1/35 Orange Box LVT

Unfortunately I do not believe that Dragon thoroughly researched their subject, given the markings.  The markings are probably based on an Associated Press Wire Photo of BEAUTIFUL QUEENIE, which also happens to be a mid-production LVT-4, not the late production version provided in the kit.  Granted, colors are difficult to interpret from black and white photographs more than half-century on but, unit and personal histories survive.  The beach markings in the kit should be Blue, not Yellow.

5TH Amphibian Tractor Battalion was scheduled to land on beaches Blue One and Blue Two and painted landing markings accordingly but, all landed on Blue One.  There was even at least one LVT-4 of 5TH AABN painted overall grey, the only color the crew could get their hands on prior to boarding the LST for Iwo Jima according to Donald Marshall in his book Alligator Marines, The United States Marine Corps’ 5th Amphibious Tractor Battalion in WW II.

10TH Amphibian Tractor Battalion landed on beaches Yellow One and Yellow Two, with markings painted accordingly.  Also, the beach markings on 10TH AABN tractors were more narrow and placed farther apart when compared to the Blue markings used by 5TH AABN and Red markings used by 3RD AABN but appearing similar to the Green markings used by 11TH AABN that are often barely discernable in photographs.

My research continues so I may determine which companies of 2ND Armored Amphibian Battalion LVT-(A)4’s were assigned/attached as support to which Amphibian Tractor Battalions during the landings.

stikpusher

It looks like Dragon got their hands on a 1/35 LVT-4 and are bringing it out with the Iwo Jima Marines figure set in the Cyberhobby Orange Box line. Seeing as how they never had a 1/35 Amtrack before I wonder if this is the older (but still nice) Italeri LVT-4?

I suspect you're correct. From another site they wondered the same about it being an Italeri re-box. Funny they announced this soon after the AFV? kit was announced.

skuttlebut on many many sites say it is a re-pop of the Italeri, with allits problems,

In the UK you can get this kit & figures seperately on a well known auction site for about a 1/3 LESS than the suggested MRP of the estimated UK OrangeBox usual prive.

Caveat Emptor, as always, do your homework. esp as AFV Club has released pics of a: boxtop, b: decals & Sprue shots & c: built-up models !

Waay! I'm gonna wait, won't be long! 

PS The Italeri tracks are terrible, & the AFV club kit will still be cheaper than Fruils for the Italeri!

I built the Italeri LVT-4 when it was first released and did not think it was a bad kit. Yes the tracks are typical stiff Italeri vinyl, and the .50s and .30s are best replaced by some from the Academy set, but it looks like an Amtrack after a fairly easy build.

I too scooped up Italeri’s LVT-4 when it first arrived on scene.  Considering there was no other option and the kit went together rather easily I thought it was a great kit.  Sure it could use some extra attention such as junction boxes and stowage racks in the empty companion ways but, it is decent enough.  The tracks were by far the worst part of the kit, as can be seen in the pics of the first one I put together, the tracks broke apart after sitting on the model after about a week.  I have stockpiled several more to the collection but, will hold-off on assembling them until I can acquire suitable AM tracks for the kits.

Friul has announced tracks, and I remember a couple of articles in the Spanish mag, "Armor" in English and "Panzer Aces" in Spanish, where resin and PE tracks were used, but the build-up on them looked like a life-long project.  I like the realistic look of individual, working link tracks, but I like to build the rest of the model, too.

Never seen a 'NO APRICOTS' sign. I know about no bananas. Is it the same sorta story with apricots??

I am not familiar with the No Bananas story but, apricots are a no-no, bad juju, bad idea and any other phrase you can conjure for an action that should not be done.  It is unwritten law that apricots are not brought aboard AmTracs.  It is taught to this day as a section in each young AmTrac’rs History and Organization class, with the curse proving itself repeatedly.  Below is a the page where several apricot stories reside at the Amtrac.org website.

http://www.amtrac.org/3atlb/3atlb.asp

If I remember correctly it is testor acrylic Russian Armor Green darkened with Marine Corps Green. 

I also did a gathering of Iwo LVTs using the Airfix kit, painting a vehicle to represent an LVT from each of the Amphibian Tractor Battalions employed for Operation Detachment.  I am working on another Airfix LVT-4 but, putting far more effort into detailing, having to set it aside for month or so at a time to allow my eyes to recover.

It's honestly simply unbelievable to me that those idiots over at Italeri haven't gotten the message about their horrendous quality tracks yet.

I won't even buy an Italeri kit anymore unless I can get a replacement set of tracks cheap. Usually a set of indy links from Dragon somewhere.

the doog

It's honestly simply unbelievable to me that those idiots over at Italeri haven't gotten the message about their horrendous quality tracks yet.

I won't even buy an Italeri kit anymore unless I can get a replacement set of tracks cheap. Usually a set of indy links from Dragon somewhere.

 

Not that I have anything against Italeri, but they were a bit of a niche brand with some funky German kits such as the RSO tractor and other halftracks, Chaffee, and Priest kits that were once all their own. Now the big boys are moving in on this sacred territory, thus rendering them insignificant in WW II armor for the most part.

