Had a chance to do a "bit" and I do mean a bit of modelling yesterday, first day in a while and I only managed to get about 2 or 3 hrs. I was able to get on most of the rear details, so much as they are. I also added a "weld" seam where the super structure meets up with the hull, my first and although it might be a bit big, i think all in all a good one. Although I did manage to knock over the bottle of liquid cement I was working with and added some more "wear and tear" to my blazer tracks that I had been working with previously.
I am hoping that I can get a primer coat on this soon so I can see how the detail it looking or not. Still need to add the cupola details and such so I am hopeful that maybe by the end of the week I can get on to it. Cheers.

Hi Damon,
She's coming on great guns. Can't wait to see her with a coat of enamel (or acrylic if that's your preferred medium).
Looking at your photos and having served in ASLAVs I really can't see what the hoohah is all about. It looks like a LAV. I really can't see much difference in the angle of the hull plates in relation to all the 5 degree wrong swaddle. Might just be my poor old eyes that spent to many years squinting through a pair of binos.

Still keeping track of this so you'd better update more often
Cheers, John

John;
thanks for being the last one besides me still here, and thanks for the words too, much appreciated. Ok here is the latest update. I managed to settle on an antenna style for the center one on the superstructure (I have no idea what it is called) and finished that tonight with the aid of some fine gauge (28) steel wire.



I also managed to take are of the M240 mount, which thanks to Adam (Adamskii) I pirated from the Trumpeter kit with a slight modification.

The white strip around the rim is the rail that the MG mount rides on and is fairly prominent in photos. (So there )

So I think I am pretty close to getting a coat of primer on this bad boy soon. I still need to add the hatch covers and side view mirrors as well as the swim gear. I am hoping to get some tires cast along with a few spares to load this bad boy up with. The rest of the pics below are those that I had promised this morning. Cheers.

The weld bead:




Rear hull details:


and one more shot of the antenna:

Had a bit more time to work on this project today so I thought I would update all those of you still tuning in to our program. . . .
Was able to move the grab handles on the rear hull area to above the hatch doors, which is more correct. Not that the hatch doors are anywhere near close to correct, but who's keeping score, right? Also added the last antenna to the superstructure, it is in the center line at the back of the vehicle just above the rear hatch doors. Also added a grab handle on the right hand side of the vehicle which is on the real thing but not on the kit (surprise!). The other item that is not represented on the ESCI kit is the counter weights to balance all of the weight of the comm equipment, which I scratch built and added as well. The crew hatches are on, I opted to leave two of them open, just because. Seemed kinda stupid to have all the hatches closed. I might add a figure or two at some point to make it more presentable but that will be later.
So, what's left? I am re working the smoke grenade launchers as both the kit ones and the Trumpeter ones are pretty weak and I know that I can make them better with a little effort. I will be taking the Trumpeter ones and modifying them by adding a new mounting for it. The way the mounting is on the Trumpeter is 90 degrees off of the actual and the mounting bracket is a bit more substantial on the actual. The rear view mirrors will also be added soon and am holding off on the gas cans until later, as I will paint those separately.
Wheels might be provided by the Trumpeter kit, unless I can find time to mix up some molding material and resin soon. After that it should be on to a primer coat and touch ups. Without further ado here are the pics.

Last antenna


Hatches in place


New position for the grab handles and new rear antenna


Counter Weights and handle


Swim gear


Swim Gear

Looking Sweet Damon, and your picking up some speed as well.
Love how you call it swim gear. We used to call them swim fins or propellors just to peev the instructors off. I lost count how many times they'd yell at us that they were Amphibious Drives.
I take it the Esci wheels are pretty much useless?

Cheers, John

yes they are. I just got done putting one together to see where it sat on the model and the hub detail is good, but the tire is just crap. I just this minute finished putting on the Trumpeter wheel after boring out the back of the hub. I am hoping to make a few casts of this rather than bore out seven more wheels. That way I have moulds to make more wheels for the two remaining ESCI LAV's I have and the Italeri LAV 25 too. Just got the smoke launchers finished too. Going to bed will post pics tomorrow.

