Revell 1/72 HMMWV M998 and M1025 Kit Build Review

By John Kelley

Background

The high-mobility multi-purpose wheeled vehicle or is it is better known the HMMWV, has been in military service since 1979. A familiar vehicle that can be found not only on news, but on any program that features a military story line. The HMMWV can be found in a variety of roles, from the humble troop carrier to the Stinger equipped anti-aircraft vehicle. It has replaced the Jeep and the Gama-Goat vehicles in U.S. service. But the HMMWV is not strictly a U.S. vehicle. It has also been exported to a variety of countries and is popular in both foreign and U.S. militaries. It can be found with just tarp covers protecting the troops or the latest armor to protect against IEDs.

While best known for its service in Iraq, it has played a very important role in Afghanistan for the roads are so narrow, that only the HMMWV can get through. It is a popular vehicle for the modeler, too and is being produced in 1/35th, 1/48th, and, for the subject of this review, 1/72nd. No doubt, the HMMWV will last as long as the Jeep.

The Kit

Revell of Germany has produced a double kit of the HMMWV. It includes the M998 Cargo/Troop Carrier and the M1025 Armament Carrier. The kit actually gives you not just objects for the one vehicle, but actually two. You get the hard top M998, but the Cargo/Troop Carrier can have either bench seats or a canvas top. This is a nice option for the modeler who may not want to do strictly the canvas top vehicle.

Construction

M998 Armament Carrier:

Starting with Step 1, we begin building the chassis. I found it easier to do Step 1, which is assembling the shocks, Step 2, which is to add the differentials, and then, before doing Step 3, I skipped to Step 4 and added the engine, drive shafts, and power take-off. Then I went back to complete Step 3 and added Parts 5 and 6.

When I built the first one, I followed to directions to the letter in this first page, but found it difficult to add the drive shafts because the tire rod assemblies would interfere with locating the drive shafts in the holes of the differentials. After completing the chassis, I went ahead and painted it and the body pan Part 12.

There are so many hidden spots in the chassis, it is difficult to paint it with everything assembled. In this case, I painted the body pan Tamiya NATO Green XF-67. The chassis I painted Modelmaster Aircraft Interior Black. In my research for chassis colors, I found that vehicles that were fairly new had the chassis frames painted black. If they had been in service for a while and had gone through repainting, the chassis could very easily be painted the body color. Revell suggests painting the chassis the body color. Either way is correct. I also painted Parts 14 and 15 Green before installing them into the chassis.

After this, I continued onto Steps 8 and 9 and began assembling the interior and sides of the kit. Step 10 was installing the seats. I painted these and waited until the entire model was painted and then installed the seats. Step 11 has you gluing the steering wheel to the windshield. I found it easier to leave the steering wheel off so that I could install the clear plastic for the windshield. When I assemble a kit, I usually build everything together. Revell has you install the glass on Step 13. Since I build then paint, I found it easier to skip this step until the end. While we're on the subject of the windscreens, you get a long strip of clear plastic to cut the screens out with. The pros to this are a very clear window and scaled thickness. The cons to this are you have to cut each window out individually.

Revell gives you the dimensions, but no scale drawing to cut the windscreen and side windows out. I used a piece of painters tape, drew the dimensions on the tape, cut it out and applied it to the plastic. After this, I cut each piece using the tape as a guide. I set these aside to glue in after all painting was accomplished. Step 15 gives you the option of an armored louver for the hood. I chose this option for this version, since it was armored anyway. I completed the hood assembly and then went to the wheel assembly; and this was my first mistake.

I ignored that Step 18 and 19 were separate. There is a good reason for that. The wheels on Step 18 go on the front. The wheels on Step 19 go on the back. Guess what? That's right, I glued them on wrong. This goes to show that you need to pay attention to the instructions. Especially in this case as the detail on the wheels is so fine that after I painted them, I didn't notice the difference until I re-read the instructions. I would suggest after you have painted the wheels that you keep each assembly separate and marked so you won't make the same mistake I made.

