Semper Fi War in the Pacific

Yea, its 1:48. Love them little Tamiya vehicles. Picked up a Jagdpanther yesterday.

PANZERWAFFE, That looks like Somalia, yet another miserable tour offered by the government travel agency.  I got to be part of Operation United Shield, the pull-out of all forces from Somalia in 1995 with Special Purpose MAGTF Belleau Wood.  Prior to going ashore we got to put one of our vehicles on the flight deck of the USS Belleau Wood, on the aft elevator, to run all the platoon’s weapons through the turret for test firing.  Once ashore we set up and stood watch of some absolutely disgustingly filthy people while outside the new port.

The RAM/RS modification started arriving at the school and to fleet units in late 1999 to early 2000.  I do not believe all had been modified until about 2007.  The RAM/RS introduced the Bradley suspension with its steel road wheels to the AAV.  You can see some of the modifications needed on the hull in the bottom picture, which has the starboard #2 support arm removed.  The steel road wheels are considerably freakin heavier than the older aluminum road wheels.

Detail , i'm wondering if you and Rob were at Samolia at the same time ? As i remember Rob was there at the end assisting the Army .

WOW!  Somalia?  Hard to believe it has been 16-17 years since we had our troops there...

Carl- Nice work on that jeep... looking forward to see your next update. 

Andy,, I agree, doesn't seem that long ago

Detail,,  again, some great pics!

Carl,,  glad to help.           Yes, some of the guys had jeeps. My chariot was a 1976 Chevy stepside pickup. That beast would go through just about anything,

Bill , i hada 1981 Chevy 4WD pickup , it got around pretty good also ..............as long as it wasnt to far from a gas station .

PANZERWAFFE, don’t know if you have decided on a finish for your LVT-4 but came across these photos.  There was no information or data accompanying them when I purchased them some time ago so cannot pinpoint date or location.  The vehicle appears to be an early armored cab LVT-4 with the smaller armor plates and a foot well.  The lack of the large white “shoot here” stars that the Army typically applied to its’ LVTs would lend credence to a Marine tractor, who rarely painted national markings on the LVTs.  The men in the photo appear to have 8-point covers but, there is no EGA present on their covers or blouses.  Thought it was interesting because it is extremely rare to find this type of nose art on LVTs, regardless of time or service.
Looking forward to some pointers with the Fruil tracks as I have a set in the stash for one of my future LVT builds.  AFV Club has also announced they are producing a set of workable LVT tracks, will have to pick up a set of those as well.

Shellback, I was only in Somalia for a short time, limited to the withdrawal of forces.  Being amphibious allowed us to be the last units to leave that country. We set up at the airport until all other forces were out and then we headed to the beach and chased down the Navy ships that were running at about 8 knots and completely blacked out.  The first couple tractors from each platoon landed on the wrong ships, forcing the two platoons of AAVs to cross paths after that to embark the proper ship.  It was a long water march chasing the ships down in ridiculous heat and rough water in tightly packed vehicles.  When we arrived aboard ship my vehicle had two heat casualties that had to be carried off and, although most of the embarked infantry puked, they were packed so tightly none of the puke hit the deck; easy clean up but horrible smell.

Would this work?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/170519769439?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

Detail , thanks for relating that story . I've heard of the navy pulling that type of crap on you guys before . Makes no good sense . But then the way that entire Somalia mission was handled was a fiasco anyway . IMO. NO reflection on the troopps , you guys always do your best . 

DEATTILIO, CARL - Those are some great pics.  Remember the city port wall in that one photo very well.  All the walls there had either spikes, broken bottles, wire, or all of that combined mortared onto the top of them.  I originally flew into the Mogadishu airport in Dec 92 and stayed up until 94.  We were there to secure Mogadishu to Baidoa then out to Merca to Jowhaar.

Really like those pictures of that LVT!  Yes, never have seen "nose art" such as that on these or most other vehicles.  That would be a very interesting one to build.  Wonder if there are any other pic's showing more of the whole vehicle?  Going to save those pictures and really think about that one for the future

I was going to be finishing mine as the "A43" LVT on Iwo Jima, Yellow Beach 1.  Tried to put a picture up but it did not come out very well.  It has what looks like a two tone cammo pattern, olive drab base with a red brown camo.  Thats my best guess anyway being it's a black and white photo.  Strange, most of these USMC LVT were usually solid olive, solid navy gray, or 3 tone olive, sand, red brown.  This one looks like it has a .50 in the right gun shield and a .30 in the left one.  Has one .30 on the port quarter and a bunch of fuel cans on the right.  Has A43 guessing in yellow (appears to be the same shade as the beach bar) and one yellow bar in the middle of the pontoons.

