The M923 series of trucks is what is most commonly used by US and some allied forces today. It is an all wheel drive vehicle of medium capacity. True to form, the basic chassis is used for a variety of different uses including tanker, munitions truck, wrecker, mobile communications and a host of other uses. The nick-name 'Big Foot' came from the all-terrain tires that is often seen on the type. These allow the truck to traverse a variety of surfaces with some ease.

Somehow I have gotten a rather goodly collection of army trucks of this size. I'm not sure what the reason is as I have yet to actually finish any of them, but they are definitely a good value for the money. This particular one has a goodly number of pieces for what one spends on the kit. Airplane kits generally are not this well provided for in terms of bits.

In car terms, this could be what is considered to be a partial curbside kit. While there is complete chassis detail, there is no engine detail beyond the lower half of the engine. I'm sure some enterprising resin maker has one available for those of you who want one. I'm also sure that there are many other optional resin conversions for it as the kit is dated 1994, which gives plenty of time for stuff to be developed.

The options for the kit seem to be limited to having a machine gun and mount attached over the top of the cab as well as positionable cab doors and a drop down tailgate. There is a large canvas cover for the cargo area, however, if you decide not to mount it, there are no support frames. It seems to me that these also had drop down seats along the sides. If they are there, displaying them down is not an option according to the instructions. Even without those, there are more than enough parts to keep one busy for quite a while!

Instructions are typical of Italeri. They are logically presented and give good information throughout. Color callouts are in generic names and Testors Model Master numbers so there should be no problems there. The small decal sheet is for two trucks. One is the box art truck that is listed as being US Army - Saudi Arabia 1991. The other is in an overall green color and listed as US Army - Germany 1990. I would think that making this into a sand colored truck and changing the unit markings would be rather simple. I also imagine that there are aftermarket decals just for these types of vehicles.

It really looks like it can be built into a very nice model by anyone who can handle the small parts and large number of subassemblies. Looks as if it should be fun!

Review kit courtesy of me and my wallet!

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