I am building a HMMWV mounting the M242 Bushmaster 25mm cannon. Although some will probably disagree with my approach, I am combining the Tamiya HMMWV w/ M242 Bushmaster and the Tamiya M1025 HMMWV.



After having built the M1046 TOW HMMWV I just could not stand the substandard vehicle details in the Tamiya Bushmaster kit compared to the quality of the Tamiya M1025 chassis/body.

To accomplish my end result, I will be using the front bumper, the vehicle top, M242 Bushmaster assembly and the internal Bushmaster control parts to complete the overall model. I am also using bits and pieces of the Eduard PE set that was released for the Tamiya M242 Bushmaster HMMWV kit.

Here is where I am so far.





The HMMWV with Bushmaster never made it past prototype testing. One difference I have corrected so far that exists between the M1025 chassis and the Bushmaster variant is the front bumper. The Bushmaster front bumper has 4 lightening holes in it. The M1025 has 3 holes. So, I used the Bushmaster kit bumper on the M1025 frame.



The next hurdle is the dimensional difference between the kit body used in the Bushmaster kit and the new mold used in the M1025 kit. The windshield frame in the M1025 kit sits higher than the windshield frame from the Bushmaster kit. This results in the hard top from the Bushmaster kit sitting high front (leaving a gap at the rear) on the new mold M1025 body. To overcome this, I added three layers of Evergreen strip (.010 x .060) to the rear areas of the hard top. This enables the hard top to sit level as needed.







The hard top is just sitting on the body and isn't in place at this time. I still need to do some work on the styrene stripping to make it blend with the hard top.

Here is an image of the front hood just sitting in place on the body. I put the weight classification panel on the hood that comes in the Eduard PE set. But, in hindsight, I may go back and take it off since the panel typically wouldn't be found on a prototype vehicle.



I also opted to go with the radiator hood grill with the larger vent slats. I then placed the Eduard PE screen underneath it per the PE instructions.

More to come.

Hello Brent,

well, that's the first Humvee I have seen in the www where someone has taken the time to paint carefully all the details of the chassis as stated in the instruction.

I know that's quite time-consuming but belongs to the work this model demands (and deserves)..and at the end of the day it's worth all the efforts.


And congratulations to your new epaulettes

Coming along nicely Brent. Careful what you do there, as I don't need anymore ideas for Humvees at the moment. But I think it is coming out rather nicely so far. Hopefully I can get to my guntruck here some tonight. Been a little while since I was at the bench.

Herky

Ive been waiting eagerly for this one brent, keep us posted, this site has the best hmmwv builds

A small update tonight....

I am building two new antennae mounts to replace the kit parts. The kit part seems to be too small and has horrible detail. The new mounts are being built using PE mounts out of the Eduard set previously mentioned with Verlinden antennae bases and small part cut off of the kit antennae mount.

Here are a couple of photos of the first completed one.





Now, I'm heading back to the bench to put the second mount together.

Looking good Brent. Good job on it. The M242 kit looks familiar.

Looking good so far. Always liked this kit! Would like to do it again!

I have a small update on this project today. I have modified what was previously done to more accurately reflect the vehicle I'm doing. Another modeler sent me this photo which I'm basing my build off of.



This prototype has the production '3-hole' bumper on it instead of the '4-hole' bumper as seen in other Bushmaster HMMWV photos. So, I pulled off the '4-hole' bumper that I previously installed and replaced it with the '3-hole' as seen in the photo above. Additionally, I removed the weight classification panel from the engine hood as you have seen in my photos previously. This would not have been seen on prototype vehicles.




In this photo, I have temporarily placed the fuel cans (manufactured by REAL Model) in their place on the back of the HMMWV(in PE jerry can holders from the Eduard Bushmaster HMMWV PE set).



In this photo, you can see where I have filled in the recessed areas on the body just below the driver and passenger seats. I filled these indentions in on both sides of the vehicle. These indentions were not present on the test vehicles.



Here is a close-up of the brass barrel I installed in place of the kit barrel. The kit weapon receiver and barrel are all one piece. I simply cut off the kit barrel at the appropriate point, drilled out the weapon receiver to accept the brass barrel and super glued it into place.



If you decide to do a similar build and replace the kit barrel, ensure you buy the correct aftermarket barrel. There are two barrel types available 1. Fluted barrel (currently in use) 2. Non-fluted barrel (in use at the time of the Bushmaster HMMWV testing). You need the round, non-fluted barrel as shown in my photo.

looking very good Brent! It nice to see some more unusual Humvee variants being built.

Well, my military schedule is slowing down a little bit for about 30 days. So, I'm putting this build back in the spotlight with the intent of having it finished in time for the Ft. Leavenworth model contest on Sept. 25th.

Here is where I'm at. The seats, hard top and vehicle body is just dry fitted. I'm iin the process of detailing the interior and hope to have it done over the next 5 to 7 days.

I never knew they even tried to mount a Bushmaster on a Hummer! What a beast!
Coming along very nicely.

Looks Good Buddy! Hope to see it done soon. I am living about 15 feet away from a Cool Humvee that is always just sitting here. I will try and get some pictures of it. It isnt a new one, just the M997 Ambulance, with a wicked paint scheme....


J

Glad to see you arrived safely. If you don't get pictures of that M997, I will arrange it so that you have to walk back to the states.

Grate work man, I think the IDF need's to use this set up.

I've been working on the HMMWV some the last couple of days. Here is a shot showing some of the work on the dashboard.

I am using Archer Humvee Instruments and Placards AR35282. If you use these, put them on BEFORE installing the dashboard. It has been a pain putting these things on with the dashboard already installed. As you can see a couple are crooked as a result of not being able to work with them very well because the dashboard was already installed.

You are supposed to be able to do a 'wet' application of these transfers. I have not been able to figure out how to make the 'wet' transfer method work. I'm open to tips, hints, suggestions, etc.

Anyway, here is a picture of the interior dash in progress.

Impressive build .. I like those Hummer variants.

I will be watching with interest.
Cheers
Walter

After almost 4 years away from this project, I am picking it back up again.

The status of it has not changed from the photos other than having a light primer coat of Model Master medium green on it.

I will be posting here regularly as this project progresses.

Stay tuned.

Interesting project, glad you picked it up again!

Is the specific sprue with the parts for the gun and top tooled/moulded by Tamiya or Italeri?

Cheers,

Christophe

Hi Christophe,
the kit then was the first co-operation between Tamiya and Italeri. While Italeri provided the base kit, the hardtop and gun assembly were made by Tamiya.

Thanks!

That's what I thought but I wasn't 100% sure.

Cheers,

Christophe

I got the Tamiya Bushmaster kit last week in a swap against an old Dragon StuG III!

Brent started a new page recently on HMMWV in scale.

http://www.hmmwvinscale.com/hmmwvredt.htm

Cheers,

Christophe

Wow! I never saw this kit before. It's very intresting to look how this model looks with Bushmaster.