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Cougar 6x6 JERRV - Bomb Patrol

What we have here is the Panda Hobby Cougar 6x6 JERRV of the U.S. Navy Explosive Ordnance Team stationed in Afghanistan. I roughly assembled the model to represent one of the vehicles seen on the TV show “Bomb Patrol – Afghanistan.” Most of the reference I used was found on the internet and fast forwarding, rewinding, and playing in slow motion, past episodes of “Bomb Patrol.”

As stated, the model roughly represents one of the two vehicles on the show, the one with the Gyrocam of course. Watching the episodes, I noticed that there was no FBCB2 or DVE (Drivers Vision Enhance) system installed. Therefore I left the pieces of the kit off, which was a good choice since the camera to the DVE system is not included in the kit.

I had to scratch build the control box and monitor for the Gyrocam since one was not provided in the kit.

As I noted in my “In Box” review, I have no idea what radio system was trying to be represented. So that was changed with an aftermarket radio. In addition, the missing DUKE control box was added to the “comm’s” rack along with the vehicle intercom system. Along with new “comm’s” for the interior, I’ve added the MENG and AFV Club (which was provided in the kit) TALON Robots. On the gunners stand and on the explosive cabinet are the MENG control boxes for the robots. Next to the closed control box, are ammo cans which carry the blasting caps for all EOD demo charges. A spool of “DET CORD” sits between the drivers and passengers seats.

Last significant change to the kit is the omission of the water can rack located on the rear left of the vehicle. This was removed to accommodate the “tough box” which I suspect carrying the EOD bomb suit.

Like Panda’s M-ATV and Cougar 4x4 kit, this kit was no exception when it came to the instructions. I’ve provided corrections on the scanned instructions that I found during construction. Using the Cougar 4x4 kit instructions, I’ve included a pencil sketch for the placement of the instrument panel decals.

Finally, all the painting was done with Tamiya and Vallejo paints by hand and with a Badger 150 airbrush. Everything was sealed with Model Master Clear Flat Acryl. I didn’t want a “been to the field for days” vehicle, so some subtle chipping was done along with just a dusting of the tires with MIG Productions Pigments.

Putting aside all the complaints and wrong measurements, Panda Hobby kits are not that bad. Don’t get me wrong, this kit is not for the inexperience modeler. Building a kit like this JERRV just enhances the builder’s skills. In my opinion, it’s what’s makes modeling fun.

Hope you all enjoy and feel free to ask questions and critique whether good or bad.