1/35 M1009 CUCV, WIP, 02/17/13, Completed

Modeling Subjects Armor
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Fire Mission

M1009 ¾ Ton Commercial Utility Combat Vehicle

Introduction

The Chevy Utility vehicles were introduced in the 1980s as an interim replacement of the M880 series vehicles which had replaced the old WC series. The CUCV were eventually replaced in combat units by the HMMWV but served many roles through the early 2000s

Background

While serving as a battalion Assistant S-3 I had a M1009 in place of a HUMMV. Though not suited perfectly for combat use, HQ34 served me well through many training exercises.

Build

I will be using a Miniman M1009 resin kit for this build

The kit is well made with numerous details and is excellent casting with almost no fisheyes or voids. The instructions are picture based and similar to styrene kit instructions. The parts themselves require very little cleaning with the exception of removal of casting blocks. The kit is mostly resin but also includes soft metal parts, clear lenses and windows, photo etch parts, decals and a pressed paper front brush guard.

Step 1 is to install the white metal leaf springs and the resin transfer case. I installed the transfer case after removing the casting blocks from the floor panel and the case. The floor board has pin holes to spot the white metal leaf springs. The holes needed to be cleaned with a drill bit to comfortable fit the springs, which were then installed

Next step is to install the universal drive shafts. The axels are white metal while the drive shafts are resin. Care needs to be taken to center the axels for proper tire alignment and proper rotation to install the universal. The front assembly fit perfectly but the rear universal needed some slight trimming, which I did on the transfer case end, in order to get proper fit*.*

Step 3 installs the shocks and the dual exhaust system. Removal of the exhaust systems from their pour blocks needs to be do done carefully to avoid breaking the exhaust pipes, which are long and thin. First I installed the shocks, which fit in a pin- hole on the floor-board and a pin on the axel. The shocks were slightly shorter in length than the line up pins. In order to install, I lined up the pin on the axel and shortened up on the line up on the floor-board which required a new pin hole to be drilled. The exhaust has to be threaded under the rear axel and the front end lines up with a pin-hole in the floor board while the tailpipe rests on the rear block of the rear leaf spring. Once threaded these parts lined up perfectly and fit well.

The first three steps complete the undercarriage. Step 4 requires the tires to be assembled, which I will skip until final assembly. At this point, the undercarriage assembly will head to the paint booth, as the bottom will be basically black with steel for the exhausts. The top is the inside of the vehicle and the floor inside was a NATO green.

As always feel free to leave a comment either positive or negative

Rounds Complete!!

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Watching and following this WIP build.

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Sprue - Thanks for tagging along

Rounds Complete!!

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Hi, Mike I’ve seen this kit, very interesting, are those trucks like a Ford Bronco? I’ve never seen any of these vehicles in the flesh as we just don’t see American Pickup trucks over here. Terry.

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Terry - Yep they are like a Bronco. The old WC series trucks were replaced in the mid 70s by the M880 series. These were built by Dodge and essentially pickup trucks, commercial pickups which were militarized. This was done to help bail out Chrysler at the time and fill a vehicle void. The M880 series ran on gasoline and were not done well…in general they $ucked.

The army quickly looked to replace and since the HMMWV was still in development, they turned to Chevy. The M1009 and 1008. The 1009 was the Blazer vehicle and the 1008 was a Chevy pickup. They were far better than the M880 series but still not a off road combat vehicle.

Once the HMMWV was issued in the mid 80s the M1009 & 1008 were moved from front line units to combat support units. Essentially they slowly were “used up” and the last few went with support of the initial OIF invasion.

Thanks for the peek and the question.

Rounds Complete!!

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Hello Mike!

Another interesting build - I’ll be watching! The company’s decision to put in metal undercarriage looks very reasonable to me, considering how funny resin can behave under load AND temperature. Good luck with your build and have a nice day

Paweł

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Pawel - Thanks, the soft metal for the suspension parts is perfect. Much stronger than resin and considering it holds up the model, it is a very smart move. Thanks for stopping in.

Rounds Complete!!

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Thanks Mike, the Irish Army used Land Rovers for Decades, built across the water, easily repaired and parts abundant, plus they are great off road. It was in the late 1980’s that they started to purchase Nissan Patrols. As far as I know the only large American Pickup type trucks are large Ford F1500 (I think that’s the type) used by our special forces. Petrol/gasoline is almost €2 a liter here so the American love affair with large capacity engines would not last long here. Thanks for your time and I look forward to seeing this progress. Terry.

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Great start Mike. It is coming along well.

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Terry - The M880 was a gas vehicle. The M1009/1008 were diesel engines…much better

Gino - Happy New Year and thanks for the peek…details coming soon.

