A few 1/35 IFV's and AFV's

[Old Wombat]

Bronco is marketing its products at that portion of the market that wants more detail than a basic styrene kit but not as much as a high-end mixed-media kit. In that, they're doing quite well.

[Ramba]

Bronco is marketing its products at that portion of the market that wants more detail than a basic styrene kit but not as much as a high-end mixed-media kit. In that, they're doing quite well.

The Bronco M1114 kits are nice kits and very detailed. I was just griping but some of the PE detail was unnecessary.

[Ramba]

While griping about the Bronco M1114 PE parts, I realized it was unfair to Bronco. I went and started the Legend Ibis Tek bumper which also deserved just as much griping but it is a resin and PE aftermarket set which was expected to take as much effort to assemble.

Some parts had a lot of flash as seen in the photo below.


The main bar was warped. After removing it from the casting block, I dipped it in some hot water and straightened it out.


Some of the resin blocks were quite thick and took forever to remove carefully.


Legend gives you separate teeny, tiny bolt heads to place on top of the bumper. You have to remove each and every single bolt head separately. The much deserved griping part.


One of the brackets for the end of the tow bar is broken and was missing from the bag.


Here it is partially assembled. The two end bars, the three canter bars and the two support bars all had to be cut to size to fit. I still need to add the bolt heads and bumper pads. It was a real pain to assemble as the two ends of the resin bumper had to be connected to the two PE parts in the middle. There were no attachment points. You had to glue the end of the really thin PE to the really thin end of the resin and it was a PITA trying to keep them aligned and attached at the same time.


After tackling the Legend Ibis Tek bumper, I moved on to the Academy M1151 armored doors. Again, I unfairly griped about the Bronco M1114 but the Academy kit deserves almost as much griping. Academy gives tiny pins to attach to the doors for the ballistic window frame to attach to. There are 6 pins per door so 24 pins total. They also give you a separate window frame for the window to sit in inside the window frame already in the door.

[Ramba]

Comparing the Legend Ibis Tek bumper (right) to the Bronco kit supplied Ibis Tek bumper (left) and the Legend bumper is not as wide as the Bronco kit bumper.


From reference photos, looks like the Legend one is a bit smaller than it should be and the Bronco one is too wide. Seems the width should be somewhere in between Legend and Bronco.

[Old Wombat]

To me, the Legend one looks closer to the actual item, as per the photo's.

[Ramba]

To me, the Legend one looks closer to the actual item, as per the photo's.

I agree, the Legend set is a little closer as you said but still looks weird compared to the reference photos. It just isn't wide enough. The Bronco one is definitely too wide though. Here are a couple more reference photos and I think the real one is somewhere between the Legend set and the one from the Bronco kit. I will more than likely use the Legend set though. I only have one of the Bronco kit Ibis Tek bumpers but I need two. I have two of the Legend sets so will have to go with the ones from Legend unless I can find one from someone who didn't use theirs from their Bronco kit that is willing to sell/trade it.

[Ramba]

While I ponder the Ibis Tek bumper situation, I started another HMMWV kit. This time the Tamiya M1046 TOW Missile Carrier. It was actually started back in 2018 but was packed away because my airbrush died that summer. I restarted it a few days ago.


Going for this one from OIF, 2003. I will be adding the M240 and sand bags. I won't be adding the flak vests as I would have to scratch build them and while they look simple enough, they do have creases and folds in the material and I am not skilled enough in scratch building creases and folds.


Some of the major sub-assemblies started. Some parts were previously painted from way back in 2018 but that was when my airbrush died so I never got to paint the rest.


Sub-assemblies test fitted. Sand bags are resin from a Black Dog set made for the M551 Sheridan. I cut them to fit the HMMWV. The M240 is from Live Resin.

[Ramba]

With restarting the one Bronco M1114 from 2018, I had started the second Bronco M1114 seeing both will be in the same overall sand camo. After starting the second Bronco M1114, I had decided to start an Academy M1151 as well which would also be in the same overall sand camo. While on a roll doing those three HMMWV kits, I decided to start a fourth which was the Tamiya M1046 but that one will be in the NATO camo. While still rolling along with those four HMMWV kits, I had started a fifth. This time it was the Zvezda Special Forces Stinger HUMMER kit. It is actually a rebox of the Italeri kit.


Unfortunately, the Zvezda/Italeri body and hood were horribly warped.




I tried fixing the warped parts but no matter what I did, they stayed warped. I used hot water and a hair dryer but to no avail, they kept bouncing back to being warped. So, after testing my patience for a few days, I needed to find replacements for the body and hood. Unfortunately I couldn't find any Italeri replacements but I did find on Ebay the Academy M998 body and hood.


Test fitting the Academy parts on the Italeri chassis. The rear alignment pins lined up perfectly but the front alignment pin was off. Other than that, the parts fit quite well.



The version I am doing is a USMC Force Recon from OIF, 2003.


For the .50 cal, I am using the Legend version with the pedestal mount specific to the one in the reference photo above.



That specific USMC Force Recon HMMWV has the later style hood vent. I am using a Legend resin one to replace the kit hood vent. The Legend part was made for the Tamiya kit and was just a tiny bit smaller than the Academy part. Once I cut out the Academy part, I had to glue in some really thin plastic strips on the sides of the cut out area for the resin part to fit properly.




