Italeri M977 HEMTT hi Oshkosh

I am still waiting for the glue to dry on my 00 gauge layout landscaping so for today I am going to have a look back at something I built around 2010. The Italeri 1/35 scale model of the Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck (HEMTT). The truck is an eight-wheel drive, diesel-powered, 10-short-ton tactical truck which makes it a go anywhere type of vehicle. It is extensively used by the U.S. army since its introduction in 1982. Being so successful it has also been used by the military in Greece, Israel, Morocco, Egypt, Brazil and Taiwan to name but a few.

My model is the standard truck but there are many variants including tankers, wreckers, container transporters and gun trucks which there are also kits for but which I have resisted - so far!

If I recall correctly I had to spray the cab windows with a very thin coat of green paint to get that tinted effect. The truck s fairly heavily weathered as these working vehicles never received too much in the way of loving care other than for the mechanical parts. 

This kit included the crane on the rear of the cargo body which meant these trucks were not reliant on other machines for the loading of heavy items. Now that is the sort of vehicle I could do with when Mrs. Woody takes me shopping!

I even managed to build it so that it can be posed.

The cargo bed has been given a good going over with weathering powders and various liquid stains to try to convey that it has carried a variety of cargo on its journeys.

One day I might put a load in that cargo bed - wonder if Mrs. W's handbag would fit????