The Tamiya Vietnam M151A1 arrived in the mail yesterday and I decided I couldn't wait to get it built up. Here are a couple other goodies I had laying around to go with it.....

Bravo6 MP figures
Legend M151 accessory set (this is the older one)
The little PE fret on the left is from KMC and has parts for the antenna mast.

There's not much to kit and it builds up pretty quick. Here is the underside.



Here is a comparison with the underside of a Tamiya M151A2 TOW. Not the difference in the rear suspension.

It's not easy to see but I drilled out the holes in the wheel rims. I also drilled out the lifting ring (?) in the center of the hubs. You can see it in the upper right wheel.

Before anyone says anything, I haven't gotten around to sanding the mold line on the tires yet.

Outstanding work on the wheels. Following this one.

Looking good so far. This is a great little kit. I too have the Bravo 6 MPs to use with one. You should check out the new Legend M151A1 Detailing set. It has some really nice pieces in it.

Thanks for the kind words Patrick and Gino.

As to the new Legend set, I'm going to be building this one with the top up so I figured between the driver and the top a lot of those nice details are going to be somewhat hidden.

However, I've already decided I'm going to build another one and use the new Legend set. The seats in that set look really nice.

The Legend set comes with a small PE fret that I'm going to be use for the front fender and rear bumperettes.



Front grill in place and some tiny shims to set the new PE fender on.



Rather than putty I used some plastic shims to fill the slots where the plastic bumperettes would go. Once the glue sets up I'll trim them to size.

Added a left over PE dash from Eduard's Academy M151A1 set.




I filled the holes for the shovel and ax with plastic rod. The kit comes with a choice of two different side panels for either the Army or USMC version. Parts 6 and 7, still attached to the sprue are for the USMC version.

The new dash in place.

The seat isn't very accurate but rather than scratch the entire thing I thought I'd play around a little bid and add the seat springs and seat cover retention straps. The springs are oversized but it's mostly going to be hidden by the rag top.

Coming along nicely. Actually, you will see no one of the back of the seat when the top is on. The bottom of the larger window comes to the top of the seat. Have you considered completing the front suspension? See my build article for more details.

Okay Gino, I'll see your front suspension suspension...



...and raise you ONE top rib.



Nice job on your suspension. As you can see, I took a few shortcuts on mine and simplified it a bit. I do have a couple more parts to add though.

Touché. Looking good. Nice job on it so far.

Another shot of the suspension. The "U" shaped part was made from a piece of styrene channel that I fastened around a round form. It was then dunked under boiling water for a couple seconds and then under cold water.

You can also see the hood latches which come from Academy's M151 kits. The Legend PE bumper has been attached.

Heya, Sherb!

Nice modeling, amigo! Really nice detail touches --- in particular, I dig the springs and that exquisitely-curved I bar... And the detailed suspension a la Quintiliani looks great!!!

You planning on doing a Tet diorama...?

Keep up the good work, Sherb!!

With Regards and Aloha,

Johnny B.

Hey Johnny B. thanks for checking in.

The original plan called for an extra figure from this set....


....and looked something like this. I tried moving some stuff around but just couldn't come up with a layout that worked.


I think I'm going to use the M151 for something else as I like this simpler, cropped version much better.


The guard post and barrier are from MIG and the sandbags are from Hobby Fan.

Wow! Looks like a great idea and layout for a "Sin City" dio ta me, Sherb!!!

Do you have any G.I. figures suited-up as if they just came in from a patrol and have paused on the other side of the gate to wave to, bargain with, or just oogle the boom-boom mama-san? And you could always plop down an ARVN "business manager" standing next to her or standing up in the back of the Mutt...

Really lookin' forward to this one, amigo!

Take it easy, Sherb, and keep up the good work!

With Regards and Aloha,

Johnny B.

Thats an awesome build ..I have that jeep here . i plan on building that this summer .. Recommended by Gino
Rick

Thanks Rick. It's a nice simple kit and Gino provided some nice references in his review.

Johnny B., I like the idea of some guys just in from a patrol taking a look at her.... I may have to rethink this thing.

Been a little slow with the updates this week. Doing some 1:1 scale painting in the house. Hopefully I'll have an update to post during this weekend.

I like the simple fix to the upper control arms on the front suspension. No one else (manufacturers) has seen fit to include these yet, and your idea will have me adding these to my 80% completed M151A1.

Like Gino said, if the top is in place, there is no view of the back seat. The front seats had a similar spring backing, and I believe one of the aftermarket sets really nails the total look of each seat assembly.

I'm probably going to rob my older Tamiya kit of the siren and red light for the current build, and add another spare tire cover. This was a sheet metal disc, as wide as the steel wheel of the spare, painted white with MILITARY POLICE placed around the edge, sometimes a unit symbol in the center.

I'm finishing the A1 at the same time as the CMK MUNGA "jeep" vehicle, finishing the second one as a late 70's Bundeswehr Feldjager truck. Interesting build, like the M151, almost completed.

Yup, like these. I plan on doing the same on mine.

Great build, great thread!

Thanks for the isnpiration.

Cheers,

Christophe

A small update but there isn't much left to do. Right now everything is tacked in place with putty.

PE fender in place. Some brackets added that would hold ax. I decided to leave off the radio and antenna mast and instead added an empty PE radio rack.


A very crude interpretation of the shovel holder.


Figure is in place. The cover cover is a little askew, it's going to be a tight fit.

Thanks for the comments and encouragement guys.

I'd been thinking about the spare tire cover. The disc would be easy, it's getting the lettering that's the hard part. I think I've got some dry transfer letting I could use. I love a good challenge, keep pushing me....

Those spare tire covers where a locally made thing. I've seen them in plywood too.

Since those covers are so thin, you might get away with using an inkjet printer and printing it onto some matte photo paper or something. I've seen them tied to the spare tire with bailing wire as well. The spare tire mount doesn't actually protrude far enough to go through the cover without some modification. The spare time mount has a pin that allows the spare to be padlocked onto the vehicle... sometimes this was used with some wire as well.

Additionally, it was typical to paint Military Police on the front of the windshield bracket... using the plate that covers the windshield wiper mechanisms as a guide. Other times, it was a removable sign - another opportunity to maybe just use an inkjet printer on matte photo paper.

Also - check out some photos of how the front seat cushion backs are really made. You'll see they really just slip over the seat back frame and it just takes a little putty to cover those frame bars in the kit version.

You'll also notice that there's a flat metal piece on the top bows that connects to the windshield... the canvas top is supposed to snap around this. There's also a webbing strap that dangles off the top bows when they are up... used to tie them down when folded down.

A little work with some dry transfers tonight.

When my gut said "it's round enough, leave it alone" I should have listened....Lets call that nick on the bottom in country damage.