Yet another shelf queen on my workbench. An old Tamiya kit which was bought along with number of Blast update sets to model an early OIF vehicle... I started detailing the interior, did some scratch building as well. Here's how it looked before the paintjob:





And then I managed to mess up the paintjob and shelved the whole thing. Now, a few years after, I decided to finish up the model. I'm still working on the interior; the back part is almost done, there's still a lot of wiring on the SINCGARS to do, plus the driver and codriver figure. And then interior weathering with loads of dust.

Here's how it looks now:









My thanks to Brent Sauer for providing one of the smaller pieces eaten all those years ago by the carpet monster...

Mario

Great start, hope to see next steps soon

Very nice and clean work.. and great painting!

Hisham

Thanks guys. I hope to show the update soon... I'm trying to get some time with this model every day, if nothing else just staring at it for couple of minutes.

Mario

great interior job Bro

Looking very good Mario. Looks like a lot of work has gone into the interior. Can't wait to see the finsihed model.

Here's how the radio wiring looks:





I have seen paracord stretched below the Humvee roof for hanging various things on. I tried replicating that, with some wiring and radio handset hanging.

M

Great work so far. Its coming along really well. Let me know if you need anymore parts.

Thanks all for the positive comments.

Thanks Brent! Thanks again for the piece you provided and a big thanks to you and Gino for answering all those questions on how the stuff is stored inside the Humvee.

One more question. I have a large cooler with some beverages that would be a good focal point in the interior. Would it be ok if I position it on the gunners platform? I think the platform has straps, so it could be tied down?

Mario

I woul say yes only if you do not plan to have a gunner. If there is a gun up top, there should be a gunner to man it. If you don't plan on having the gun and gunner, the cooler would be fine there. If you plan on a gunner, I would remove the 20mm ammo can next to the left rear seat and put the cooler there.

There is a .50 cal up top but I don't plan on adding the gunner, just the driver and codriver... All the other seats are full of stuff, so I thought the gunner is not on board anyway?

Mario

You could leave him off, but a gun does not usually go unmanned. The gunner doesn't need a seat. His position is up in the gun ring. It's up to you though.

The problem is I don't have a figure for that position...

Mario

OK, managed to find another figure for the turret ring... from the same company as the driver/codriver figures. So, I'll have the weapons manned after all. Thanks for the suggestion.

Mario

Hi Mario,

You could also attach the rucksacks (with desert camo covers)and some other gear onto the outside hatch of the Humvee, to make space for the cooler and gunner.

Radio looks awesome.

I loved the stuff inside and will be a reference for my Toyota hilux built Bro..want me to check the stash for a gunner? I have some Blast figures too.

Thanks guys. The radio is still not finished yet, I plan to add some more details to the wiring.

Abi, thanks for the offer. I did find a gunner sitting in the hatch and ordered it via eBay. Hope it will be here soon.

Mario

Just a quick pic of the figures... still headless, but hopefully not for long. Nemrod figures are not bad, they fit Tamiya seats well, but I had to do some trimming to be able to close the Humvee doors properly. Perhaps because I added some details to the door interior.



M

Great work one the figures.

The cammo on the figures looks really good.. and the boots look very defined.. did you use something like a thin wash to make details like the shoelaces stand out?

Hisham

Great job on both camo patterns Bro.

Thanks guys. The camo was actually made pretty sloppy... for some reason I couldn't find it in me to paint figures again. That's the main reason the heads are taking so long as well.

I did a thin wash, and the details on the boots popped out. Too bad they will be completely hidden in the Humvee.

Mario

Great work, Mario. Did you handbrush everything? The paint looks so smooth.

The figures look great IMO, looking forward to the next update!


Kind regards, Sven.

Thanks guys.

Pete, yup, I handbrushed the camo.

And forgot to say thanks to Ettore (galactica) for providing me with Echelon decals for these figures... the flag patches and 4th ID patches look great and raise the realism to the next level.

Mario