Empress Miniatures: Ford Mutt

“That was a pleasure to put together” says Ian who constructs most of our models for review here at Wi, Not a bad way to start a review is it?

As you can see ‘NAM19 Ford Mutt’ is a multi-part metal kit, recently released by Empress Miniatures. The MUTT, or M151 Military Utility Tactical Truck to give the vehicle its full title, was the workhorse of the US army during the Vietnam War, as well as seeing action in other conflicts around the globe, right up until the 1980s.

The Empress model, retailing at £18, comes complete with three different calibre machine guns and a grenade launcher, as well as a stowage pack and trailer (not pictured).

Whilst not intended as a guide to construction, the photos below give you some idea of the work we put into the model’s build, beyond the obvious – ‘sticking bits together’.

Scrubbing the model with a toothbrush, in soapy water, to remove any release agent.

Filing down the steering wheel mount for a better fit.

Drilling a deeper hole for the gear stick to ensure a solid fit.

Sticking the Mutt together. We use accelerator with superglue to get the most solid bond.

As you can see it’s a neat looking kit, with nice crisp lines. It’s a bit of a shame about the distinctive horizontal grill on the front of the vehicle, ours appearing rather rough looking in the photos, but more time spent on the modelling and painting will no-doubt improve this. The same is true for the crew (separate pack – £6), great looking models, which would benefit from a little extra TLC to get them sitting flush and holding the weapons and steering wheel.

All in all a welcome addition to the impressive and expanding Empress Vietnam range.