Rounds Complete!!

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Hi Mike [:)]

I saw this truck on ’ Redleg-2-Scale ’ and it said up next and I guess it is ! This going to be pulling the trailer in the dio ? I will bet the exhaust was a very fragile PITA ! looking great so far [Y]

Mike, Have a Great New Year my friend !

tread[H]

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I was just curious if the photo was of your vehicle and if so, where it was taken. I was an FO on a COLT team for HHB 1/10 FA stationed on Kelley Hill, FT Benning back in the late 90s. I didn’t see much but Benning and Kuwait and of course Ft Sill for basic and AIT. I’m sure with your time in you saw a lot of posts.

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Tread - thanks for the peek. No this will not be pulling the trailer. Actually the M1009 had a trailer hitch but its attachment point was not that great and early on the Army banned trailer pulling with the M1009. as for the web site, need to play catch up this weekend…busy, busy busy! Happy New Year my friend.

Joe - I don’t have a still picture of my HQ34.I do have a video with it. As for the picture here, it is just a good shot of a 1009 from the internet. As for my time, it was the generation before you. It could be signal mountain at Sill, jump school at Benning, Bragg, ect, ect. I saw a lot of dirt and plent of muzzle blast! it may be faster today with all the electronics but it is still about automatic steel! Nice to hear from a brother Redleg!

Rounds Complete!!

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Nice to see this one get its turn on the bench Mike! Look forward to seeing it come alive. [B]

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I’m going to follow this one as well, both for the build and for the amusement value of seeing a model of something I spent a large part of my life working on (among other things). Should be neat.

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I have driven both the Dodge and the Chevy’s and they both sucked, especially with the Chevy’s 6.2L diesel which was also used in the original Humvee. Had 3 GM’s at Gitmo in 95 with my AF CE group that were totally thrashed by the time we deployed there. They probably ended up in the dump. Had a Dodge and several GM’s at the AF’s largest used car lot, “Al’s Garage”, Al Kharj, Saudi. The GM’s are highly prized for offroading vehicles with the heavier frames and axles.

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Bill - I am raising it up through the roof hoping for a thunderstorm!!

RBaer - Glad you are along…I always enjoy modeling something from my past. I get those “scale” memories!!

Rich - I hear you…The Dodge was a total DOG…the Chevy was transportation…much better than the Dodge 880 series but not close to a HMMVE. Many guys have had an experience with the 1009. Glad to see you come along through memory lane

Rounds Complete!!

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Having some time with the holiday allows me to keep moving on this build. First the undercarriage assembly was primed and then the bottom painted flat black.

Once dry, the flip side which is the interior was painted NATO Green

Next were the interior components including the seats door panels and the dashboard. The vinyl in the M1009 was a reddish brown to close to NATO Brown. The dash had vinyl in NATO Brown, plastic in Black and the metal underside in NATO Green. After painting the respective parts, I then used MM Acryl Semi Gloss Clear on the vinyl and plastic areas to give the proper sheen to the components.

With all the paint dry on the undercarriage, I did some basic underside weathering using AK Filter for NATO. Dabbing in spots to create the dirty stained effect.

Next I assembled the interior installing the front and rear seats and the floor transfer case shifter.

With that complete the interior was weathered with a light coat of AK Filter for NATO followed by AK Dust Effects.

With the kit interior parts now assembled it is time to add a bunch of details. First I completed the dashboard. I used Archer transfer gauges and the put a drop of future over each gauge. When the future dries it simulates the gauge glass. The data plate is from Archer Data Plate set. I attached the PE dash bracket and then attached a Verlinden speaker. The speaker is painted with Tamiya Olive Green and the speaker wire, which goes from the speaker under the dash, is 26 gauge SS wire painted Flat Black. I then assembled the steering column and steering wheel to finish the dashboard assembly

Lastly I worked on the radio assembly. I started with a Verlinden RT-524 and R-442 radios with their mounts and painted them with Tamiya Olive Green. The details on the radio include the white area for grease pencils to write frequency, the black area for the frequency, the orange for the incoming call light, and dry brush on some of the knobs with white for indicator. I also dry bushed using Alclad Aluminum for the jacks and the paint wear on the edges of the radio.

Next I made the brackets to hold the radio assembly using .060 C channels styrene. After assembly, the channels were painted with Alclad Steel. Once everything was dried I assembled everything for installation into the M1009.

That is it for now. Lots more interior details coming.

As always feel free to leave a comment either positive or negative

Happy New Year!

Rounds Complete!!

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The build looks great so far. I always learn so much from watching your builds. I’m looking forward to the next update. Mark

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Nice work as always on the details Mike! I bet those leather bucket seats bring back some memories. [:)]