The more I'm looking and reading this is not a very good kit for a earlier (WWII) vehicle.  This kit more represents an early 50's era vehicle.  There will be more changing things around or deletion of things then had thought.  Here I have removed the tread plate, side mounting ribs and replaced the poor molded grill both on the deck and the engine bulkhead with brass mesh. 

First this is it with the ribs and tread plate

with the change

Theres a lot more that has to be deleted in the interior.  Additions will be many more grab handles, new ribs, armor plate on crew bulkhead, armor plate over the fuel tanks and some other small stuff.  Also have to go back to the pontoons and remove the the step, add the fuel drain plug and add the lifting eyes on top of the armor plate OH and a weld bead down the middle of the plate.

The only thing that has me worried is the co-driver hatch.  It should be moved forward and not sure how to do this?  It is only to the rear if there is a cab mounted MG and mine will not have the MG.

The hatch should be even with the drivers hatch   Don't know if I will be able to do this.

Will let you know how the Friuls work out when they arrive.  I expect them any day now.

WW2 - Those decals come in so many sizes and the shap of the numbers look right, belive they would work.  The only thing should they be yellow?  Cant tell from the ref picture but just going with most of the USMC numbers were yellow but there were some that were white.  What does everyone else think?

Carl,,  back then it didn't seem so painful heading to the gas pumps.   Then again, I was in my 20's back in the mid 70's....   lack of brains could have had someting to do with it too. My 76 was a 4WD with the big tires, lifters, beefed 350 power plant,,,   pretty much the works....  it was fun for sure.   And back then, you could actually work on one youself.....  No computer sync crap, catalytic converters, etc.      just plain fun.

Rob,,    that baby is sure different from any of my normal builds...  to be honest, I would have never known the hatches should have lined up...    in any event, I think it is looking good !

Its hard for me to tell wheather or not the numbers are yellow or white in the picture, but on the model posted before theyre white.

Rob , thanks for explaining the time period you where at Somalia .  Hopefully the backdating conversions on your LVT wont be too difficult .Good looking efforts so far . Thats the problem with a lot of kits of WW 2 vehicles , the info on them is taken from a museum piece that represents a later version.

Bill i get you about working on vehicles back then . I remember when the only electronic gizmo on my 67' El Camino was the Malory dual point distributor i put on it . Well ,it did have an AM radio also .Spent a lot of time hanging over the fenders on that one . Still have it .

Here's the culmination of todays efforts . I sprayed the model with a coat of Krylon Matte finish and then brushed on some thinnned burnt sienna oil paints . and thin sealed that again with the matte finish . Then i applied the decals . Nice kit . It has just 7 small decals . These are the easiest decals i have ever applied . I put the wetted decal into a puddle of Super Set and they laid down perfect with no silvering ...............NICE ! I sprayed another coat of matte over the decals and the shine disappeared ...............COOL !

WW 2 , As far as the color of the Marine  numbers this kit came with the Yellow i.d. numbers . I wouldnt trust that pic i posted completely ........who nows where the modeler got his info .

PANZERWAFFE, the troop compartment is shaping up well but that hatch will surely be a challenge.  Most bothersome for me is I will have to check to see if I will need to do the same plastic surgery in 1/72 on “MARDI GRAS.”  I was only able to locate one photograph of 10th Amphibian Tractor Battalion’s A43 in one of my books, at least it is a decent photograph.  If Company A painted their tractors identical to Company B, there should be tactical numbers on the bow and stern, as well as a yellow landing stripe on the upper deck of the bow extending from the base of the cab to towing eye.  There should be a “10” about 1/3 in height preceding “A43.”  I have had no luck hunting down more photos of the “nose art” LVT thus far.

The camouflage applied to 10th and 11th Amphibian Tractor Battalions LVTs look fairly similar but am not 100% sure of what colors were used. 10th AmTracs give an impression that the camouflage was applied with a paint gun where 11th AmTracs have very sharp demarcation between the colors.  2d Armored Amphibian Tractor Battalion’s LVT(A)4s used what appear to be Navy shades of grays and greens.  A decent spot to hunt through is CriticalPast.com, which has a filter that allows easy drilling to color footage of LVTs at Iwo Jima and is all original footage.  I have ordered several still images from their films to add to my reference stash.

