Hi
I know that the tamiya 1046 humvee is probably the better option but i have an academy 966 tow humvee, so by filling in the outside of the doors to remove the x pattern do i end up with 1046 doors.
I want a version that looks like one used by the marines in oif, i believe i read somewhere in a previous thread that the 966 was still in use but i cant find any photos.
Also if i do the same mod but put a .50 or mk19 on the top of a 1025, dont know what that would become, would this look about right.
I would go for tamiya but after getting the humvee in iraq concorde book for xmas i want to build some improvised guntruck versions as well and academy kits are so much cheaper to play around with.

The versions with the armored doors are an M1026 for the weapons carrier and an M1046 for the TOW carrier. The armored doors are not simply smoothed off standard doors. Don't think filling and sanding the standard doors would look right. The standard M1025 and M996 were used during the initial invasion of Iraq and up till about fall '03, when the insurgency began. After that, up-armoring of vehicles began. Both types were used by USMC and US Army units. You could use the Academy M996 to build an early OIF M1025 weapons carrier or M996 TOW carrier. You would still need to pdate the mirrors to the newer style, as opposed to the older, bar style in the Academy kits.

Ive got the same exact kits you are talking about and would certainly not encourage filling up the doors to cover the 'X' although it is do-able. If you were going to try to covert it to M1046 doors, you are probably better off covering with a CIP panel as it would cover the entire look of the door anyway.




If you want to make a guntruck, here is a kit that meets both your requirements. An M998 I.E.D Gun Truck made by Academy. The Perth Military Modelling Site has a great review on it.
M998 I.E.D Gun Truck


I constructed the M966 kit that you have and overall found it quite good considering the price you pay for it. Its not accurate like the Tamiya kits but slight changes here and there will result in a great looking kit. Photos of it are in my photo gallery.

Good Luck!

Peter,

The topic you have chosen has so many benefits, they can't all be counted. Reference material is everywhere, to include the veterans. Aren't too many Tiger crews on the internet unfortunately.

You have a lot of liberty with the mods for this one. Obviously, whenn possible, units will use the up-armored HMMWVs. Because of logistical shortages, these trucks tend to be hand me downs within the theater. Many units, 3/505 82nd Airborne, had only a couple for the whole battalion.

We had very primative mods for up-armoring our own trucks. Steel plate taken from liberated factories was a favorite. Very crude, but effective. We had some on a cargo HMMWV that were able to withstand near point blank shots from a MK-19 if you can believe that!!

If any of the Mods are reading, clue me in on how to post my guntruck photos for the site so you can all see how our ugly solutions. I personnally didn't work with too many Marines, but there are subtle differences. The ones that took over for us in Fallujah had 5 personnel per gun truck as opposed to our three. They had two up top and three down below...

Hi
Thanks for the info guys ,after having second thoughts i'll probably stick to doing a 966 or 1025.
The acedemy ied gun truck looks interesting so i'll get hold a couple of those to use as a basis, been collecting pics over the last couple of days.
Can anyone help Eric post his pics as they sound great.
On the subject of guntrucks there is an article in Jan 06 Military Modelcraft International which shows the conversion of an italeri 925 into a 5t guntruck, just an armoured box and a 50cal, needs more firepower.
Also found today a pic of a 21/2t truck mounting 50 over cab and a mk19 in the back, how common are these, dont seem to see many of them about.
cheers
peter