Academy 1/35 M151A2 'MUTT' Hard Top with Trailer
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History:
The M151 Military Utility Tactical Truck (MUTT) was designed by the
Ford Motor Company with guidance by the Ordnance Truck Automotive Command
(OTAC) of the US Army to replace the aging US military fleet of WW 2 and
Korea. Development work began in 1951 with various types of experimental
and pilot vehicles. The first contract was awarded to Ford and vehicles
were issued to the military in 1960. This new 1/2 ton four-wheel drive
vehicle introduced new technologies such as a uni-body chassis and all
wheel independent suspension and its design was inspired by European off-road
vehicles. It used a four-cylinder in-line liquid cooled gasoline engine,
and was armed with an M-60 7.62-mm machine gun.
 Over
10,000 M151s would be produced and used by the US and foreign countries.
The M151A1 was developed in 1963-64 to correct load problems with the
rear suspension. The M151A2 entered production in 1970. It also called
for a redesign of the rear suspension, which allowed better handling characteristics.
A trailer was designed for use with the M151 series and was designated
the M416. It was similar to those trailers of Korean War vintage. In the
early 1970s, an updated trailer, featuring hydraulic overrun brakes, was
introduced and was designated the M416A1. Both the M151 series truck and
trailer have been almost completely phased out of the US military inventory.
The Kit:
The Academy kit consists of over 200 parts, most of which are molded
in a dark green plastic. There is one tree of 25 clear plastic parts to
be used as windshield, hard top windows and lenses for the various lights
on the vehicle. Also included are seven rubberized tires. I have heard
that this is a re-boxing of the Tamiya kit. It may be; however, since
I am not familiar with that kit, it was new to me. Options include construction
of the vehicle with or without the hard top and arming with the 7.62mm
machine gun. Additionally, since the hood is not hinged, you have the
option of displaying with the engine compartment open or closed. Of course,
you are also provided with the trailer, which can be built with or without
its cover.
Construction:
 I
built this kit straight out-of-the-box following the 12 page instruction
sheet. The instructions are broken down into 20 steps illustrated by exploded
drawings indicating the assembly of the various parts. I won't bore you
with a step-by-step description of the construction. However, I will say
that, for the most part, the assembly was very painless. The engine assembly
is very smooth and its attachment to the chassis - even though it looks
difficult in the instructions - is pretty straightforward. The only items
missing on the engine are the spark plug wires. These can be assembled,
using very small gauge wire, but my agility/ability to do so is not too
great. When completed, the engine and its compartment builds up into a
nicely detailed area that can be shown off by allowing the hood to remain
open and unattached to the chassis.
 Construction
of the rest of the chassis is also straightforward. There were no real
problems with the fitting of pieces. As you proceed with the construction
of the chassis you have the option of building the MUTT with an open top
or the hard top. I opted for the open top, as it would allow more of the
detail to be seen inside. In order to build the open top version, you
need to attach a set of railings along the outside rear fenders and back
portions of the vehicle. The instructions show where they are to be placed,
but not too clearly. I had look at the box art, and the painting guide
to make sure I had the railing properly placed. When placed in its proper
location, the railing fits together with no gaps at the corners. The open
top version also allowed me to assemble the 7.62mm machine gun and place
that into the interior.
 The
trailer went together very well also. The only difficulty I had is with
the tie down hooks on each side of the trailer. The hooks went on well,
however the difficulty came when attaching the fenders to the trailer.
The hooks did not allow enough room for the fender and I had to gently
squeeze the hooks closed. This allowed enough room for the fenders. I
did not add the jerry cans to the back of the trailer since they do not
look accurate. The jerry can provided for the back of the MUTT was more
accurate looking, so this was added to the vehicle.
I painted the vehicle with Model Masters acrylic paints, using Olive
Drab as a base coat for the vehicle and trailer. I later added the camouflage
pattern using flat black and rust (reddish brown). I also added a piece
of stretched sprue for the antenna at the back of the vehicle.
 After
painting the entire vehicle and trailer, I added decals. The decals were
the worst part of the kit for me. They seemed not to have any adhesive
quality to them and would curl up, even with solvent. I finally was able
to get them to stay long enough so they would dry and afterwards covered
them with a coat of Testors Dullcote. Unfortunately, this treatment did
not work for the decals used on the bumper of the trailer. After applying
the Dullcote, one decal just curled up and would no longer lay flat. In
trying to work with it, the decal just fell apart. Another small problem
with the model is with the side mirror. There is a very evident dimple
in the center of the mirror that is hard to get rid of. I may try to go
back and use filler to try and cover this flaw.
Conclusion:
I had a great time building this kit. It builds up into a nice model
of the MUTT that is not too difficult to construct. The only problems
are with the decals, the tie down hooks of the trailer and the side mirror.
Some parts are very small, especially those on the engine and light fixtures.
Someone who has a lot of experience in scratch building can add more detail
to the engine. I would recommend this kit to anyone interested in building
modern military equipment.
I would like to thank Ray Mehlberger, Internet Modeler and MRC for
the review sample.
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