Dear All
Here is my next project, it will be the build of the VAB up armored or VAB valo
And maybe a dio in AFSTAN

Here is the pic of the real one courtesy of Olivier Carneau aka Bison




I will use the heller as base kit and a lot of scratch no more PE from Eduard


Dual 50 cal front and rear plus home build jammer. plus ceramic applique like the one from the M1117 guardian

Stay tune

Cheers
Seb

why not upgrades from blast they got a lot for a vab

I think Seb just want to spare some of the 110 euros that Balst charges only for the upgraded VAB conversion ! If you add the interior and the whole Afghanistan series of sets, the cost is increased by at least 4 times compared to the Heller donor kit price

This helps getting started with scratchbuild

oke thats a point .but they have smal updates

U tell me ... I built this version of the VAB about 2 years ago, Blast upgrades and all it came out very nice. But I have to mention that although it is the smallest kit (size) in my collection it is by far the most expensive one, roughly around 280,- € at that time.
Scratch-building the troop compartment interior isn‘t to hard to do, everything else including a good set of wheels is almost unavoidable. But in the end U will have unique model U will rarely see on the net or at exhibitions.

Cheers
Christopher

PS: When I come to think of it, I recently ordered the Chieftain Bridgelayer from AA for less.

Well I have to keep the budget low these days

I'll be following your build Sebastien as I've just picked up the Heller VAB and was thinking of doing the upgraded version.

Luciano

Hey Seb great choice!. You seem to be a busy man with all of these projects!
Good luck mate. As for the low budget these days you have another mouth to feed so Wave good bye to the modelling time !. How is you little one doing?

Thanks Jaymes
He is doing good well my nights are pretty short but I still have some time for modelling
@ Luciano
Stay tune thanks for looking

Some news hubs for the wheels and copying the vinyl tires from the M1117

replace the horrible bolds from the Heller kit and replace with resin ones



I am actually working on the suspension well it is heller quality so a lot of work.
I am starting to think to use only the hull

After some work and moving from the old house to the new flat with a bigger workbench youpie

here is the copy of my wheels:





Comments welcome
Cheers
Seb

More update
Very Very bad quality of the Heller kit.
i will not waste my time on the rear compartment but I will focus on the front one






Well same story beneath the beast
No comment. I will add some bolts and cables and wires



On the top of the hull I did replace the grill from metallic mesh and from Verlinden




Comments welcome
Cheers
Seb

Hey my man! . How did your move go? I hope all of your models didn't get damaged . I see what you mean about the VAB being so poor!. How come the interior and the suspension is in green compared to the rest of the kit?. I fancie having ago at one of these as a Lebanese version during 1989. Nice road wheels mate, your scratch building skills should make this into a cracking build. Great start.

Jaymes.

Very nice Seb, you up-armored VAB will be the first model i'll see with the good tyres!!
I will follow your build.
A+
Stéphane

Some update
I will not use the hydrojet
and I put some cable
Comments welcome
Cheers
Seb

Seb
Why are some of the parts green and others tan? Keeping an eye on your build with interest.
Regards
Bill

Nice work Seb!

@ Bill
Really i have no clue from my batch. Normally your kit is overall tan. Maybe mine they were running out of tan pigment at Heller

@Marty
Thanks Mate

Hey Seb

Nice project that you have chosen. Great progress already but I think still along road ahead? Indeed you're right, the kit quality really sucks. To bad the Blast models conversion is so expensive and that for a bad kit. I have this conversion waiting to be build in the nearby future Glad there are other members that want to build it to so we can help eachother.

Did you're kit come in two colours? Or are the green elements from a better kit or conversion?

Cheers Roel

Hey man nice VAB its coming on nicely! I like your scratch built water jet brackets
It’s coming on great my man. How did your move go? I hope you didn’t damage too many of your models . Keep it up; I wouldn’t mind building a Lebanese version sometime soon. I am following your blog with great interest.

Jaymes.

@ Roel
Really I dont know concerning the color but it is the same quality than the other VAB I saw on French Forum

@Jaymes
I have to fix some details but no big deal thanks for asking

I allready start the ceramic applique yesterday.
Stay Tune
Seb

Update today
I start to add the ceramic applique today on the bottom part of the hull
here is the results:





I also give some texture to the rear seats of the cabin with paper and PVA glue:





Ok the big question
I need to find an easy to represent the this type of bold head



Any ideas will be really appreciate thanks

Seb
Just a thought but you might find something in the Archer Transfer product range? I found this example but I'm sure there might be something even if you used a Waldren punch to take out the centre detail might work? These details are resin on water slide film like a decal only you paint over it and the detail shows proud of the surface.
http://www.archertransfers.com/AR88002.html
http://www.archertransfers.com/
http://www.archertransfers.com/Instruct.html
Bill
Good Luck

Thanks Bill
did you use them ??
Are they flat ???
Cheers
Seb