Finally working on the LAV-25 again

Looking good!   I do remember watching your WIP especially the PE stuff.  Are you planning to give this to your son? 

Thanks guys. Deafpanzer, I am not sure if I will give it to him or not. He has a 3 year old and a newborn on the way in January so he might not have a safe place for it. I will ask.

Shipping it to him and not having any damage to it would also be difficult.

Kids?  Yikes, I'd think twice before giving him one.  You can always build another one in few years.  

Good to see this one back on the bench Mike.

Come on Mike, bring her across the finish line.

agentg

Keep going Mike!

I bought some metallic foil at Hobby Lobby which I think works well. They have several red, blue, gold and green sheets in one package. Each sheet is about 4"x4" and good for many builds. I cannot find the package right now but will continue to look.

G

 

Thanks Gary. I don't have a Hobby Lobby around here but I am sure someone else would have something like that. I am thinking of mixing some Future with a transparent blue acrylic like my Createx T-shirt paints and filling in the area with that after painting a white or silver background? When it dries it would be a clear blue look.....I hope. 

GreenThumb

I started this a couple of years ago as my son rode around in one of these in Iraq on two tours with 1st Marines, 1st LAR, Delta Co.

I painted the first color and need to do the Nato brown and Nato black.

I am not an armor guy so this has been a challenge with the PE parts, etc. and there are still other challenges I have to try and make up for such as the reflective sensors in the turret that I need to make.

Mike it's coming along nicely.

If by refelctive sensors, you are referring to the vision blocks/periscopes with the protective caoting, youmay want to order some of these

http://pachome1.pacific.net.sg/~kriegsketten/D356093.htm

Yes they are for a M113,butmore than likely they will work for what you need.

This company makes them in the "D" series product range.

http://pachome1.pacific.net.sg/~kriegsketten/

I'm not sure if Trumpeter solved their dissolving vinyl problem. I know on their Chinese BJ212A Jeeps, that the vinyl would melt the plastic hubs and surrounding styrene suspension over time.

I've been hesitant to put together another one of their wheeled vehicles because of it. I did buy resin tires for my LAV-R, but haven't touched it yet.

I'd google their LAV line to see if it is still an issue. I think they solved it by the time they put their Strykers on the market, but not sure about the earlier LAVs.

Good work, Mike. Nice to see you returning to the bench!

Thanks guys.

Carlos, those look good on the link you posted but I have glued together the hull and turret so I am going to have to find a way to put something into the openings from the outside now. I didn't want to put the ones in that came with the kit as it would require careful masking while spraying the colors on the model.

I could use the ones still from the kit and paint them with a clear color to approximate the look they should have and then trim them to fit inside the small openings.

Rob Gronovius

I'm not sure if Trumpeter solved their dissolving vinyl problem. I know on their Chinese BJ212A Jeeps, that the vinyl would melt the plastic hubs and surrounding styrene suspension over time.

Thanks Rob. I was told that a long time ago as well and someone told me how to paint/protect the wheel plastic from the vinyl tires. Thought maybe I could soak them in alcohol or Super Clean or something and then rinse well and paint? But when you slide them on the wheel the paint is going to come off.

I am not sure if this kit is affected or not. I will have to look that up, thanks.

the model is so cool !

cool model

Mike, the last time I built an armored vehicle with rubber wheels (the Academy M998), I rolled the vinyl tires in Future before installing them on the wheel hub. Then I weathered them.

I think the problem in car models was limited because of their use of chromed wheels. The chrome plating acted as a barrier between the vinyl and styrene plastic. I've thought of using that self sticking chrome plating sheet that Model Masters sells to cover the inner surface of the rims to prevent the melting.

To be honest, the only issue on a military wheeled vehicle I've had was that Trumpeter Chinese Jeep. A very nice kit if you ever see one cheap (it's the same kit as the Hobbycraft Iraqi Fedayeen Technical). I bought resin replacement wheels for that kit because by the time I discovered the melting, the styrene wheel hubs had some damage.

Again, I don't know if this is still a Trumpeter problem. I don't build armor with rubber wheels often. I've never had issues with Tamiya's vinyl wheels on their kits either.

Thanks Rob. I will look into it and try and isolate the tire somehow.

Yesterday I was busy doing things around the house so I only did a little work on the LAV-25.

I drilled holes in the tops of the antenna bases with a #77 drill bit and a pin vice and installed two pieces of guitar string for the antennas.

Good looking Mike. Are you still planning to camo it?

Go Raiders!

Yes Bill. It is going to be Nato green, brown and black.

Mike, those water cans on the turret are made from plastic in real life. They are either Black (old ones) or Tan (mid 80s onward). Your LAV is starting to come together nicely Mike. I always like when you reach that stage on a build and its final form starts to take shape.

Thanks Carlos. I thought those were fuel cans like you see on the back of a Jeep.

No. fuel and oil cans are stamped metal with the triple handles. The single piece handle and filler/pour spout is the giveaway.

plastic 5 gallon water can

US GI stamped metal Fuel/Oil can

US GI Stamped metal 5 gallon Water Can

Notice the different filler caps

Cool. Thanks Carlos. I didn't even notice the water cans having a single handle until I just now looked at the kit.