M-1025 HUMVEE
by Brian Cavet
This is another gem of a kit from Tamiya. It has no tricky spots in the assembly and is very well detailed.
On this kit I added some detail to the mk.19 grenade launcher in the form of chains (from Aber) and locking pins on the mounts. I also added some Grandt Line bolt heads to the mirror mounts to finish them off.
The insides of the doors were modified so I could show the windows rolled down. This is fairly simple: just remove the horizontal piece at the lower edge of the widow opening. Then install the window with white glue. Always use white glue when you install clear parts. It won’t damage the clear plastic and it’s easy to clean up any overages with water.
I painted it in NATO 3 color scheme. Using Tamiya NATO colors XF-67, 68, and 69 (NATO Green, NATO Brown, and NATO Black, respectively) I thinned them about 40% with Tamiya thinner and then airbrushed it on. NATO Green was base coated overall then I drew the camouflage pattern on with a pencil. I do this to make sure that I add the other colors in the right places.
For weathering, I mixed up lighter shades of the 3 NATO colors to give it the dusty
appearance. Thinning light red brown (70% thinner), I sprayed several coats on the model. When it looked the way I wanted it to, I went back and added some more weathering with pastels, enhancing the dusty appearance.
The wheels were lightly sanded, then dunked in the pastel mixture. After wiping off the high spots, I sealed the wheels with acrylic thinner.
This process had to be repeated several times on each tire to get the desired effect. I made a tape template for the windshield to represent the cleaned wiper area. The bags on the front are from Legend Production M1Aa update set.
Overall, this is a great kit and you can swap doors with the newly released M-1046 to make several different variants.