The kit contains 190 tan styrene parts, 12 clear parts, 4 vinyl tires, a 16 page instruction booklet, and a nicely printed decal sheet.  The instructions include four pages of painting and decaling guides with a brief vehicle history.  The decals allow you to make two Army and two Marine vehicles operated in IRAQ.

The difference in this kit and the M1025 are two new “C” sprues (TOW parts), one new “Y” sprue (interior and CIP [Combat Identification Panels]), and older sprues have been modified for this version (detailed interior rear hatch, armored doors, and newer geared figures).  This could mean possible alternative releases such as the A1 or A2 versions.  Of course, this would mean updating tire patterns and radios to the newer SINGARS system.

Like all Tamiya kits of late, there is NO flash evident and the injector pin marks are minimal and located in non-noticeable areas.

Due to impending cold weather and not wanting to use the airbrush, I decided to attempt this kit by using only spray cans and brush paints.  I went to American Eagles, a wonderfully equipped local hobby shop, and purchased the necessary paints including Italeri’s Modern Desert Sand FS 33722.

As, most of my model building goes, I assembled as much as possible before attempting to paint.  The interior was painted a medium green, the undercarriage black and the exterior parts the Sand.  After all was dry I noticed that this new sand is extremely light.  As if the color contained too much white pigment.  After it was given a diluted military brown wash and dry brushed, it looks just fine.

You get the option of creating two different drivers and gunners.  Tamiya has included different upper uniformed soldiers with this kit.  You can use either the older fragmentation vest or the newer MOLIE styled vest.

I decaled it as the box cover vehicle which is a machine that belongs to E troop, 9^th Cavalry Regiment, 2^nd Brigade Combat Team, 3^rd Infantry Division (Mechanized) serving in Iraq in the spring of 2003.  I had planned to do vehicle “D” but had a disagreement with the first decal I soaked and I lost.

My only complaints with this wonderful kit are the fact that the Tow missile that is designed to go into the launcher is not made correctly.  The lump in the middle of each tube connects to the firing mechanism at the latching point.  If the tube is inserted into the launcher all the way, the lump is visible and not connected.  If the lump is connected, then the tube sits too far outside of the launcher.  I corrected this simply by rotating the tube 180 degrees.