Here are some updated pics from Thursday night. I was able to get the smoke grenade launchers built and added to the vehicle. They are not perfect but they'll work and look a bit better than the kit provided ones. I also bored out the Trumpeter kit wheel to fit on the kit suspension and will make casts of that so that I do not have to make seven more bored out wheels. This will also allow me the luxury of being able to make a few "spares" to add on as equipment, and I have 2 more of these ESCI LAV's to build as well as an old Italeri LAV25. Will not have time to build today but maybe tomorrow we'll have some more progress to report. Cheers.

The two wheels side by side


The Trumpeter Wheel bored out


The left side launcher


and the right side launcher


The view from above

Quick update, I just added the final details, wiring for the smoke grenade launchers and have called the game at that. Decided to leave off the rear view mirrors as I am gonna load this bad boy up with gear circa desert storm. Just washed the model with some warm & soapy and tomorrow gonna get some primer on and see where it hurts. If I get the courage up I am gonna mix up a batch of silicone and get the Tire moulds going and then cast up some wheels. If I can REALLY get my act together I am gonna make a few moulds and cast a bunch of stuff up, maybe even some spare road wheels for the Magach I am building too. NO pics today, sorry boys, but will post some post primer. Cheers.

Jeez Damon. You're worse than those pesky game shows on TV that pass to an ad break before revealing the goods.

Looking at my email in box with baited breathe for the next update.

Cheers, John

Just trying to build suspense for an otherwise average modellers build, John. These are the jokes people, I don't dance. . . .Cheers.

Just got the first coat of primer on and there are already places I can see that need some fixin'. The right and left rear area of the hull near the top and on the antenna sponsons too. The issues that I have been having is with my Tamiya putty. I don't know if mine is old or what but it dries fast and does not stick well. Trying to build up the sink holes in the antenna sponsons is a bit of a pain and I thought that I had fixed the issue. Not having a hobby shop close by is an issue right now. . . .
SO here are the pics. You can see the areas that need some attention easily as well as the smoke grenade launcher wiring that I added the other night. Cheers.

Hi Damon,
You certainly have some problems with your putty. Try mixing it with some acetone to see if it'll thin down a bit. I've tried it and it works well but my Tamiya putty is fairly new. I've tried it with some 25 year old Testors putty and it worked with that as well.
Acetone is pretty easy and cheap to get here. I get it from a car shop called Supercheap for about $10 for 500ml. Or just nick the missus finger nail polish remover if she uses acetone based stuff.

Other than that she's looking good and not something you can't fix. Awaiting the next installment.

Cheers, John

Ok, got a first coat on the beast today and while I am pleased with the over all results, I think the colour is too yellow, for what I am going for. I think the Desert Storm look was more "sand" colour and less desert colour, if that makes any sense at all. I think I am going to make the next coat more towards the Tamiya Buff or Deck tan look, lighter and more neutral than the yellowish colour it is now. The colour I am using on my M60 Blazer (IDF) build is closer to what I think it needs to be (we'll play around with the colours in the next few days). That goof on the right side of the superstructure was sanded down until I thought it was smooth, but I am guessing it is a glue goof from the adding of the weld seam. Oh well, we'll add some stowage there to hide it. Here are the pics, wish I had more to tell but that's all folks. . . .

Remixed the paint and got what I think I was looking for. Was having some issues with the new Iwata knock of, but I think I sorted it. Managed to get the whole vehicle covered with no major issues, coat seems pretty even to me. Now to get some wheels cast up, get those items primed and painted and then stowage and weathering. Lets hope it goes that smoothly. . .
Here are the pics of the new colour:













Quick update, I just poured the mold making material for the wheel. First casting I have made in over 20years. Kinda scary. Back in the day I used Alginate (a friend's dad was a dentist and gave me a whole bucket) which was not toxic and washed off easily. This Oomoo stuff is a bit less friendly, cannot get it on your skin. I will know tomorrow morning if this worked or not. Wish me luck. Cheers.

The casting mold came out good, the molding material is very nice with good detail and is nice and flexible. Need to make more things to cast next time as a lot of the mold material went to just fill the cup, as it were. So maybe tonight mix up some resin and give it a go for casting up a wheel, we'll see. Cheers.

