I am building the Tamiya 1/35 M1025 and M1046 in USMC markings from OIF in 2003. They will be in the NATO camo. Did the USMC use the armored doors and smoke dischargers during OIF? At what timeframe did they start using them?

Were the armored doors, CIP's and gun shield in sand or in the NATO camo? I was planning to use the Blast Models update sets.

I am also using the Echelon decals but they have zero info on the instruction sheet. The only thing they show is that the CIP's were green.



Thanks for any help you can provide.

2003 was before any armor was applied to Humvees - aside from the flak jackets on the decks and hung on doors. I looked through my photos from OIF I with 3/4 (3rd Battalion 4th Marine Regiment, McCoy's Marines) and could not find an image of a single Humvee with CIP. Although the tanks had the panels our AAVs nor apparently the Humvees did not sport any. However, nearly all of them in the images had the orange air ID panel strapped to the top of the Humvees and AAVs.
Armor didn't really make an appearance until OIF II, and even then it paled in comparison to how they are protected now. Couple steel panels bolted to sides and still doors, some steel seat plates and Kevlar blankets on the deck. Was still better than the "naked" Humvees in OIF I, although I opted to do patrols with my AAVs until forced to use Humvees.

Thanks for the info Dan. So if I do roughly 2004 then I can add the armored doors and smoke dischargers?

Here are the original Tamiya M1025 doors.


Here are the doors from the Tamiya M1046. They are different from the M1025. From photos I found, it looks like the M1025 used the same doors as the M1046 so I would need to find a set of Tamiya M1046 doors to add to the M1025.


Here are the Blast armored doors with the Tamiya M1046 doors. They look very similar.


Here are the Blast armored doors with the extra armor on the frame under the doors. This setup will be good for OIF II from 2004? These doors look similar to the ones on the M1046 so I could use these on the M1025 instead of the original Tamiya doors.

US Army 101st from July 2003 in Mosul per your decals. Eric (WXerock) has a lot of info on this event as well. Good luck!

I went ahead and put the armor on the frame and will use the armored doors as I decided I wanted to use the Blast Models armored door set so mine will be post 2003.

After I put the armor on, I found this photo of one from the Echelon Decals. The M1025 has the same doors as found in the Tamiya M1046. Too late though as I already glued the armor on so I have to go forth and do mine post 2003.
https://i.redd.it/tgp1pg42yulz.jpg

I would not use the Blast doors and Sds on any 2003-04 marine humvee model.

Jay

I went through some of my pics from '04 and I'll get them uploaded this evening or tomorrow some time. Pictures can convey far more than I would be able to explain with text.

Rummaged through my pics (and those provided by fellow Marines during and after that deployment) and picked out the best Humvee shots I have. The “armor” we had was little more than steel plates bolted to the side and steel doors to replace the plastic ones. The destroyed Humvee was one of the few hard backs we had, the one we lost Lt Wetherbee in on 12 September 2004 to IED while conducting security patrols on MSR Mobile, everyone else survived.
For the first assault into Fallujah in April, the Humvees did not even have armor. Armor was added throughout the deployment. Most Humvees in these images belonged to Alpha Company, Third Assault Amphibian Battalion during OIF II. Images with Humvees in Fallujah for the initial assault belonged to Third Battalion Fourth Marines. The image of the Ma-Deuce with SLAP rounds is just because I really like that photo – and it’s from the Humvee. There is one image that refuses to upload into Photobucket. I’ve renamed, brought into Photoshop and adjusted then tried to reupload and all with no luck. I’ll attempt again later.

OIF II 2004 HUMVEES
http://s10.photobucket.com/user/deattilio/library/Armorama/HUMVEE

Dan, thanks for taking the time to upload the photos. Greatly appreciated!