I decided to jump in and started that Best Value Model conversion for the AVGP GRIZZLY. BVM offer the base kit with their conversion resin parts, which is the Revell LAV-25.



The first step to do is to shorted out the 8x8 hull: The instruction sheet shows clearly where to perform the cuts:







Then some sanding is needed to remove some of the existing details.



The first resin parts are then glued on the lower hull section to create the 6x6 configuration body of the Grizzly:





Then it's time to assemble the upper hull, roof section, rear hull to the lower hull. The joint is not prefect but some putty will do the work:







More to come...

Looks like the surgery was a success Luc, what did you use for the cutting/removal?

Bill, for cutting the hull, I used a cutting wheel mounted on the Dremel. It tooks a few second and the job was done. Of course some sanding needs to be made, but it's really easy. Tonight I filled all the gasp, holes and driver's hatch with Squadron Green putty. While it's drying, I decided to rebuild the front shock assembly using pieces of styrene. I also form a coilspring using a metal wire. I think it looks much better..

It's going slowly but surely...tonight I made some more sanding on the hull to smooth the area where the putty was applied. Also I added the new shaped grill provided in resin in the BVM kit. But after carefull study of my reference pictures, I find the piece to be a little bit to large and comes to close to the edge of the hull, so I decided to remove a thin section to make it fit more like the original.



Next came the driver's hatch area. Here again, after looking at my pictures, I found the center vision block to be too much forward compared to the reference pics.



So I cut it out and move it back just a few milimeters. Then I sanded flat all three vision blocks to remove the "simili" glass. You can also see the pattern that comes with the instruction sheet that gives a guide to reposition the drivers hatch opening:







Next, I worked on the rear access doors. You have to use the ones provided by Revell, but here again, after looking at the real beast, I found out that the vision glass were not in the right position. They are centered in the middle of the doors, while in fact they should be a little off centered to the right ( I look closely at a few pictures I have of the rear to make sure I was not wrong, and all of them clearly show the off centered postion)



It's crazy how many details you can see wrong when you take time to look at reference pictures !!

More to come.......

Latest work done: All the suspension/drivetrain assembly is now installed and I decide to turn the front wheel , so I had to modified the front steering system. I also worked on the rear of the hull. I have mounted the different lift point , reposition the vision port on the doors ( thank you Jason !) scratchbuilt the handles and installed the taillamp and taillamp guard ( made from a straw).







More to come..

Luc,

Great progress! Looking forward to following your build.

Darryl

Some nice scratch building work going on there -- I'm looking forward to seeing more.

Cheers,
Ian

Hi Luc,
Have you noticed that the edges (upper and maybe lower) of the openings
for the doors in the rear hull have a wavy edge?
The Italeri kits have this fault and looking at your images I would say that
the Revell kit is the same and has the same problem. The doors have a
straight edge and that makes the wavy edge more visible.
regards / Robin

Here is the latest work I did on the kitty: Added handles on engine bay cover, headlight, trim vane rails, lots of bolt-on armor mounting point and the wire cutter. The one offer by BVM is in the down position. I wanted to mount it in the upright position, so I had to scratchbuilt it. I use only the base mount from the kit. That's it for now..

Nice job on the wire cutter. Are the add-on armour points in the conversion, or are they scratch?

cheers

Thanks for the comment Rick. The armor points are not provided. I am scratchbuilding them..

Ok, here is what the Grizz looks like so far. The wheels are not glued, but just temporary mounted for the pictures. It begins to take shape..