Update; first run with the resin = FAIL. Did not have enough material in the mold to make a good cast. And, that I was trying to do a two part without clamping it together and with out using the traditional method (even though I kinda knew better). So, we'll try again later and see if it works. I need to make a few more molds so I can make a big batch of casts, rather than one at a time, uses up too much material and there is a lot of waste. Cheers.

Ok success on the Tire, although the back has a "blob" that I am sure was an air pocket that occurred during the moulding process. I am going to see if it can be sawed or sanded off. If not then I need to remould the wheel and I will probably make a mould for 4 tires at once. I will try to post some pics later today. Cheers.

have been trying to make some moulds for the wheels lately and I think I finally have one that works. Will whip up a batch of resin tonight (assuming all goes well) and will have something to post (hopefully) tomorrow morning. Once this one turns out I will either cast the rest or say "f it" and just bore out the wheels from the Trumpeter kit. This has been a good lesson in patience. Cheers.

Been a little frizazeled lately so no work on the kit. I have been screwing around with the mould making and such (really just several swearing sessions and wasted materials more than anything) and am ready to mix a batch of resin and forge ahead with that whole deal, wish me luck.
My apologies for anyone that is still following this (although I think it is just me right now. . .) for the lack of progress. This is what has happened in the past with any of my builds and my guess is that it is a common issue. I AM going to finish this, promise, and as I get things going this week I will post more (assuming that I actually get to work on it). I still have not taken any pics of the mould shots or any thing, but will get that done too.
If anyone has a LAV old style wheel that is NOT mounted on the hub (i.e. spare wheel) and is willing to part with it, please let me know as I know I will not be able to make one that is convincing. Cheers.

Hi Damon, I'm still here. Whenever I see an update I check it out. Like you I'm mucking around with casting but mine is so I can try to improve. Keep going mate.
Cheers, John

John, I think you're my new best friend. . . cheers.

OK, work has been crazy for the past month basically working 7 days a week. Woo hoo. Have also been working on my other build the IDF M60 Blazer kit form the same manufacturer, which is much better quality over all than this one, but not without its shortcomings. After monkeying around with trying to make some resin copies of the Trumpeter wheels, I have said to heck with it and bored out all the Trumpy wheels to fit the kit. The tricky part was the Trumpy wheels are of two types a large "pin" and a small "pin" I assume that one size fits to one side or the other or front or back or something (I really am not concerned with this) and I had to trim the small pin and cut some 3/16 plastructs tube to the correct height and glue that in place of the old "pin" and then just bore out the remainder at the center. Pictures will follow soon, how's this for soon?







Once this was done it was just a matter of test fitting all the hubs and all is good. I am currently washing the vinyl tires in hot soapy water based upon the current philosophies learned here. If someone has a surefire way of painting these vinyl tires so that there is no peeling cracking or melting I would be very interested to hear as I have never worked with these before. I am hoping to prime and paint this weekend so any help sooner rather than later is greatly appreciated.
Once the wheels are on I will begin the final details including mg's, equipment, antennas (which I will make) and stowage and then begin weathering. Any thoughts, hints, tips or other ideas are welcome at this point. Cheers.

I'm looking forward to seeing either this one or the M-60 finished. I have been following both since the begining.

keep up the good work

Thanks Dylan. I am going to finish both come hell or high water, just want to make sure that I am not rushing things. Haven't seriously build since college and most of that was some scratch building on an M1A1, prior to anyone releasing an HA (heavy armour) type. So weathering is going to be an exercise in patience and just want to make sure that I am giving each kit its due. Cheers.

Ok, just finished putting on a coat of primer on the hubs and hoping to lay some colour on them tomorrow night., assuming that nothing interferes. . . .we'll see. Other than that nothing new to report, have not been at the bench lately due to work and other commitments. I have found though that this is like meditation or yoga for me. If I don't get out here my mind is less clear and the mental crud tends to build up. I am fortunate to have a hobby that I can devote a little time to each and every day. I think this one of the great benefits that will be lost unless we keep the hobby alive. Took my 4yr old daughter to a show this weekend and she actually got to build a kit and wants to finish, maybe there is hope yet. Cheers.

hey didge,

what do you need? some sort of wheel hub or tyre? I could and probably have both lying around en masse.
Sorry for not answering sooner. been busy lots!
let me know

Adamski