Well, yet another ASLAV is on my bench. Five on the go at once!

Got the New trumpeter kit in the mail so hooked into it today and this is where im at.

Out of the box except for the following gear, all from Mouse House. (and all in my spares box!)
PE Continuos Tie Downs
Resin Sight Heads
Resin Turret Hatches
Resin MAG-58 Flex mount.
Resin Wheel Hubs
Resin Mantlet
I also scratched the hull periscope blanking plates, a new arm for the RHS mirror, and the Coax barrel.

This one is being made just so it can be the trial run for paint and weathering for the two that ive been working on for over a year! Im also trying a new product called 'White Knight Spray Suede' for the non slip. Found it at Bunnings (Australia) and only costs $7.95 for a large can.

Crikey!

You got that in the mail and you started today ?

I need to lift my game !!

Great work !!

Cheers

Paul

Rocket Ray the mad modeller!
I guess by this time you know where everything goes and you know how it ought to look, but still all in one day!
It looks very smart, beautiful build. Is the mesh over the engine hatches, is it really diamond shaped or should it be square mesh? I think I remember in Jason M's tome he took issue with the Trump offering.
I can't wait for the colour now, I guess at this rate we'll see it all done later today? ;o)
Great work
Bill

Go hard Ray! You look to have used my gun sights and Trump's ballistic covers?
I have had the same idea for the update.

Yes Bill, Trumpeters mesh is diamond shaped where as the mesh on the real thing is square.


Cheers Jason

I tried looking for White Knight paints online but couldn't find any that say "Suede".

Could you elaborate more on the product details.. so I can look for it online?

Nice looking build, by the way.

Cheers
Hisham

Ray
Your postman must arrive very early in the morning.
Can you provide any info on Mouse House and 'White Knight Spray Suede'
Thanks

Cookie

Does anyone actually believe him? Only joking; looks great.

Sean

Ray
Can you send me an urine sample for doping test ???
One day, but I do believe that in the Pole (north and south) days can be from mid-october to mid-march.
Is it the same in Australia?

Really impressive work, You dont have progress pics since you were busy building the model ???

Cheers
Seb

Superb work!, the anti-slip coating looks superb!,

Your etch details look nice,

Rocket man when are you going to put some paint on it?

Nice work! Would not be too too hard to make that into a Coyote. Trump looks to have refined some of the detail on their smaller bits too.

Hahaha. I should elaborate, I recieved in the mail last week and applied the non-slip straight away. Then left it to dry for few days. But I assure you that was one days building...

Bill, correct mate. I knew that the mesh was wrong, but I dont have anything else to use, so this will do.

Jase, yeah mate I used your sight heads and covers, but with the Trumpeter PE upper covers.

The spray suede... hmm I cant seem to find it on their website either. I can assure you it is a product.!

I woke up early and went flat out all day because im going away for a couple of weeks soon and I wanted to get as much of it done as i could. Got to make my days off constructive! Unfortunatly that means she probably wont see any paint until I get back. Ill see if i can get it primed when i get home tonight though.

You can hardly call me fast gentelman! Ive got five of them, two with interiors that i started over a year ago, one still unfinished PC, and another 'What if' ASLAV-AD is still just a hull!! I seem to go quick at the start, but trust me it peters out....

Got the primer on.


I think the non-slip turned out well. Cant really see it in the photos, but it looks in scale in the flesh. I guess ill see how it takes some weathering before i make any claims about the product.


So far ive only noticed a few things i need to fix up. The holes i drilled to mount the PE tie downs need to be filled. There is also a few parts i havent put on yet. I just cant wait to start the paint so ill add them when i get around to it.

In this photo you can see i missed half of the weld line when I tried to remove it from the kit. Didnt even notice it until i put primer on. And i forgot to remove the ones around the suspension bumps. Too late now, ill have to live with it. I think thats the worst thing Ive found with this kit, the weld lines are way too big. Also you can see the correct shape of the new RHS mirror stalk i scratched (Although i definatly simplified the connection to the actual mirror bracket)


Im not happy with the kits exhaust pipe. Looks way too small and thick. I intend to remove it and scratch a new one.


In this photo you can see the detail in on the rear of the resin sight heads that the kit ones miss out on. Also how much more detailed (and correct) the resin MAG58 Flex and Platt mount are. Also Jase, if you are reading, I would love to see one in the future with an open 7.62mm liner in it so we can feed a belt up into the gun. I was almost about to hack it up in order to open it.... but i couldnt bring myself to do it! I only had the one and i had a feeling it would end in tears...


I have a question. Am i supposed to CA the tyres to the hubs? Any pro's or con's? It seems a lot easier to paint them when they are loose on the rim. And plus it with allow me a bit of adjustment when i get it on a base.

Nice work Ray !

