Hi everyone!
Awhile ago I ran across an amazing build of an early OIF HMMWV by the amazing modeler know as Mario. Upon further examination of said vehicle, I noticed the vehicle numbers and mascot belonging to the infamous 173rd Airborne Brigade, specifically of Able Company, 2-503, the Raptors! Well, I passed out because this was MY unit. MY platoon! Actually, I was the one who designed the Raptor mascot stencil that we painted on our vehicles!
I contacted Mr. Mario and got as much info on the kit and aftermarket products that he used. Months later, with as much aftermarket products that I could buy/find/(and afford 
), in going to build MY vehicle! You see, the Echelon decal set comes with the vehicle markings as A-13. While this is my platoon, my sister gun truck, I was A-11. 1st platoon, 1st squad, Alpha Team Leader. Now, I’ve commanded this vehicle in combat for a year, so I know the insides and out of what exactly was on it, in it, and what it looked like every day.
There was 3 specific phases this vehicle went through in Iraq. The first was when it was air landed in Kirkuk after we took the airbase, (the second airbase, mind you, after we took Bashir airfield, then took Kirkuk a ways south). These were our normal vehicles that came from our base in Italy. So they still had the NATO camo and were thin skinned. Midway through fun times at Kirkuk, is when the IED party started kicking off. To flight that, we had metal sheet and armor welded and bolted on from the local blacksmiths/metal shops in the city. Just bare bones steel on the sides. Towards the end stretch of our deployment, we were getting the military add-on armor packages with the sand/tan color armor protection and gunners shield. Then after sending a lot of people to meet God, (
praise Jesus Christ our one and only Saviour), we went home and got ready for the next vacation to Afghanistan.
Anywho, I’m going to be building pretty much the same vehicle as Mr. Mario, with a few changes as to the configuration and set up as befit to a very specific vehicle at a very specific time: A-11 from the 173rd Airborne Brigade, A/2-503, Raptor Platoon!
I hope you guys join me on this journey, as not only will it be 100% historically accurate, you will see a living beast, in 1/35 scale!
As for the A-11 decal I need printed, I was going to work with Bedlam Creations, but found out through reviews that he had taken money from modelers than ghosted them. So now I’m working with STS Decals. Does anyone know of either one of these companies/creators, or have had success on other custom waterslide decal makers? Help would be greatly appreciated.
As a side note, I will NOT be using the Tamiya gun truck kit, as I really don’t want to sell a kidney to pay for it. I will be using an older Academy M966 vehicle, which I used to drive as well as an 11-X before I was reclassed to an 11-B when the 173rd was re-activated. So some detailing will be used to convert and use Tamiya kit PE.
Any help, advice, and recommendations will always be appreciated! Huge shout out to Mr. Mario and HeavyArty for all their help and knowledge! Hope to keep a consistent thread going off the build and I hope y’all are excited as much as I am! Happy building guys (and gals if there is any)!
NordicNomad (Chris D)
. I got a little crooked on cutting out the dash from the resin blocks, and I rebuilt the gear shifters. Academy had them separated and in the wrong places. A shot from the back with some PE brackets and trailer towing connector. And one thing that I think is overlooked in a lot of builds, the Blue Force Tracker receiver. I don’t think I have ever seen one in any aftermarket kits either, although I could be wrong. I built it with a sanded down chunk of resin block from the seats that came from the Legend interior set. (The seats provided in the kit were the seats that were actually in the M1114s. We weren’t provided that luxury. We had the standard 4” foam seat and backing that always seemed to be just 1” of flat material, no cushioning, lol). Then I built the lip with a couple of styrene sheets glued together and sanded down. The bracket is not 100% accurate, as I just used a piece of old PE from my scrap pile that fit the job. It IS accurate in the shape and bends, just not the actual metal cutout. I still have to glue on bolt heads and the wiring harness that will connect to the BFT, through the bracket, and into the rear compartment. Just waiting on my Flexy 5k CA that is being delivered today. Happy building guys!
I PROMISE it wont be too expensive for you…
and from my memory, i think we loaded what vehicles we had left onto ships in Basra and Kuwait to send back home. When we went to Afghanistan two years later, we used theater vehicles, all up-armored vehicles other than the cargo ones which just had the improved armor package put on.