I agree with you that Italeri tracks are the worst, but I think the armor modeling community at large has shifted in a way that makes Italeri not really care to improve their tracks. Right now, the first thing many modelers do when buying any kit is to plop down money for Fruils, MKs or one of the other aftermarket tracks.

For every guy like you who buys a set of Dragon tracks, there's another guy who replaces his Dragon tracks with $40 Fruils. How many times does someone ask on this forum alone that they just bought the "latest & greatest" panzer kit and what PE, tracks and barrel do they need before even starting the kit.

It doesn't excuse Italeri, but they know their target market isn't the guy who has to have the best kit available. That guy buys the Tasca, Tamiya or Dragon kit over the Italeri kit. They're aiming for the less discerning modeler.

Rob Gronovius

I agree with you that Italeri tracks are the worst, but I think the armor modeling community at large has shifted in a way that makes Italeri not really care to improve their tracks. Right now, the first thing many modelers do when buying any kit is to plop down money for Fruils, MKs or one of the other aftermarket tracks.

For every guy like you who buys a set of Dragon tracks, there's another guy who replaces his Dragon tracks with $40 Fruils. How many times does someone ask on this forum alone that they just bought the "latest & greatest" panzer kit and what PE, tracks and barrel do they need before even starting the kit.

It doesn't excuse Italeri, but they know their target market isn't the guy who has to have the best kit available. That guy buys the Tasca, Tamiya or Dragon kit over the Italeri kit. They're aiming for the less discerning modeler.

I agree with you Rob. I can't quite understand why anyone would replace beautiful magic tracks in Dragon kits with $40 Fruils when the kit tracks are so easy to work with and are pretty much ready to go. I mean they are also more then the kit itself if you purchased one off of ebay or the some online company such as spruebrothers.

I would tend to agree with Rob. It appears to me that Italeri and to some extent Tamiya have become more of the "Chevy" or "Toyota" of manufacturers and are trying to appeal to a more mass market than our group here on the forums. We tend to be more of the "Lexus" group....we want all the options.

As for their tracks...either their M109, M110, M7 or some other vehicle, they generally inhale!! They are just a PITA to work with.

If it is Italeri's molds, I presume they received a nice fee....and wow, Dragon is desperate.

For innovative you have to look at the Hobby Boss, Trumpeter, etc.  My gut feeling is in 5 more years, Dragon will be in the same group with Tamiya & Italeri....once leaders now commodities.

Rounds Complete!!

redleg12

I would tend to agree with Rob. It appears to me that Italeri and to some extent Tamiya have become more of the "Chevy" or "Toyota" of manufacturers and are trying to appeal to a more mass market than our group here on the forums. We tend to be more of the "Lexus" group....we want all the options.

As for their tracks...either their M109, M110, M7 or some other vehicle, they generally inhale!! They are just a PITA to work with.

If it is Italeri's molds, I presume they received a nice fee....and wow, Dragon is desperate.

For innovative you have to look at the Hobby Boss, Trumpeter, etc.  My gut feeling is in 5 more years, Dragon will be in the same group with Tamiya & Italeri....once leaders now commodities.

Rounds Complete!!

For Italeri's M7, M107/M110 or M109 series kits, they are around 25 years old so you would think the tracks would only be as good as vintage 1980s kits.

As for Dragon, most people seem to forget that their original Sherman kits were Italeri kits with new sprues tossed in, just like some of their original panzer kits were Gunze Sangyo kits with the white metal and resin parts replaced with plastic.

For instance, I've got Dragon's M4A3E8 "Easy Eight" (the Rice's Red Devils) kit #9009 dated 1994. The sprues for the hull inside are identical to the Italeri M4A2 Sherman Jumbo (yes, it is not a Jumbo) kit #253 that I picked up when I first got to Germany in 1987-88.

Dragon added a new turret, new HVSS suspension and tracks and molded the kit in grey vs. green plastic, but the entire hulls are the exact same pieces. Even the Dragon instructions show the original Italeri M4A1  kit #225 parts (engine cover, rear plate parts, VVSS fenders and the Tommy gun for the Italeri crewman) as unused.

Italeri has also reboxed Dragon kits in the past. The first time i bought the Dragon ZSU-23-4 Shilka, it was in an Italeri box (still have that box) and I know I often saw many of the original Dragon Soviet kits (BMP, T-72) in Italeri boxes as well.

You know... Even if it is the Italeri reboxing (which it probably is)... their could be a silver lining. The Italeri kit is generally an ok kit save for the tracks, which are far too stiff. Now, If Dragon boxes it and IF they have a brain in their head at all... they're remold the tracks in their softer DS vinyl which would nullify the biggest complaint about the kit and they might have something worth buying. You can guarantee that the AFV Club tracks will be almost butter soft as are most of their others and DML would be wise to attempt the same thing.

So how are the tracks on the LVT(A)-4?  Are they the same for every kit, I assume?  

Semper!

Ski