I'm going to paint the tyres off the hubs (Nato Black) and put them back on before weathering. Not sure how they'll turn out. We'll see,

Cheers

Paul

Ray
After reading all the comments about these vinyl tires I choose to prime and then assemble them and paint them when the hubs and wheels are all together. I understood that the styrene and the vinyl react to one another and then there is the resin/ plastic/ vinyl combo so I chose to put a paint barrier in between them all. The Mouse House resin hubs have the resin plugs on the back and I wasn't sure how much of those I was supposed to remove and I think now that I left too much plug on so the tires don't seat well to the rims.
Another thing I had trouble with was the fine outer ring on the MH resin hubs separated from the rest of the hub so I had to try and glue that hair thin piece back....wasn't that successful. They are very nice and delicate though and I only had one problem with eight hubs.
Now the biggest problem I had with the now primed vinyl tires was that you are actually gluing the primer to the primer and I had large chips of primer separate from the vinyl leaving an exposed vinyl tire! So I think until someone comes up with excellent ASLAV resin wheels with the correct bolt pattern, I'd glue the hubs to the vinyl first and then prime/ paint afterward, knowing that you will probably have a melt down, down the road.
Jason Miller can say for certain but I now think the MH resin hubs should have the resin plug remove completely then glue that to the kit supplied rear hub taking care to centre both so the when the vinyl tire is attached there will be no seam between the edge of the rim and the wheel.

Hope this helps
Bill

uh.. Bill... do you have any more photos of that? I think the guys on the MLM DG would like to see the pics, especially the WIP, as you've nailed the hull of a Bison.

Graeme
I've a Bison model that I have had on the go for some time and thanks to Gary's Bison build I made some progress but was never really satisfied with the rear box angles nor the angle between the commanders cupola and the rear box so I keep putting away. This ASLAV PC was a fun build and close enough to a Bison that it satisfied my glands for a while...but I still have that old Bison build waiting too. Every time you show the Bison you have on he go
http://www.network54.com/Forum/169232/thread/1197617617/Why+build+one%2C+when+you+can+build+two+at+twice+the+price-
amidst the Cougars and Grizzlies I take notice.
Gary
Have you done anything with your Bison lately, it certainly was taking shape a while back.
Ray
The ASLAV 25 from Trump isn't here in Canada yet but I am certainly happy to watch you go through the trials and tribulations, it'll make building mine that much easier, thanks.
Bill

Nice I got to get one of these

Ray that's a great looking build you've got there it really looks the part.

Can I risk asking a question that's probably been asked a million times before? What colors are you going to paint your ASLAV? I'm building mine strictly OOB and am trying to figure out the best Gunze/Vallejo/Tamiya paint combo to use.

TIA

Great looking ASLAVs guys! The Bison colours look spot on! Sad to say, the ASLAV kit hasn't reached our shores... Whaddaya expect? It's a tiny island and pretty easy to miss...

Anyway, just one question - are the mirror parts exactly the same as those on Strykers kits of the same brand? They ought to be since in reality, they are the same... Jason (Miller), John at Mouse House is bugging me about this, will you be able to help out? Please PM me after this, if you can help out that is. Thanks! I will start on my next batch of new mirrors very soon...

Cheers,

Lawrence

Got the first coat of tan on today.

First up I fixed up the front of the turret that I forgot to add non-slip too.


Then I sprayed the tan on. Its the same mix that Bil used on his PC.
Flesh (XF15)- 75%, Flat Earth (XF52)- 15% and White (XF2)- 10%.
Not too sure about it just yet. I think I may have added too much Flat Earth and it looks too yellow, I'll sleep on it and have another look tomorrow. I may start from scratch again and add more white.


In this one you can see the new exhaust pipe. I cut the one from the LAV-25 exhaust that comes on one of the sprues in the kit. Also, since I'm not attaching the windscreen bracket on the right side (see Jase's review to understand why), I added the bolt head details to the hull that would be under it.

Ray
Very nice evolution. With all my PC colours I started with a darker shade (like the one on yours now) and then added white as I moved topsides to get a modulated effect as per the MIG thinking. As I added the green and then black the look of the under painted tan really changed and changed again with the dust.
Still no news of this kit being over here but when it comes your postings will be a real help.
Great work.
Regards
Bill

Nice boat!

Can't wait to see it finished.


cheers

It's looking great Ray! I'm currently doing a regular ol' LAV-25 myself and was wondering where did you get the PE for the basket from...

Thanks and cheers!

Hey mate. The PE came in the ASLAV Kit. I couldnt get the piece that goes on the side of the rear bin to fit. It seems to be etched in the wrong shape. For now I've just left it off, if i find some mesh of the same size ill fix it up. If not i think I'll cover that its missing with a cam net or panel marker.

I decided to keep the tan as is. I took it outside in natural light and compared to some photos and decided its actually pretty close. Once the dust and mud is on it not much will be seen anyway.

I also started the green today. Lots of overspray and errors so no photos just yet. I see what you mean Bill, once the green went on the tan looked completely different!