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Polaris MV850 Military ATV

LiveResin 1/35 Polaris MV850 Military ATV Kit Build Review

By Michael Benolkin

Date of Review April 2018 Manufacturer Live Resin
Subject Polaris MV850 Military ATV Scale 1/35
Kit Number 35318 Primary Media Resin
Pros Beautiful casting Cons See text
Skill Level Advanced MSRP (USD) $66.00

Build Review

With the widespread use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in asymmetric warfare, the U.S. Army has adopted a variety of combat vehicles that provide improved levels of protection and survivability against these threats. The problem with these combat vehicles is that they are heavy, lack speed and maneuverability, and difficult to use in special operations applications. Several organizations in the U.S. military sought other alternatives that could provide survivability through speed, agility, and simplicity. One of these solutions was a specialized version of the popular Polaris All-Terrain Vehicle designated the MV850. This platform retained the simplicity of speed and agility combined with special front and rear platforms for carrying the essentials into the field.

I was in the middle of a couple of projects on my bench when one online retailer received an interesting shipment of releases from LiveResin. This latest batch offered the Polaris MV850 along with a variety of options. As you would imagine, an ATV in 1/35 scale is a small project, so I ordered a number of items to create the version I wanted. When the LiveResin items arrived, I opened the ATV box and was once again impressed with the casting and engineering that LiveResin delivers. Over the subsequent few weeks, I would take the time to remove a few parts from their casting blocks and clean them up. The one thing that troubled me was LiveResin's tendency to not provide instructions in their kits. Such was the case here as well. A note on the side of the box says to download the instructions from their website, which I did. It took a while to find them since, at the time, they were mislabeled. Here's what I found:

Polaris MV850 Military ATVPolaris MV850 Military ATV

Once the other projects were off my bench, I decided to finish removing and cleaning up the parts on the ATV. Using the above instructions, I started assembly, but I found that these diagrams were not as clear-cut as they appear, but I worked through the process. While I didn't take in-progress photos of this process, you can see below the model as it would appear in Step 9, with the exception of the wheels. These were left off until painting is finished. Before I took these photos, I took the assembly and remaining parts down to the sink for a wash using Dawn de-greasing dish soap. Once the parts were dry, I applied Ammo by Mig Jimenez Black One-Shot primer on the undersides and Gray on the upper sides.

Polaris MV850 Military ATVPolaris MV850 Military ATV

As you can see from the instructions, once the basic painting is finished, I just need to add a few smaller parts, including the wheels, to complete this kit. While the basic Polaris ATV is interesting, what LiveResin offers as options will take it to the next level. For example, here is the torso of one of the SOCOM ATV rider figures LiveResin produced for this kit. It is posed standing out of the seat though his hands will still be on the handle bars. The detail on the figure is LiveResin's usual excellence as is the fit of the figure on the ATV.

Polaris MV850 Military ATV

It was time to add the wheels and small parts. Here is where this kit reveals some nasty problems. First, while the wheels do fit onto the brake disks, the rear wheels rub against the fender. There isn't much variability when installing the fenders and axles, but I altered the rear wheel mounts and moved the wheels aft a few millimeters. The real problems come with the really fine castings LiveResin produced for this kit. I was fortunate enough to purchase the optional left handle bar set with GPS as I broke almost all of them in the course of handling/painting the model. The M-bar rollover protection snapped unexpectantly and the missing part flew into low earth orbit. I used what was left to fabricate a replacement from Evergreen styrene round stock.

Polaris MV850 Military ATVPolaris MV850 Military ATV

The image on the left shows the basic MV850, the image on the right shows the unpainted optional load on the front and rear pallets.

Polaris MV850 Military ATVPolaris MV850 Military ATV

So here is what the basic LiveResin Polarix MV850 looks like. I used photos from the internet to get the basic scheme and details as there are no instructions for painting/finishing this model. I am going to set this one on the shelf for a while and tend to other projects before coming back to add the various options.

Polaris MV850 Military ATVPolaris MV850 Military ATVPolaris MV850 Military ATVPolaris MV850 Military ATVPolaris MV850 Military ATVPolaris MV850 Military ATVPolaris MV850 Military ATVPolaris MV850 Military ATVPolaris MV850 Military ATV

Stay tuned while this project continues. I'll share the parts list for this project when we're finished.