Bob Read shares how he turned the AFV Club Stryker kit into a superbly detailed LAV III in this On Display.



If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!

Very nice model.

Many beautiful details like optics and the storage belts.

The reworked steering lets the model look more dynamic.

Wirklich sehr schön.

Nice work on the LAV Bob!

Did you scratch the Alberta Beef decal on the rear?


cheers from beautiful Petawawa

Darn fine build my friend.

Looks fantastic! I love the water bottles with the chem lights in them!

One small thing i noticed, did you forget to put the sight head ballistic covers on?

Thanks guys!
@ Rick - The 'I Love Alberta Beef' decal on the rear is from a GOMBs model show decal sheet printed for the show a number of years ago. Glad you're back in Canada safe and sound and in case no one's said it to you lately, thanks very much for your service over there!!

@ Ray - I'm not sure what you mean about the sight head ballistic covers. If you're talking about the armoured covers that protect the optics on the turret, they are there but perhaps the photography or the painting doesn't show them well. The optics, the mounts that they fit in and the covers are all cast as one peice with the turret in the Real Model set.

@ Marco - the sight optics are hand painted with Alclad Prismatics. The effect worked pretty well at replicating the shimmering changing-angle colours of modern sight optics. I think they worked well and I'll use them again.

@ Charles - again, my friend, your scratchbuiult LAV III was my inspiration to build this model. I look forward to seeing your work again. Soon, I hope....

cheers and thanks for looking!
Bob

(Ps - Armorama has the wrong user profile attached to the article, they'll fix it soo I hope)

Ooops.... my current connection is a bit temperamentfull, and give in a few time last night. I didn't get a change to check the feature after I made it live. Fixed the profile now.

Cheers
Henk

Very nice work on the LAV Bob.

I stand corrected mate. Im thinking of NZLAV... I didnt realise until now that LAVIII and NZLAV/ASLAV had different sight head ballistic covers. My bad.

NP Ray, if you have some pics you want to toss up here that would show the differences, it would be appreciated. Any intel is good intel.


Bob

Bob,

Very nice model an excellent work.

Miloslav

Thanks Miloslav...., you make VERY good kits!!

Also, I'm sure Armorama will correct it soon but it wasn't your LAVIII-TUA kit that was used, it was the LAV III ISAF kit.

cheers!
Bob

Thats a good looking model Bob

I've been inspired to do one of these from the excellent looking model you've made.

Thanks
Michael

Bob
I really like your model. There are so many tiny things that call out for a closer look and nothing gives away a bad masking job or any shortcuts. For example, the rear vision port is very tidy, the shackles are not over done. The straps are excellent and so are the racket tighteners and buckles! Your duffel on the rear stretcher (Maple Leaf Models?) has the impression of being tightened unlike most I see. There is a military order to this vehicle unlike some of the mythically disheveled vehicles that are so seductive to build, you showed a precise restrain, excellent. I too like the Alberta beef decal and the "give away" Canadian flag stuck in the (cam net?) tube. I could go on and on.
The only downside for me is the poor resolution photographs and that isn't your fault, that's the internet and I'd love to see this in person or published in a good quality publication.
I have one of these in my stash and it makes me want to build it and I guess that might be the highest form of compliment one can get.
Great work.
Bill

Beautiful job Bob.
It really inspires me to spend the extra cash on Canadian conversions.
Hope to see more from you in the future.

I too love the "I love Alberta Beef" sticker. I wish I had taken a photo, but there is a AHSVS truck kicking around RC South with that very sticker on it!

Thanks for your great comments guys, I really appreciate it and I'm glad you like my model.

@ Bill - The duffel bag is actually a Tamiya one from one of their accessory kits, can't remember which one. I made sure the tie downs matched with the compression straps on the duffel and the resulting effect is what you see here. It would have been very easy to make it junky with stowage and I tried very hard to achieve the 'military orderliness' you speak of because that's the way of the real thing. The gypsy caravan look wouldn't fit with the way Canadian soldiers take pride in their vehicles so I wanted to do that part right.

And yeah, sorry about the quality of the photos. I recently bought a new camera but these were taken and submitted long before that with a point-'n'-shoot type digital. Not the best I'm afraid but I'm still proud of the results. Thanks for looking.

cheers;

Bob

Bob
The stretchers you used, were they Maple Leaf Models? You did a remarkable job opening them up to show them the way you did.
Any chance you could take some new "glamor shots" with your new camera, I for one would like to really see all your work.
I look forward to your new projects.
Bill

Hey Bill

The stretchers are Maple Leaf Models ones, yes. They're really, really nice I might add.

I'll try and put up some newer photos in a day or two once I get my homemade light tent figured out.

cheers;

Bob

Great job, Bob! I really like to look and feel of your LAV III.

Gorgeous. I love the look of the LAVIII.

Bob

Thanks for all your great comments guys, I really appreciate it.

Here are some new photos taken with my new camera and a better light setup;













Bob

Nice to have another clearer look, thanks for the effort.
Perhaps this is wrong place to talk about photography but you did mentioned using a lighting cube, could you take a pic of that too, I've always wanted to make one, they have got to be the best way to photograph small objects.
Regards
Bill

NZLAV. The commanders sight is open and the Gunners is closed in this photo. Not the best photo, but you can see what i thought was missing. Until i realised I was wrong!

[quote]


NZLAV. The commanders sight is open and the Gunners is closed in this photo. Not the best photo, but you can see what i thought was missing. Until i realised I was wrong!


Here is different - NZLAV and LAVIII