FMTV/LMTV History

The Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV) is a series of fourteen variant vehicles based on a common chassis, which vary by payload and mission requirements. The Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles consists of tactical wheeled vehicles based on a common truck cab, chassis, and internal components and two tactical trailers. The FMTVs, all automatic, come in 14 variations of 2.5-ton cargo and van models and 5-ton cargo, tractor, van, wrecker, tanker and dump-truck models. Eighty percent commonality of parts — same engines, transmissions, drivelines, power trains, tires, cabs — in the new trucks is expected to save the Army millions of dollars in maintenance costs. Lighter-weight construction will cut fuel costs dramatically. The vehicle’s cab-over design — in which engine, fluids and hydraulics are all accessible in one place, under the cab — makes regular maintenance much easier.

The FMTV family is built by the Stewart and Stevenson Services Company of Texas. It is based on the European Steyr design. In October 1991, the Army awarded a 5-year contract, valued at $1.2 billion, to Stewart and Stevenson for the production of 10,843 vehicles. On August 20, 2012, Oshkosh announced it had delivered the 10,000th FMTV truck to the US Army. Recently, new FMTV trucks have been seen with a redesigned front grill and bumper than older models.

Review

Legends Productions provides this very nice resin set to update and add some details to the Trumpeter M1078 and M1083 FMTV kits. This small set adds a great deal of exterior details and updates the front and rear of the truck with the latest grill and bumpers. There are 19 resin parts, 2 medium-sized PE frets, a length of thin wire, and two metal rods in this set.

The parts include:
• Front bumper and grill
• Rear bumper and frame member
• 2 SINCGARS antennas bases and PE antenna mounts
• 1 hydraulic fluid reservoir
• 4 PE mud flaps
• 4 shackles
• 2 door handles
• PE bed support rails
• 6 resin marker lights
• Wire grab handles
• A Stewart and Stevenson label plate for the cab front
• Various smaller PE details applied around the truck
• A runner of 64 resin bolt heads

The myriad of parts are all crisply molded without any bubbles or air holes evident. The casting is top-notch, which is standard with Legends Productions sets. This set gives you all the extra detail parts to really bring your M1078 or M1083 to life. The duplicate parts are also nice in case the builder breaks a few or sacrifices them to the carpet monster along the way. The set is very complete and well detailed, adding parts that are either missing from the Trumpeter kit or are below par for details. The instructions are also very clear and come on a two-sided, glossy, full color page that easily shows how to assemble the clearly labeled parts.

Conclusion

This is a great set that will accent your FMTVs well. It has everything you need to add to the vehicle to bring it up to date. Legends Productions has another winner in this set. It is perfect for any FMTV from Iraq, Afghanistan, or currently seen on military bases and in training areas today.