Construction of the Kinetic MRAP begins:

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A few factory damaged or missing parts had to be modified...
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10-4 I have boxes of HO in attic (planning on garage drop down layout one day), 40+ models in altered bookcase behind lexan doors. I have several groups (wwii armour) (sci-fi stuff MA.K.) (1/24 civilian autos) I should look into high shelving such as you have started. How to keep dust off when displayed this way ?

Keep up the good work and thank you for your service

Looks like I ran out of photo upload server space... Got to look up how to delete posted pics from the gallery before I can continue to post the progress pictures available...

I'll post after I figure this one out.

OK - made some space for a few extra pictures; this set of pictures brings the forum up to date with what I have completed thus far. Hope everyone likes how its turning out so far. Again, any suggestions are welcomed.

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Sounds like a good plan.





I still don't like them as they are really short and blobby. If you are looking for another figure set that is pretty cheap, try the Trumpeter Modern U.S. Army Armor Crewman set (#00424). They are still in DCUs, but much nicer figures and you could add the calf and upper arm pockets easily with some putty. Swap out some ACHs for the CVCs and you are good.



The MRAP is looking good too. Nice job.

Thanks! I need to shop around for a few more items and I have that recommended figure set suggested on my to purchase list. Also a few palm trees, light poles with downed power lines, upgrade gunners protection kits and so on... There's a lot of stuff needed that's for sure!

Guess I'll sell some of these out dated items on ebay since I will not be utilizing it on this project...

Thanks again for the input.

Hello Joaquin,

Thank you for your service.

Nice project you've got here and it looks to be going quite well!

This is of special interest to me, since my Little Brother (I still like to call him that!) served in Mosul 2004 and 2005.

—mike

Since I was in Mosul in 2007 I may as well add something. My team was actually much farther north on the Syrian border, but we flew in and out of Mosul, and our ODB was there. I also photographed a lot of my walk arounds while there. The QRF in Mosul usually had a HEMTT recovery truck in it, to haul off disabled vehicles. IED's were very prevalent in '07, and usually there was no time to load gun trucks on trailer. They just towed them away. So... It might be a nice idea to get one.

Thank you both Mike & 18Bravo for your replies and suggestions.

In regards to the HEMTT idea; I did consider it originally but the recovery vehicle is huge and my street size (only 54" L - approx.) will be pretty packed as is with the current vehicles (X6) that I have already invested in...

I am considering taking my out-dated M1025 kit pictured above and modifying it to reflect IED damage... The M1151 (x2), MRAP (x2), M1114 (x1), and the Buffalo are going to be the QRF vehicles on site and perhaps I will include the HEMTT on a pictured backdrop approaching the IED site.

Lots of choices that's for sure.

BTW, I was wondering if anyone can share a link to access various middle east market signs and related. I have taken several pictures and re-sized them to 1/35 but I would like to see more options, thanks.

JGphins

I used to sell a bunch of signs I photographed north of Mosul and had translated. (Diorama Plus used several of them in their Iraq Street scene) PM me an email address and I'll send them to you.

Good luck can't wait to see it

Some progress on the MRAP...
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Some new arrivals:

Coming along nicely, Brother. The MRAP has come out pretty well, mine has gotten moved to the WIP area for the moment. The Masterbox Marine figures are pretty decent, IIRC the SAW has the FN Minimi stock and there is one other weapon that will also need to be replaced (MB chose to include one not even in the inventory).

It's coming along nicely. I don't know how much you care about the interior being the correct color, but the dash is medium gray with a black center panel. Guages are black, not white. Otherwise, loking good.

Yeah the colors were changed during the build in purpose to make those little details such as the dash components stand out a bit. I will also add extra internal personnel; driver, gunner, rear passenger crew members, plus more electrical / communication cable lines, piping, and equipment / cargo all for eye candy effect.

Here's her rear end WIP view:

Her sexy face:

This is so going to ROCK!!! Nice job so far!

Nice going so far. I love the weathering on the tires.
J

Thanks gents for the positive feedback, it's appreciated. The tire weathering was a first, used powders & water mix for better dust effects rather then paint.

Started working on the O-GPK tonight. Running this power cable took a big effort to get it in place.

So do I! Well done!

Cheers

Romain

Here's a little progress pic which includes my custom backdrop poster and the Iraqi market kit. Still have to add various details to block 1 such as; satellite dishes, electrical pipes and power-lines, garbage in streets, building ads... I'm not too happy with the colors on the market walls; it came out darker then what I wanted... Nonetheless, I'm having fun and overall am enjoying the results thus far.

Any tips to lighten up the paint on the market would be appreciated, thanks for looking.



JGphins

Looking good, Brother! Glad to see you're still at it. Love the shot of the Muj looking down the street with bad intent. The backdrop poster is definitely a great idea, just gives it that feel.

Excellent work, very nice. I do have to say, I would be very very very leary of going into what looks like a dead end.