As painting begins, I've got the M151A1D MUTT up on its wheels, and some of the components press-fit into place for location checks. The drilled out lightening holes in the AFV Club wheel rims show here - adding a sense of realism to the model. The Spigot and Propellant Canisters are set into place temporarily, and will be removed when more involved work begins on the M151A1D Transporter Truck. In the rear bed, the bases for the Porta Packs are also set into place temporarily.

This is the fun part of building the miniature - the time when all the individual parts begin to come together. Drilling out the Tamiya Spare Tire's lightening holes in the rim was a good idea, to match the AFV Club parts. I also liked the large "Good Year" impressions on the AFV Club vinyl tires too - just a bit of fun for the miniature in the end.

The initial Gloss Cote and decaling stage is relatively quick due to small size of the M151A1D Truck. These are water-slide decals from Academy's new line of M151A1 MUTT model kits. These were appropriate and easy to apply. All the data panels were a welcome addition to this miniature. When the decals dried, I applied layers of Gloss Cote to seal them and blend them into the overall finish.