Kinetic 1/35 M-ATV
By Joe Lotz
Item No.:01502
MSRP: $74.95
History
The M-ATV (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected-All Terrain Vehicle) was born out of necessity to provide the US troops with a better protected vehicle then the currently used Humvee’s. Especially with the threat of IED’s and mines, Humvee’s didn’t offer enough protection for the crew’s deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan with high fatalities as a result.
The first vehicles were deployed in 2009 as a replacement of the M1114 Humvee. Since then over 8000 M-ATV’s have been manufactured by the Wisconsin based Oshkosh company that won the contract. Especially in the rough terrain of Afghanistan the M-ATV’s have proven its worth.
The M-ATV can be equipped with several different mission modules depending on the current operational requirements.
The turret on the roof can carry either a .50 cal MG or a Mk19 40mm grenade launcher.
The Kit
This is the first release from Kinetic in 1/35. This kit comes with 10 tan colored sprues, 1 clear part sprue, 1 small PE Fret, 5 vinyl tires, a decal sheet with decals for several different vehicles and a small sprue with vinyl part for mud flaps and break lines. It all totals to around 450 parts. The detail of the parts is good with only very little flash on a few parts. I didn’t notice any obvious mold parting lines. Ejector marks appear to be hidden after assembly.
Some of the clear parts are molded in scale thickness to simulate the armored glass. Another nice touch is the addition of vinyl break lines for extra detail.
The instruction booklet (yes it has 29 pages) is clear and understandable. The assembly process is broken up into 30 steps with 9 of them just for the suspension. And it appears that the front wheels can be made movable. The last 2 pages of the instruction show black and white photos of a real vehicle.
Conclusion
Due to the high number of parts, especially small parts this is not a kit for the beginner. Unfortunately there is no engine or transmission provided but maybe the aftermarket community will pick up there. Other than that this kit is clean and well detailed and I look forward to building it.
I would like to sincerely thank Stevens International for providing me with this review kit.
