Hi Guys,

I'm in the early planning stage of building a M985 of the Israeli Defence Force.

I want to build the vehicle in the upper picture "pic47.jpg". Since I am no way impressed by the Italeri M977 kit, I intend to mix the Trumpy M983 and the Revell rebox of the Italeri M977. The idea is to use as few parts from the Italeri kit as possible.

Going through my pictures of IDF M985s (I got too few...), I came across the picture "PICT1094.JPG. It seems to me, there is a fairlead next to the chassis frame, like seen on the M983? But where is the self recovery which placed on the M985? Same place as on the M983? I can't really see, there is room for it in the same place as on the M983?

Can anyone clarify this?

Regards Thomas





All pictures related with this project will be uploaded here: https://1drv.ms/f/s!ArxV4JE0oY_H4hW8gN9VGsJI_ohR

You have the fairlead at the rear of the vehicle next to the crane base and you can just see the tip of the hydraulic motor that drives the winch peaking from beyond the black rubber mud flap. There would also be another frame mounted fairlead/slack adjuster between the two rear axles which cannot be seen in this photograph.

I believe everything appears as it should.

Thank you, Michael, I did find the winch in the TM after, I posted this.

Another Israeli peculiarity is this strenghtened frame around the cab. I have been unable to find any information about this? Is this an Israeli product, or is it seen on US HEMTTs too?



Regards Thomas

US HEMTTs do not have this feature as far as I have seen. It looks to me like a storage rack above the cab with the "strengthening" being the legs that attach it to the cab.

Hi Gino,

That could be the case, but I have yet to see the framework being used for luggage.

I have uploaded all my pictures of this feature here: https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=%21AMmoSB4RcKhpsH4&id=C78FA13491E055BC%2112076&cid=C78FA13491E055BC

Regards Thomas

If the project is not urgent, why not wait for the announced M1120 LHS from Trumpeter? You could us the lomg frame and the cab/engine assembly from Trumpeter and if you can get one the crane from ProArt. The cargo bed from Italeri seems good to me OOTB. BTW I`ve seen enough pics of the M985 without the cab frame.

Well, I'm not that patient

The Trumpeter M1120 has been announced for a while, and I have already cut the first plastic.

If you have photos of IDF M985s, then please share, then I will put them in the project folder.

Regards Thomas

I wish Trumpeter would get a move on with their 1120!

Hear, hear...

And the M1074/75 PLS as well 😀

My shopping list for this project:

The Trumpeter base kit:


The Italeri kit, which I will only use relevant parts from:


The Yoyager etched parts:


More Yoyager parts:


The Eduard Etched parts. I will only use the relevant parts for the loadbed, crane and other parts peculiar to the M985.




Brake parts from Shapeways


More Yoyager parts for the four MLRS rockets pods:

Also I need to decide, whether I want to use DEF Models or Yoyager Michelin XZL resin tires.

Has anyone here used the brakeparts from Shapeways?

Regards Thomas

As far as I can see, the antenna socket is not the same as on US vehicles?

Looks like the standard antenna mount used on IDF vehicles.

Has anyone here used the brake parts from Shapeways? I have never used 3D-printed parts before, so I am quite curious as to how they are?

I agree, it does indeed look the same as seen on other IDF vehicles.

There is also a rear light lamp on the left side of the rear end of the vehicle, which is peculiar to IDF HEMTTs.

I used them on my M983 and they came out great. They look really nice and hold fine with superglue.

I wonder, if somebody has pictures of a HEMTT taken during maintenance, so the wheels are not in place?

There are so many details in the chassis frame, I would like to see with my own eyes, in order to judge, whether it is worth the effort to add them to my kit.

Also I would like tips on how you recreate bolt heads. Now I use Plastruct styrene hexagonal shape, but I am having a hard time cutting them in the same length.

Regards Thomas

Well, now I have begun building the kit in earnest. Please keep in mind, this will take a long time, and updates will be infrequent.

In the following posts, I will show, what I have done so far.

The starting point is the frame, which is so to speak, the backbone of the vehicle. I work from the Technical Manual, unlike Trumpeter and Italeri





(How I do not like this texteditor, Armorama, get it fixed, for crying out loud....)

The grey bar to the far right is Trumpy part C22. It can be used as is.

The part to the left of Trumpy C22 is Italeri part #3, dressed up with braces and boltheads. This part matches parts #15 and #17 in the picture from the TM. Please note, part #17 in the TM is not quite right in the TM drawing. In real life, there is a vertical plate "hanging down" vertically from #17, which can not be seen in the TM. This vertical plate is part of Italeri part 3. See the yellow arrow in the picture below.

As to that H shaped frame brace; there should be two (one top, one bottom) on BOTH the front AND the rear main frame cross members of the HEMTT. What you are looking at in Fig. 231 is the forward frame member that anchors the torque rod for the first axle. That Figure does not cover the main front cross member, you are not far enough back yet.

Your right it seems neither Trumpy nor Italeri were looking at the manual when laying out the frame.

Front top H member with cutout to clear engine oil pan:

-

Rear top H member:

The next page from the TM:



TM part #55 is the white bar, which I made from scratch, next to Trumpy part C73, which is the part which rests below the white bar.



The size of TM part #55 is not just guesswork. Part #55 is a bar and two endplates. The bar is attached to the frame with four bolts. These four bolts can be found on the Trumpy frame parts # D1 and D3. This means, you have the size of the endplate, and since there has to be room for four bolts, the size of the bar can be judged.

The parts to the left of the picture are the parts for the forward "H". I use part # A33 from the Trumpy kit and the part # 4 from the Italeri kit. This part should be given some extra depth, hence the white plasticcard at the bottom of the part. Also it has been turned 90 degrees, so I use it as an "U", with the opening pointing upwards. See parts #50/45/46/37/38 in the picture from the TM.

TM page 3:



Not a lot to add here. I think, it is quite fascinating, how you can actually build a model from the TM. Also it should be noted, that the precise size and location of the forward "H" can be deducted from the TM drawing. Generally, the Trumpy kit is quite accurate, so you can find the relevant bolts from the TM drawing on the Trumpy kit, and thus assess the size and location of the parts inside the frame.

TM page 4:



Parts #89/90 in the TM are Trumpy parts C74 and C75, which can be used nearly as they are. I only removed the right flange from these two parts, as the real parts are not symmetrical.

Parts #94/95/96/97/98 match with Trumpy parts A5 and A6, which I have modified accordingly.



The transfer case is placed between TM parts # 89/90 and # 94/95/96/97/98, though it is not to be seen in the TM drawing.

Please have a look at Michael Koenigs build of a HEMTT M1120 LHS to see how the transfer case should be placed and the needed incline of the transfer case. It can be seen approx. halfway down on the first page of his build blog.

https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/250147

TM page 5:



The rear "H" I decided to scratch, since the Trumpy parts are no where near the real deal.