Introduction
The Oshkosh M1070 platform has been put to many uses in various military forces around the world. This release from Hobby Boss offers a 1/35th scale offering of the Oshkosh M1070 being utilised as a dump truck. I have done some searches online and it appears that the US military is the only user of this vehicle, but I have also seen comments that they do not exist in military service. So what are we getting for our money from Hobby Boss with this release?
Review
In typical Hobby Boss fashion this release is well protected due to a robust cardboard tray and lid plus partitioned areas for delicate parts. The sprues are for the most part bagged singly with foam wrapping used to further protect delicate parts. There are a number of shallow but large ejector pin marks that will need attention in some areas. The gates between the sprue and the parts are larger than is common currently, but as long as care is taken no major issues should occur.
The chassis of this release is a multi part assembly which enables greater and better detail to be replicated on the model. My concerns about this being an issue are overcome by some robust parts being added that should make assembly easy to tackle. One concern I do have is that you are presented with a good number of sub-assemblies around the area where they all come together and it is rare for me to complain about this aspect of a model offering.
The suspension and axles are pleasing in my opinion with vinyl rubber parts being put to good use to represent the air suspension aspects of the model. The instruction booklet on these aspects is much clearer I feel. The front wheels cannot be shown turned which as many know is a pet hate of mine as I feel wheels shown turned left or right adds visual appeal. The wheels hubs are nicely detailed and meet my expectation, but the inclusion of vinyl rubber tyres is something that will upset many modellers who have concerns and pet hates. Engine detail on this offering is limited to the oil reservoir or sump.
The cab of this offering has been well tackled in my view and from what I can see has been designed in a way that makes assembly a pleasing task rather than an exercise in frustration where two more hands are needed. There are some very large photo etched parts used here including the whole roof of the cab. There are some angles that are needed here and I feel Hobby Boss would have gained praise if the part was preformed ready for use. The windows and lenses used in this area are thin enough for me and have good detail where required.
The bucket of the dump truck is another area where provided detail looks very good to me from the parts and instructions. Support ribs are added rather than moulded in place which will take a while to clean and add, but I feel the improved detail is worth the elbow grease. There are multi-media parts used here and they do improve over plastic. The hydraulic ram can only be depicted fully extended or retracted which I can accept. The rear door of the bucket remains moveable from what I can see and so means you have a longer time to decide on how you wish to finish the model.
The finishing options for this release are limited to one and as usual Hobby Boss has not provided any details on what this represents; it is my biggest complaint about Hobby Boss that they need to do a little more work on what their model offerings replicate.
Conclusion
Looking at this model release I am for the most part happy with what is provided. There is a fair amount of photo etch and metal parts that will make some modellers nervous which is understandable. My complaints about the inability to show the front wheels turned are a personal gripe as are the vinyl rubber tyres; and so you are left with two complaints which are the finishing option detail and the instructions not being as clear as they could be in some areas. With that out of the way the model will make for a bulky offering with potential for visual appeal.