The Oshkosh M1070 coupled with the M1000 trailer is the U.S. Army’s current tank transporter. Although designed to move the M1 Abrams, it is also used to transport, deploy, and evacuate armored personnel carriers, self-propelled guns, and other heavy equipment, including the D9R armored bulldozer.
Available for the first time in 1/72 scale, Takom’s new kit includes the last combination. The manufacturer has held nothing back with first-rate molding and detail throughout. Each component feels like a kit in itself, but they combine into the whole nicely, and nothing feels like an afterthought.
The M1070 prime mover, which comprises 163 parts, starts the build. Working from the ground, er, suspension up to the cab, all of the parts fit perfectly, and the truck goes together quickly.
Key features of the truck are that each door and the windshield with its frame are separate parts, eliminating the need to attach small clear inserts. The larger parts were easy to mask, and the scale thickness of the doors and clarity of the clear parts make the details and finesse of the cab pop.
The trailer came next, and I was surprised at how much detail went into it. Of the three components, the M1000 has the highest parts count at 242, of which 126 are tires or wheel halves to build the 40 wheels and two spares.
Despite that, it went together quicker than the truck or dozer, and I encountered no problems. The ramps can be left movable. For being just a trailer, it packs a lot of detail with scale thin suspension components and small hydraulics.
Rounding out the build is the D9R bulldozer, and Takom knocks it out of the park here, too. The earthmover comprises 120 parts with the main engine compartment and floor being a single part as is the bulk of the cab. Those elements and the quality of the moldings make for a quick build.
Most of each track is a single part molded with the elevated drive sprocket and front and rear idlers. Assembling and painting them off the model is easy.
The ripper builds as a subassembly. With minor surgery to the hydraulic arms, it could be posed at an angle off vertical.
The blade is the same: Its angle is fixed as molded, but it would require only minor modification to reposition. I replaced the thin, fragile plastic grab handles — many broke as I removed them from the sprues — with fine steel wire. (My 3-year-old knocking the model off my workbench added impetus to replace the grab handles!)
Fine details and petite recessed lines made painting and weathering a breeze; I used Tamiya acrylics and Ammo by Mig Jimenez weathering powders and washes.
The decals look great and went on nicely, but I had trouble deciphering the marking locations thanks to the small drawings and vague callouts.
Although the overall parts count is high, the logical sprue layouts and assembly progression make it easy to build each section individually.
I spent 37 hours building and painting the truck, trailer, and dozer, and a modeler with a little experience will do fine. Plus, at just 12 inches long, it is not a shelf hog!
Note: A version of this review appeared in the May 2019 issue.