Hello everyone,

After a very frustrating turn of events with an Italeri A-10 that led to depositing said kit into the trash, I dug into my very limited stash (5 kits ) for some self preservation, uplifting, and good ole OOB fun. My quest for happiness led me to the Trumpeter 1/35 LAV-AT which I purchased at the LHS for the Stryker campaign.....I was looking for a similar anti-tank package to put onto an AFV Stryker but realized when I got home with the kit that it was pretty far off.

So, I have zero experience with Trumpeter kits....I was a little nervous....never read any reviews of this particular kit, and I was at the point where I didnt want to really bother seeing how precise it was to the real thing. I just wanted to build and complete one for my sanity...

For starters, I was completely amazed how well this thing came together. I think in most part due to a string of Italeri kits that Ive been working on (bad fits all around too)..... Everything went together precisely....even snug at some points....you know, the snug where it goes in perfectly, not too snug where you have to sand or cut or anything.....just SNUG (as a button maybe)

So here I am:





Honestly, cant say I've seen too many modelers on here make the LAV-AT so I'm here to do a little survey along with this log. Camo or OD?

Ive searched around for some pics and havent seen anything out of the ordinary for this thing that made me say, "ah-hah!!!" So i ask all of you, what do you think? I will count your votes, by Monday night.....



1 more question.....sorry......uh, the wheels......would the rubber wheels eat the plastic rims??? ive heard about this but im not too sure whats the deal here........oh, and while we are down here, should these be painted? or just weathered? I'm just curious cause i see people prime these things to just paint them black all over again. Im a little on the new side so pardon my many crazy questions......


Thanks everyone!!!!! Comments are welcomed.......
Mike

Nice clean build so far Michael it looks good
I have not had a problem with Trumpeter or any other company's rubber wheels but I do not have experience with this exact kit...if you are really worried about it you could seal them with a flat coat also
Personally I dont paint the rubber wheels and then weather them and they look fine...I think the rubber color is better match for a tyre then just black...and you dont waste paint
Keep building
Evan

Nice work Michael!

The latest Trumpeter kits become better and better, so there isn't much to worry about.

Lars

....Or Sand ?


Frenchy

There is always the ever popular three color NATO pattern, most of the AT variants we had in my battalion in '03 were done up in this pattern. I have one of these at about the same point, waiting for paint. I've built all the LAV variants Trumpy has released, and thus far I have to say the LAV-AT and the C2 are my favs along with the recovery. Only a few more months until the -M comes out (July according to Stevens International).

I vote for overall sand--haven't seen many in that scheme lately, just NATO cammo.

Thanks everyone.......

Evan, i think i might just do something like that.....ill prime and paint the rims then put on the tires (with no paint).....i really think i agree with you on the color issue......its rubber, how can you better simulate that color then well, with rubber......

Frenchy, that actually looks great!!! I like it, and DeskJockey mentioned that it was not so typical so I might just have to do Sand....Love the busy stowage and the camo netting too.....I'll look up how to do that (any suggestions anyone?).......

Oh, I was looking the LAV over last night, getting it ready for primer, and I noticed this little hole in the front right side of the vehicle......i looked over the instructions and couldnt find what went into my offending hole so im hoping someone may know.....it looks intentional, but it looks crazy enough that I might just remove it.....If you see the 2nd picture i took, you can find the whole on the left right above the front armor plate (which i think is actually more for amphibous use than armor)......does this belong on here?????

John, I might take a trip back to the LHS and see what more they have in this line......If they have any, I might just get the recovery LAV......After this, I think I might look at finally getting started on the Stryker though......Been waiting for the slat to come down in price but i dont think thats happening anytime soon.

Cheers,
Mike

I don't think you'll ever be disappointed with Trumpter kits.
They just keep getting better and turning out new releases.
As for the tires,I don't paint them either,just weather.They're natural rubber same as your car right.

Really nice build
I will go for overall sand and wheels hubs in nato green to break the color monotony.
Cheers
Seb

Michael
On the ASLAV PC I built a while ago the hole you mentioned is for an actuator arm that controls the front trim vane, not sure if it is applicable to your vehicle but it might be.

