Vodnik's M939 detail set

Big Foot boxart

DETAIL SET FOR
U.S. 5t "BIG FOOT"
Conversion resin parts for Italeri kits

Real Model RMA 35042

Italeri models of M939 series of trucks (M923A1 Big Foot and M925 Shelter Truck) suffer from a lack of detail, some molding shortcuts (partially molded tanks etc.) and some inaccuracies. Resin set from Real Model is intended to address some of these problems.

Real Models resin set and instructions.
Click on the picture to enlarge.

In the set you get one page instruction sheet and a plastic bag with 18 resin parts: five brake "pumps", air filter with two mounts, two parts with some tanks/containers, two seats and two additional parts for driver's seat, fuel tank, stowage box with jerry can and exhaust pipe with muffler.

All resin parts you get in the set.
Click on the picture to enlarge.

Instruction sheet is unfortunately not very useful. In only shows two drawings of cabin seats and three black and white pictures that are not very helpful in finding the right positions of parts. Mold quality of parts in not the best around - while there are no air bubbles, there are some places where the silicone form was obviously damaged and parts are not fully molded or are molded with some heavy resin flash.

Parts for brake system are a welcome addition to the Italeri model, but you only get six brake chambers, while rear axles of the real track alone need eight such parts - four smaller and four larger, one of each for each wheel. Instruction sheet does not show you where to install brakes - there is only one photo of the rear wheel that is not very helpful. Close inspection reveals that the brake air chamber parts are copies of those included in CMK wheel set (read review >here<), just molded "upside down" without shafts - shame on you Real Models!

Resin seats are quite nicely molded, although the cushions of driver's seat are just resin copies of original kit part. Passenger seat is correctly placed on the battery box, and drivers seat has two "suspension" parts. Still you need to scratch build the framing that actually supports the seat, as you only get a spring. Spring is molded solid inside, so it may be better idea to use some wire or metal spring instead. Here the instruction sheet is quite useful with drawings of both seats.

Cabin seats.
Click on the picture to enlarge.

You also get air filter and some tanks that replace parts that Italeri molded only in 3/4. For air filter you also get two mounting plates. For the right side of the truck you get a set of two tanks, while Italeri only gave you one partially molded tank there.

Air filter and some tanks.
Click on the picture to enlarge.

And finally there is a new style fuel tank. It is the kind that is installed in M939A2 series of trucks - it differs from older version (included in Italeri kits) by placement of filling cap. You will not need this part if you are building older version of the truck. You also get a stowage box that goes to the opposite side of the truck from the fuel tank. It has a jerry can with holder molded on it, but the placement of it is quite strange - actually Italeri placed the jerry can holder in correct position, it just didn't look like the part at all. I will probably use razor saw to cut the resin jerry can from the box and rotate 90 degrees to glue it in correct position. Last part of the set is the exhaust pipe. It replaces the part you get in the kit, the only difference is that ejector pin marks on the pipe have been removed and the shield on the muffler was sanded off, so you don't need to do it yourself if you want to add photoetched shield.

Fuel tank, stowage box and exhaust pipe.
Click on the picture to enlarge.

I gave US$27 for my set and in my opinion it was not worth it. There are some useful parts in it, but for the price you usually expect MUCH more. Product quality is not very high, instructions are poor, and very limited number of parts is given. I don't recommend it, unless you can find it for one third of the price I paid.