As usual, the body and hood are only test fitted to the chassis for easier painting. The seats are from the Tamiya M1025 kit. I scratch built the radio rack from sheet plastic.

[Frank3k]

That's a great save on the Zvezda/Italeri kit! I wonder what other HMMWV kits can be crossed like that. Trumpeter makes a Chinese licensed version of the HMMWV that is (or was) pretty cheap.

[Ramba]

That's a great save on the Zvezda/Italeri kit! I wonder what other HMMWV kits can be crossed like that. Trumpeter makes a Chinese licensed version of the HMMWV that is (or was) pretty cheap.

After working on the Academy M1151, two Bronco M1114's, Tamiya M1046, three Tamiya M1025's and three Italeri M998 kits, they all assemble almost exactly the same. That Academy M998 body fit pretty good on the Italeri chassis except for the one front alignment pin which wasn't a big deal. I am sure you can cross fit parts from one to the other for all the other different kits too.

Yes, I have the Hobby Boss Meng Shi kit. I am making mine as a what if version though. I am adding the  Legend Dillon Aero M134D set to mine.



I want to do the Hobby Boss Meng Shi similar to the HMMWV in the Monster Hunter movie with Milla Jovovich. Mine won't be from the movie but I like the setup with the M134. It will just be some sort of mercenary pimped out version. The one in the movie looks like a US HMMWV but I only have the Hobby Boss Meng Shi left. I won't be adding the shield in front of the M134 though as the one from the movie.



Actually, I have the Tamiya/Italeri M242 Bushmaster HMMWV kit still to do. I am building it with the roof as shown on the box art but I won't be using the M242 Bushmaster gun on it though. I am replacing it with a Live Resin SAGII turret. Not sure of the weapons that will be mounted on the SAGII turret just yet. The M242 Bushmaster gun will be used on a different what if vehicle. The Tamiya/Italeri M242 Bushmaster HMMWV kit is going to be yet another what if. I just haven't decided on everything to add to it yet.

[Gingie]

The version I am doing is a USMC Force Recon from OIF, 2003.

GENERATION KILL! ooo-rah!

[Ramba]

GENERATION KILL! ooo-rah!

I hadn't seen it when it first came out but I binge watched that series last year.

[Ramba]

Worked on the second Legend Ibis Tek bumper. Both posing together.



Also worked on the other Live Resin MCTAGS turrets for the Bronco M1114's.


One side was warped and I CA glued it to the rear part and it snapped in two places. It will need some filling and sanding to get rid of the broken seam lines.


Here are the two Legend Ibis Tek bumpers and three Live Resin MCTAGS turrets posing for their family portrait. The two Ibis Tek bumpers and two of the MCTAGS turrets go on the Bronco M1114's. The third MCTAGS turret is for the Academy M1151.

[Old Wombat]

 

[Ramba]

I want one of these.
https://twitter.com/SNaFu_1313/status/1584769186169253888

[Old Wombat]

Yes, please!

M45 Quadmount (minus the front armour) + (4 x (M134 7.62x51mm NATO mini-guns)) = What's not to love!?

[Story]

Word is that's from the BIG SANDY shoot, someone did the math and calculated the mad minute cost @ $7k.

Look for all of these to appear in the upcoming Real Life Apocalypse.
https://bigsandyshoot.com/gallery-spring-2022/

[Ramba]

Word is that's from the BIG SANDY shoot, someone did the math and calculated the mad minute cost @ $7k.

Look for all of these to appear in the upcoming Real Life Apocalypse.
https://bigsandyshoot.com/gallery-spring-2022/

Yeah, the cost to fire it is crazy! I still want one though 

I would love to make one in 1/35 but even the cost of it in that scale is pretty high.

Yes, please!

M45 Quadmount (minus the front armour) + (4 x (M134 7.62x51mm NATO mini-guns)) = What's not to love!?

It's freaking awesome isn't it?

[Old Wombat]

Oh! Yeah!

[Kerick]

You’ll need a 5 ton truck just to carry the ammo!

[Ramba]

You’ll need a 5 ton truck just to carry the ammo!

The MTVR would be a good one to mount it. Trumpeter makes one.
https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/image/10712904/10/2

[Ramba]

Test fitting the doors and MCTAGS turrets on the two Bronco M1114's and the Academy M1151. They are as usual, only dry fitted. The roof turret rings on the two Bronco M1114's need to be slightly enlarged to fit the turret ring of the MCTAGS turrets for the turrets to sit flush. The MCTAGS turret fits the roof turret ring on the Academy M1151 as is so no extra work to get the turret to fit.

[Old Wombat]

 

[Buzzbomb]

Stack 'em up.

Nice work

[Ramba]

Stack 'em up.

Nice work

Thanks! Trying to get as much as I can before they are ready for primer. Still quite a few sub-assemblies to do on those three plus I also still have to do more sub-assemblies on the other two. With winter rapidly approaching and the cold weather already setting in, I won't be able to prime them until next spring and hopefully get them camo painted by the summer. I also have another 15 or so in the queue waiting for their camo paint. I will be moving some around to get some done before others though.