Shellback, that jeep is coming along sweetly.  Gonna be impressive when finished.

Carl,,,  I agree with deatillio,,   wow, the jeep really looks good.     Building the same kit, I have some high standards to live up to for sure!      Excellent!!

CARL - Nice to hear how well the decals went down.  Nice when you get a set that works like that.  They defiantly look good and like the little weathering on the hood.  Looking great.

Agree with kits being molded after museum pieces that are inaccurat.....what is one to do though besides work with it.

DEATTILIO - Thanks again for the info, it will be well noted and used.  Was hopping there was a landing stripe on the bow but was unsure, pretty excited about that now.  Hope MARDI GRAS being in 1/72 does not give you problems with that hatch.  I still have not figured out my plan of attack to solve my hatch.

WW2 - Did you decide on the decals?

Detail , Bill and Rob thank you for your comments guys .

Rob i think thats what makes a our hobby interesting , doing the research and then applying that to making a model more accurate.....................  right ?

Another small update . more weathering with chalks and some dry brushing .

Count me in!  New to the FSM Forum, but I've got an Academy Sherman waiting to get dusted off!  I'm planning on a 4th Tank Bn machine on Iwo Jima.  We'll see how it ends up, but for now, I'm planning on modeling "Aflamo", a Zippo tank knocked out in March 1945 by Japanese land mines:

-Wooden side armor, with poured concrete in between the hull and boards

-Cage armor over the hatches

-Spare track links on the turret/hull

-Field/ship applied camo pattern (Black, Tan, Brick Red, Forest Green)

Looking forward to getting to work and posting some pics!

Carl- Looking great!  Wish I have your speed.  

Ski- Welcome to the GB!  Saw your Sherman in Armor... outstanding work especially it was only done by paintbrushes if I understood it correctly!  

Andy , thanks man .............speed ? I've been working on this little thing for a month now .................

Ski , another Marine ? .......................

Yep, another Jarhead coming aboard!

Shellback

Andy , thanks man .............speed ? I've been working on this little thing for a month now .................

I think everybody knows it will take me 3-4 months to finish this little jeep...

SKI - Great to have you   Really liked your M4A3 and if that is just getting back in the saddle, cant wait to see what else you come up with on this and your future builds.  Would have to concur with Andy, nice brush work on your last build.

Have added you to the roster as building an M4A2 by Academy 1/35.  Just let me know if this is not correct.    Love those Sherman's with all the added goodies.  Once again glad your here but more so glad your on the forum now.

CARL - Nice weathering and dry brushing really shows tonal variation

ANDY - Would like to say wish you were building with use now but do take your time with your current projects.  The time you have been putting into your builds has been producing excellent results.  You have been putting out some really nice builds.

BILL - Look forward to your coming post also.

Have been working on fabricating the armor fuel tank plates.  Should be able to finish them up tomorrow then will work on the personnel armor protection plates on the side bulkheads.  Will have some pics in next day or two.

Ski,,   welcome!    The Sherm sounds like a add-on beast,, I like it!

Andy,,  I take forever on some of my builds too...  I tend to get caught up in areas that don't really need the attention..  like areas that will never be seen. BUT, I guess I am a creature of habit.

Carl,,  the jeep looks great.    I hope I can do half a good a job on mine. I am tinkering a bit with my engine as well.... Especially since you have paved the way for me. I do believe our kits have a few small differences though. When I look at yours and compare to mine, there are a few tiny things that differ. Maybe some mold changes through its lifespan with Italeri (?).

Rob,,  I will get some pic / progress posts up soon.    Even if I have to kick my own azz to do it!    Good luck with the fuel tank plates, armor protection plates etc.

Bill,

Thanks for the kind words about my Zippo Sherman, I'm just lucky I joined the Forums at the perfect time!  I am really looking forward to seeing some quality builds of my favorite subject matter.  You fellas really raise the bar with your builds, I'm just happy to be in the company of such pros.

Semper,

Ski

My pleasure ski,,,,       and yes,     these guys are monsters when it comes to the builds (and I mean that in a very good way).         Some awesome talent abounds......  

Hell yeah I am a monster... I am the Blob! 

Because I move at a very slow rate.  <evil laugher>