With textured mud added:
     

    The Joes always have modified equipment in their motor pool, so their Humvees should be no different. I like the look of the open back soft tops, so I decided to make a hard top version with an open bed in the back.
    I cut the back down, and made a new rear to the passenger compartment and added a window to it.   
The .50 cal mount on the Jungle Strike Humvee was far from accurate, and while the Night Ops Humvee was better it still wasn't perfect. Therefore for this project I decided to make a custom mount from scratch. The new mount rotate 360* and is capable of a full range of elevation. I also scratch built a door to fold over like the one on the original. The ring still retains its 360* of motion as well.
    To make it more capable off-road  a fording kit was added. The snorkel and exhaust were both made from scratch with styrene tubing and dowels.
    The brush guard was taken off of a Night Ops Humvee and modified to fit closer to the grill.
    A rear bumper was fabricated from scratch based on a design I saw pictures of that was custom made for an Explorer. Both halves swing out so that the tailgate is still functional and providing access to the bed.
    The bed was lined with 1/16 scale styrene diamond plate.  
    Suspension came from a 21st Century Toys Humvee and was modified to fit  the existing axles. I also added coil-overs to the front and rear A-arms as are on the full scale version.
    Modifications to the interior included removing the shift lever and scratch building a more accurate one. The molded in ammo canister was also removed and replaced with one from Build-A-Rama.
    The model was then painted after a scheme researched by Tamiya for their 1/35 scale kit using Tamiya acrylic paints, applied from an airbrush. Weathering was done with Testors Model Maser enamels.
    The textured mud was made by brush applying a mixture of clear coat and dirt. This was spawned by an accident. Dirt stuck to the somewhat tacky clear coat on the tires while I was taking photos of it. I decided I liked the idea and expanded it to the body and undercarriage. Overall I'm pleased with the effect.

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