Kit Review: Academy 1/72 Scale Kit No. 13412; Ground Vehicles Series No. 10 - U. S. M977 8x8 Cargo Truck; 130 parts (123 in tan styrene, 7 clear styrene); retail price US$19.00
Advantages: first injection molded kit of this vehicle in this scale; clean job with nice details
Disadvantages: two-piece styrene wheels, fixed HIAB crane
Rating: Highly Recommended
Recommendation: for all modern US Army modelers in 1/72 scale
Back in the 1960s the US Army decided it needed a heavy cross-country capable cargo carrier to keep up with armored units. After some competition, the winner was the M520 4 x 4 8 ton cargo truck designed by LeTourneau and called the GOER. At first it seemed to be a good idea, but later it was found to be one of the most dangerous vehicles the Army ever bought. The GOER was prone to rollovers and jackknifing due to its design being based on the LeTourneau road scraper.
In the late 1970s =96 when the design of the M1 tank was being finalized =96 the Army realized that having a tank which could do more than 40 mph and a cargo carrier that could barely do 15 mph safely would not work, and as a result they held a competition for a new cargo truck. From two choices =96 an articulated Lockheed 8 x 8 design and a fixed frame 8 x 8 by Oshkosh =96 the Army chose the fixed frame one (the Marines chose the other as the Mark 48). The new truck was called the Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck or HEMTT (pronounced Hem-ett). The mobility of the truck was nearly as good as that of the GOER but this truck could safely cruise at 55 mph on highways. The Army initially bought five versions: the M977 cargo truck (and similar M985 rocket resupply truck for MLRS units), the M978 tanker, the M983 semi-trailer tractor, and the M984 wrecker; later a five axle model was purchased for the Palletized Load System (PLS) truck.
The vehicles have been very successful in service and are now also offered with an applique armor package for use in Iraq and elsewhere.
About 20 years ago Italeri released a pair of kits of the M977 and M978 in 1/35 scale, and while large were not among their best kits. ROCO later released a better one in 1/87 (!) or HO scale. Now Academy, apparently studying the niches where Revell, DML and Trumpeter are not competing (marketing!) has selected another nice kit to drop into an open spot with its new M977 HEMTT kit.
Academy has provided the basic truck kit (still the most common and widespread version in service) with an open cargo bed and no top hamper (there is a tarpaulin and bow set for the original but it is rarely used.) Even in this scale the size of the truck is apparent as a completed model is a bit over 5" long (127mm) when complete. Academy has caught most of the pertinent details such as the driver=92s downward vision window (D7) and other small details. Note that most of the HEMTTs have tinted windows in a blue-green color, so you may wish to mix up some food dye with Future Floor Wax (or Johnson=92s Kleer, same difference) to get the right effect.
The chassis consists of a central backbone with all of the crossribs in place and two heavy sides with the springs in place. Each pair of axles and driveshafts is one piece with separate differential halves and brake disks, so it will speed up assembly. Detail is complete down to the shock absorbers.
The cab has only minimal components in the way of controls =96 a steering wheel is it =96 but unless the modeler is very fussy most of this is hard to see once the cab is assembled. However as the doors are not separate and come as part of the side frames that is not an option.
Some details appear to have been borrowed from the Italeri kit such as hollow-molded air tanks, but these may not be a problem once the kit is complete; with the size of the Italeri kit they were painfully obvious.
The wheels and tires are two-piece styrene, which means a seam to remove and problems with the tread pattern in the center of the tire. The wheels have interlocking interior hubs to align the tread pattern and nine are provided with the kit (eight on the ground and a spare).
The kit includes most of the pertinent details for the engine shroud to include the spare tire crane and the exhaust system. The cargo bed is relatively straightforward and does not offer any folding sections (most vehicles simply load and unload with the HIAB crane anyway).
The HIAB crane is a bit of a disappointment as while it is well done it comes folded up and fixed in position at the rear of the chassis. It would have been nice to pose the crane with a cargo being loaded or unloaded, but the kit does not offer that possibility. The rear jackstands also come retracted with the base pads stowed on the rear bumper. Even so, the crane consists of 11 parts and looks nice when assembled.
The kit comes with decals and painting instructions for two vehicles: HHC 501st Aviation Battalion, 1st AD, Kosovo (NATO tricolor with SFOR markings); and 615th ASB, 1st Cavalry Division, Iraq (sand overall). Oddly enough two sets of door tac markings are provided for 1st Cav =96 either /60 or /64, and I am not sure which one would be correct as it only comes with one set of bumper codes.
Overall, this is another nice modern addition to Academy=92s line and a nice complement to most modern US equipment even with the fixed crane.
Thanks to Ed Sexton from MRC for the review sample.
Cookie Sewell