Going on to Step 20, I painted the underside of the hood Tamiya Green and everything else that was visible from the front or underneath. I went ahead and glued the doors on to make painting easier. I skipped to Step 22 as I would apply the wheels later. For Step 22, I left the cover as one piece so no figure was included and I glued my machine gun in the forward position whereas Revell has you glue it backwards. This was just personal preference and not a criticism of the instructions. I did not add the mirrors until everything was finished, and I kept the top loose for photographic purposes. I decided to put bumper assembly #48 in place instead of the standard bumper #30. The box art shows the M1025 with this bumper and I just thought it looked neat on that armored version.

M998 Cargo/Troop Carrier:

Everything that I did on the M1025 applies here, but there are some things that you should watch out for. On Step 28, I glued the side panels 58 and 57 in place first. I then placed the cab divider Part 59 in its place, but found it was too wide. I trimmed the edges with a file until it fit in place. Also, I cut the clear plastic to fit inside the opening of the cab divider and the cargo bed cover, rather than take a piece that was oversized and glue it to the back. This gave it a neater appearance. When I finally attached all the clear pieces to both vehicles, I used ordinary white glue which held them in place quite well.

Painting

The M1025 was painted overall NATO Green XF-67. The camouflage was painted with Tamiya NATO Black XF-69 and NATO Brown XF-68. I used a Tamiya HG Superfine Airbrush and used a 50/50 mixture of paint and thinner. The compressor settings were between 10 and 20psi.

After the paint had dried, I gave it a coat of Pledge with Future Shine Floor Finish and gave it 24 hours to dry. I then gave the model a wash of Windsor and Newton Lamp Black and dry brushed the details with Tamiya XF-55 Deck Tan. The wheels were painted Aircraft Interior Black and the tires dry brushed XF-63 German Gray. I then carefully dry brushed the wheel assembly with the Deck Tan color.

The seats were painted Olive Drab. I then applied the decals which went on quite easily, but I did use Micro Sol to get the decals to snuggle down on the details. I did notice I had to soak them for about three minutes before they would slide-off the sheet. I did make sure to trim as close as possible to each decal to eliminate silvering as much as possible, and then applied a second coat of the Future to protect the decals.

In the past, I have used Modelmaster Flat Coat, but I am becoming less happy with it because every time I apply it, it leaves a shine rather than a flat finish. So this time, I tried Tamiya TS-80 Clear Flat in spray can. This is one reason why I clear coated the second time as they warn you not to apply it over decals. With the second clear coat on I had no problems, and I obtained a nice flat finish. The last thing was to paint the headlights and marker lights silver. I then painted the taillights Tamiya Clear Red X-27 and the mark lights and turn signals Clear Orange X-26. I then coated all lights with a drop of Future.

For the M998, I painted it Modelmaster 4720 Sand. The tires were painted Tamiya XF-63 German Gray. After clear coating with the Future, I washed the model with Windsor and Newton Van Dyke Brown. I then heavily dry brushed the model with a 50/50 mix of Modelmaster 4769 Flat White and Sand. This was to give it a faded and used appearance. Everything else was the same as to M1025.

Conclusions

This was an easy kit to put together with very good fit throughout. I was disappointed in the wheels, specifically there is no tread pattern on the tire. This is a shame as Revell of Germany have made some of the finest tread patterns in this scale in the past. The FUCHS and the LUCHS have some of the most accurate tread patterns I have seen, but since these two kits have been released, Revell of Germany has simplified the tires on most of their kits. I hope this is a trend they will reverse in the future.

Regardless of the tires, I recommend this kit to anyone interested in modern armor. While this was a sample that was provided to me, I am interested in buying there latest version which is a M1025 with a TOW missile and an ambulance version as well. The kit lends itself to a lot of conversion possibilities. Just remember to put your wheels on right.