit markings
cover some of these but surprisingly, the Vietnam
version is not included. I finally chose the USMC in
the Operation Desert Storm.

THE BUILD
While the market is flooded with new-tooled kits
from various new brands, I am still trying to clear
my stash and build the old kits, as I enjoy the
building process and the outcome is interesting
to look at. This AFV Club kit was first released
in 2001. The parts are moulded in olive green
plastic with vinyl tyres, twine, decal sheet, vinyl
tube, a PE metal fret and some transparent
parts. Though the kit is old-ish, surprisingly, the
detail level was still up to modern standards.

The moulding quality is also commendable, with

minimal flash and just a few ejector-pin marks

on some conspicuous parts. The suspension

system is very detailed and includes drive-shafts,

springs, shock absorbers, steering system and

air reservoirs, although most of these parts are

invisible after assembly.

The pump compartment at the rear of the truck

is nicely done and the doors are openable. The

interior of this compartment is filled with various

equipment and the moulding is very delicate and

accurate in general. However, the overall fit of the

kit was not good. The tank body together with the

pump compartment have to be assembled from

many pieces rather than an entire moulded part

and I did spend a lot of effort filling the gaps. Apart

from this, I didn't put much effort upgrading the rest

parts,, apart from the cab interior as it is too simple.

The modifications included the dashboard,

steering wheel, transmission gearshift lever and

accelerator, clutch and brake pedals. The irony

was the parts that received the most 'treatment'

are the ones that are hardest to see. But that's the

fun part of modelling, the enjoyment of knowing

it's 'in there'. The weakest part of the kit was

the decals. The print quality was also not good,

with noticeable colour clarity problems. However,

I still used them as I had no other choice. As

mentioned, the exhaust system comes with a

spark-arrestor muffler installed under the cab.

Unfortunately, I lost the original PE mesh and

needed to rebuild one myself.

The model was mainly built

straight from the box

The cab was upgraded but

this was quite invisible after

the canvas top installed