Anybody confirm this?
Regards
Bill

Bill, I went back to the instructions and scanned through really good to make sure I wasnt missing anything. It was actually in the very last step and just kinda blended in with the picture. I put part B-5 in but even then, I still had to revert back to your picture to make sure that I had placed it correctly (No after illustration of the piece in the instructions).

So the consensus was the sand color....Here she is with her coat of MM Sand.....still need another final coat in some small locations but the majority is on there:




Cant say Ive seen any AT's with any burn markings but would that even be correct? Some burn from firing a Hellfire (or whatever it is the fire) out the back of the launcher and some on the front.....wouldnt that be correct? Ill do a little bit of searching but cant say Ive seen anything like that yet.....

So up next is the weathering, adding the reflective lenses for the periscope (correct?) blocks, the coloring for the lights. Weathering that I have planned is looking something like a filter, brownish, to dirty it up some and kill the light color a bit. A couple of touches here and there with some dry brushing and some pastels to simulate the sand. Frenchy's picture has some really clean looking vehicles but I think Im gonna go for a "been in Baghdad (sp) a few days and got dirty" look......

Tools and such I have to paint separately since my skills are limited at this time.....Things might get nasty if I place everything on there and paint while on the vehicle.....

Oh, almost forgot......So, I managed to not lose 1 single piece in the entire build a first......I was flying high.....all the way up until last night......ahhhhhhhh ......I clipped off the handle for the jerry cans (oh yeah, look at my military lingo go!!! lol) when bing.......couldnt follow that one with my lightning fast reflexes either......

Ok folks, any questions or comments are always welcomed......critizism please, cause I need to sharpen up some........oh, if by any chance you guys know of any possible ideas for that netting, can you drop me a line? pretty please? Im drawing a blank on that one.....

Thanks,
Mike

Oh wow, sorry about the pictures......shouldve changed the setting to digital macro for those 2 pics..

Looks pretty good, Mike. If you feel up to it, you can try to model a vehicle in Iraq during the winter months, when things get muddy and rainy. That would allow you to experiment more with the weathering, especially rain streaks.

The is a booklet called "LAV and Piranha - The extended family" that has quite a few pictures of LAV's in both NATO and Desert cammo. Including pictures of the AT-variant.

Btw: They fire TOWs, the launcher is the same as on the M901 "Hammerhead" (according to the above booklet)

If memory serves me correctly, the missile is ejected from the tube and launcher before the actual motor ignites, however it's been a long time since I saw a TOW fired but I wouldn't go with scorching ... anti-armor bubbas, your thoughts? Your AT is coming together nicely. If you're an AT variant from OIF don't use the fuel cans in the kit, they're the metal ones; the water cans are the correct type however. All the LAV's in my company carried around a very heavy coating of dust, lots of gear on the outside, and we had our cammie nets rolled along the sides and around the front. So far as simulating the cammie netting goes I use Kling, which can be found in the first-aid aisle in your local pharmacy. One roll should last quite a while. Keep it up, it's looking good!!

Thanks guys,

DeskJockey, you got it man....thats exactly my thoughts.....the primer i used is pretty thick Vallejo grey and helped give the thing paint some depth.....after the pigment, ill wash it with some burnt umber and do minimal cleanup....probably gonna drybrush the hull front and the bottom differentials and assemblies, before slinging some very thin thin mud......dont like the clumpy look......its my first attempt, so if everything goes south, its allright cause itll be on the bottom .....trust me, ill do it on another scrap piece and see how it turns out first

Mmeier, i'm gonna look into that book for my next LAV build.....at this point, I got 2 more in mind which will get much more luvins from me than this quick OOB

White4Doc, after some searching yesterday and some really good pics, no scorching at all found......it gives me the false sense that they were never really fired (at least not from the pictured ones) but that just cant be true.....I found a few from a firing range and no scorching found......I will leave that one rest.....hey, if somewhere down the line i find something that says otherwise, ill just have to get another Trumpy LAV-AT to add some scorching to

Cheers,
Mike

ps. will change out the jerry cans for the water cans I have from a Tamiya modern extras kit I have....thanks for the insight

Im hoping to get the Trumpeter LAV Command version. Having no experience of Trumpeter kits you guyshave just made my mind up for me. I think I'll go for it. It looks and sounds like they go together great.

Any pics of the finished model?

Des