I bought this kit last week for just over US$10 and tried to finish it as fast as possible. The kit has about 55 plastic parts and 4 DS tracks. Decal option for 2 US Marines Iwo Jima AMTANKS.

Pardon the weathering. It looks like it went through a blizzard than a beach. I'm making a base for it so (hopefully) you'll understand why it looks this way.

Its out of the box. Has a bit of interior details. Painted using Tamiya acrylics. Weathered with a sludge wash of oils and enamels, Vallejo Pigments and Tamiya Weathering Master Set D.

Hope you like it

Well done Toby! Very nice photos, brings out all the weathering you have done.

Toby,

There is a photograph of one of these vehicles blown apart on Iwo Jima in the Sherman Tanks on Iwo Jima Squadron Signal book. You did a nice job on yours as some of the same types of vehicles pictured on Iwo look just as grimy as yours does.

In the near future I will be putting together a braille diorama depicting Marines on Iwo Jima in memory of my father who fought there. I have a photograph of my father sitting on top of the engine deck of one of the Japanese tanks there on Iwo. My father has since passed away but not forgotten.

-Eddy

Nice work Toby! Looking forward to seeing the rest of your project

Very, very nice work Toby of a very unique looking vehicle. Dragon sure seems to be coming out with some very interesting subjects for us small scale builders. I haven't seen any reviews of this kit but from the photos it looks like it has an interior? It's also quite something that it has so few parts yet looks so good.

Regards,
AJ

Thank you gentlemen for looking and posting comments.

@AJ : Yes there are a few interior parts including the turret floor. There is also some interior details molded on the inside of the turret walls. You can also squeeze 3 figures inside the turret

My only reference is Squadron/Signal Armor No. 31-AMTRACS in action. Following all the info given in said reference, building Dragon's LVT4A out of the box would come out an inaccurate kit. The 2 kit supplied decals are for 2 LVT's in an early LVT 4A configuration. Thus, Dragon should have omitted the bow machine gun. Other than that, I see nothing wrong. I'm sure experts would disagree with me

Toby,

Nice to see you building strongly and this particular model. You have done a great job on it, love the weathering, and I can't wait to see your base. BTW, you beat me to it. I am currently doing a build review of this kit and I hope to have it published here shortly.

While I won't call myself an expert on this vehicle I have researched it rather extensively for the review. Several sources suggest that two versions of this vehicle existed, an early and a late (or “Marianas Model”) version. The vehicle in this kit represents a modified early version. The older vehicles without a bow machine gun were brought up to the newer versions standard in stages. Not all the modifications were done at one time so it is feasible that this kit's vehicle is as I noted, modified. My sources are many and varied but I also used the Squadron/Signal Publications, Armor Number 31, by Jim Mesko, “AMTRACS in Action”,1993.

One last point for anyone that might build this kit before the review is out. Part A2 that goes on the left sponsoon, in the instructions does not have a clear positioning arrow. There are no locating features (holes, tabs or anything like that) to help position it correctly. The flat left edge of it should be closer to the first return roller and line up with the first vertical rib on the sponsoon.



Cheers,
Jan

Thank you Jan for the info. That helps solve the issue I have with the bow machine gun. I'll be waiting for your review. I have another one waiting to get the "Marianas" look and sorry for the small review. I got a hard on when I openned the box and saw all the detail and how easy it looked to build based on the instructions. I just had to build it

Looks like dust salt and sand, quite nice.