M-ATV MRAP Upgrade Sets (for Kinetic) - 1:35 Eduard

[Mike]

M-ATV MRAP Upgrade Sets (for Kinetic)

1:35 Eduard (36221, 36222, 36213, 36224 & XT181)

The new(ish) Kinetic kit of the M-ATV has been with us a little while now, and Eduard have now produced these five sets to improve the overall detail of this Mine Resistant, Armour Protected All-Terrain Vehicle that is to replace the HUMVEE in the years to come. Designed and manufactured by Oshkosh, this purposeful vehicle has been much photographed since it was unveiled to the public.

The new sets are broken down into sensible areas, so that the modeller can pick and choose which interest them, as follows:

Interior (36213)

This set consists of two frets of Photo-Etch (PE), one of which is 7cm x 4cm and pre-painted with instrument panels and data-plates from around the interior. The larger unpainted brass fret is 14cm x 9.5cm, and contains the balance of the set. It includes tread plates and pedal surfaces for the driver's area, a complete re-vamp of the dashboard instrumentation using the afore-mentioned pre-painted parts, with the main panel made up from a lamination of two parts to get the 3D look and detailed instrument faces. A pair of equipment tables/chassis are built up to house the kit equipment, which also gets an upgrade with detail parts and instrument faces. A scrap diagram gives the correct location of the finished items.

The balance of parts is made up of parts for the turret ring in the roof, which has a set of straps for the gunner to rest his backside on, and neat turret ring detail part. The doors get latch and handle detail, and the interior of the roof receives a number of panels around the angled interior edges.

Seatbelts (36222)

Whilst it might seem odd that the seatbelts aren't included in the interior set, there is good reason, as they are a bona-fide set in themselves. A better title for the set would be as a seat upgrade set, because not only are a full set of crew seatbelts included for all four seats, but there are also some rather substantial upgrade parts for the seats themselves, which are contained on a brass fret 7cm x 5cm in size. These include additional framing detail as well as brackets and attachment rings for various pieces of equipment. The belts are all pre-painted on both sides and contained in a nickel plated fret that is 7cm x 6cm approximately.

You will need to take care when assembling the five-point harnesses on the seats, as additional buckles, adjustment straps and quick-release connectors are added during the process. The shoulder straps extend through the back of the headrests, attaching realistically to the additional parts in the set for correct mounting and added detail. All of the seats have four additional straps that link to the roof on four small brackets, which must be positioned on the roof part (C3) for the front seats, which could be rather tricky to get lined up, so have some tweezers and your best concentration to hand. The rear seats have a bracket that attaches to the bulkhead behind them, which makes the job a little easier, but I can foresee quite a few of these parts finding their way into the bin due to their small size and difficulty in installing them.

Exterior Set (36221)

This is the largest set of the bunch, containing three brass frets of 14.5cm x 9cm, and plenty of parts to keep you busy. This is reflected in the instructions, which overflow both sides of an A4 sheet onto an additional A5 sheet. An array of brackets and scab-plates are contained on the frets, all of which will help to improve the three-dimensional detail of the outer skin, which includes the shaped bottom of the vehicle's hull. Lightened tread plate pieces are added to the tubular running boards, the front bumper/fender arrangement is detailed with more brackets and plates, as is the windscreen area, which also gets a pair of windscreen wipers with folded lower parts where the return springs are hidden on the real things.

The rear wheel arch stowage bins get a make-over with lightened wheel arch liners, and a new lid that is places on top of the existing bin after removal of the moulded in lip. The rear of the aft crew area bulkhead is detailed with new strengthening bars and a large box attached to the bulkhead with lightened angle-brackets. The wing mirrors receive new brackets, and the all-important front grille gets a replacement laminated grille with Oshkosh badge and various brackets on the sides of the bumpers.

The open rear compartment is virtually replaced by a complex PE assembly, which is mostly contained on the second sheet, and here you are presented with a single instruction step that gives little clue as to how the parts go together. The key however seems to be three parts, 61, 62 and 63, which form the top of the assembly, folded into a square C-shape, onto which the various large sheets attach. Take care in aligning these parts, and the rest should just fall into place. Once the basic assembly is finished and the glue cured, you can then add the ancillary detail parts, of which there are many. After installation of the new scale-thickness aft section, a more detailed set of angle brackets are added to the rear, which rear spare tyre. A few extra details are added to the base of the top turret, as well as some additional parts inside, which then leads to upgrades to the optional weapons. The kit supplied Mk.19 Grenade Machine Gun receives detailed handgrips and iron sights, plus a large cage that holds the new PE ammo-box in place to the left of the breech. If you choose the M2 .50cal machine gun, a cooling jacket, iron sights, handgrip and a more detailed mounting bracket are added, plus a detailed ammo-box with a link of ammo between box and gun.

A massive set with lots to commend it.

OGPK Overhead Cover Set (36224)

All services love their acronyms, and this one stands for Objective Gunner Protection Kit, which is a carry-over from the HUMVEE, which has been retained for the M-ATV. The kit supplies the basic parts, but as always the thickness of injection moulded parts is limited by the process. The set contains a large brass PE sheet 14cm x 9.2cm, and a small (5.5cm x 3cm) sheet of film with the small window shapes printed onto it.

The major parts are quite large and take a large proportion of the sheet, and fit together in much the same way as the kit parts, having a large canopy over the side panels to provide extra protection from above and behind to the gunner. Each face has a small window of bullet-resistant glass, set into protruding box mounts, which are supplied on the sheet, requiring folding into shape. The correct film is then glued inside with PVA or GS-Hypo cement to finish the assembly, and providing you can maintain access to the interior, it would be as well to install the glazing after main painting is complete.

The assembly attaches to the kit supplied turret base, which receives some improvements, and a stowage box attaches to the raked rear of the "turret". The front gun-shroud is built up in much the same way as the rest of the set, and attaches to the weapon mount by a PE bracket.

A simple set that will improve the scale look of the top crew served weapon station.

Mask Set (XT181)

This set is made from black pre-cut self-adhesive vinyl, and includes masks for all of the glazed portions of the model. Eight small squares and two L-shaped pieces cover the glazing on the OGPK turret, the side windows are also covered, and the two-part windscreen is provided with two parts that have wiper-tracks cut into them so that once main painting is over, the outer edges can be removed for the weathering process, and the centres of the screen can be left clean where the wiper-blades have been doing their job. Quite a clever inclusion!

Conclusion

The kit is nice to begin with, but with the addition of these PE sets and some ET Model resin wheels, it will be a stunner once painted and weathered using the AK Interactive book as your guide. Of course, you can pick and choose which sets you get, depending on your budget and your interest, but if you could only get one, the exterior set would be my choice, as it is massive and comprehensive.

Highly recommended.

Review sample courtesy of

[vandy1]

perhaps i should treat myself to this little lot - not cheap for all of them but worth it as ive a base kit sitting here. Another covert operation to get them in the house!

Cheers.

DSJ

[Mike]

At least they're easy to slip inside your pocket

[vandy1]

yes they are but its sneaking them back in with the kit later on to work on it thats the problem