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FMTV Armor plates

jpinst

jpinst

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What kind of steel was used on the earlier FMTV armor kits? It's definitely steel. I suppose if nobody knows, then what would be the best combination of strength vs. weight when choosing steel? I am recreating a few panels and I want them to be functionally accurate as well as provide the look that I am after.


Thanks in advance !
 
Jbulach

Jbulach

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Not sure what a gunbox is but 3/4" is extremely excessive for vehicle armor, unless you're planning on invading a small country...


M925A2 with dump hoist
 
M

MGKMartin

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If it is worth building, it is worth overbuilding. Plus, you never know when you will need to take over a small country.

A gunbox / hunter box is the crew protection armor in the back of a convoy protection vehicle. I think the standard is 1", but the extra 1/4" doesn't get me anything so I am sticking with 3/4". It's more expensive and a lot heavier than the 3/8" I would use for a cab, but the 3/8" would just look wrong here. I am putting it on a 5 ton FMTV with an armored LTAS A1P2 cab so the extra weight doesn't really matter to me.
 

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MGKMartin

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The 3/4" armored plates are about 240 lbs each (1" are 320lbs) and it is a lot more work to do it this way than the standard slab armor (but it looks a lot better). Each plate has to be CNC plasma cut and have fourteen 1/2" holes burned out for the bolts.

Here is a picture of the crew door so you can see how thick the armor is.

Hunterbox2.jpg
 
Special T

Special T

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Here is a little nugget of info. If you frame up 2 pieces of plywood and fill full of 3/4" chipped gravel 30-06 won't penetrate it. The gravel absorbs the energy and the holes are too small to let the gravel out. I'm not sure what the difference in weight is, and what kind of metal backing g you would have to use to stop 50 call.

Cool project and cool pics

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk
 
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tterbo

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3/4" A500 will stop the .50 BMG. You can get away with 3/8" AR500 for just about any 30 caliber round. I make AR500 targets and our 3/8" targets last 10k+ rounds shooting 5.56 and 308. One thing to keep in mind is that you don't want to heat it excessively so that means no welding. It needs to bolt to whatever you are attaching it to. Also, if at all possible, cut it with a water jet, laser, or submerged plasma. Standard plasma cutting doesn't localize the heat well and will weaken the temper up to an inch away from the cut. Cutting 3/4" is just about the limit for most standard 4000 watt lasers so try to find someone with a 5000 watt machine or a water jet.
 
Hard Head

Hard Head

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Were they using a ballistic alloy on these trucks? What are you doing about cover and head protection? A note about the gravel. I have seen something similar with what appeared to be glass marbles layered in a composite.
 
Special T

Special T

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Hard Head said:
Were they using a ballistic alloy on these trucks? What are you doing about cover and head protection? A note about the gravel. I have seen something similar with what appeared to be glass marbles layered in a composite.
Click to expand...
The use of gravel was an experiment. Think Hardened Homes & Gardens.
 
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