Well the whole time I was working on the LVT(A)-2.....
the LVT-2 was in the back of my mind.
My biggest draw back has been....the engine deck.
How do I do the engine deck?
I thought about strips of styrene...but I would go insane.
So I started diging trough the few kits I have......
wondering if I could find a substitute.
The best I could find was the center grill of the Elefant.
But how to make it work?
I only had one....but what to do?
So I molded it, made copies, and cut it into strips.


Then I looked at the engine deck area decided what to do, and cut it out.






I started gluing the grill strips together.




Then I test fitted it over and over again.




I then glued strip styrene to the back of it to give it support,
and glued it in place with elmers White glue.


Now I turned my attention to the tub.
Now....the LVT-2 had "wood-slat" platforms on the floor.
So I again turned to the Elefant engine deck for my needs (I now have plnty of them).


A couple (here and there) I need to cut to size.


Now I am turning my attention to the cab.


This is what it needs to look like.




By these two pic's you can see that it has two "large" windows that fold down.




The skate rail will be a simple matter of just cutting it shorter.
So that is what I'll do there.
Well back to work.

Today has been spent on making the cab.
I know that I will need to cut off the windshield, and addd a little more slant to it.








One of the things I am proud of are my "counter-sunk" screws.


As I said
I know I need to adjust the angle of the front so I'll get started on that.

OK...here we go again....
I got the front windows cut out
(what were they thinking, oh well it's the "early" model so I guess they learned from here)


I also added weld beads (I know this looks awfly thick, I'll thin it down before molding)
The weld beads were done by heating and stretching Drogn sprue to as thin as possible,
laying them in place, and soaking them with "Tenax-7R".
Once they were soft, I took a new sharp #11 blade and poked them till I got the desired pattern.
For the side windows, I used the view ports from ESCI's M12 SP.


As you can see by this view I finally (also) got the angle of the front corrected.


Here are a few views from other angles to see it better.




By this view you can see that I added a support rib to the "in side" of the windows,
and I got the window "flaps" done.
I had planned on putting "clear" plastic in these but we'll see how it goes.


I still have to put the "Hindge Points" on the windws, and a little more work here and there....
I hope to have this all ready for molding by the end of the day.

OK,
All the parts are ready for set-up to pouring the rubber.
It will have (2) .50 cals w/tripods, (2) .30 cals w/tripods.
Short(er) skate rail, front windows that can be opened (or closed).
The two (rear) MG mounts can be placed anywhere on the skate rail.














My next post will be of the parts from the molds.

Hi Ken,

Really nice modelling and thank you for showing how to cut straight lines with a razor blade, a most useful and simple tip. I shall look forward to seeing you develop this one, I was eyeing up the LVT at the local hobbyshop today and am sorely tempted, only lack of funds at present prevent me getting one and one of your conversions. However that won't last forever and then I will be in the market for one.

All the best,

Paul

Hi Paul,
I realy hope that idea helps you out.
This one's all done now, so I can get back on other things...lol

OK she's all done....
but before I show you all the pic's here's a reminder.
You must first remove the engine deck.


Here is what it looks like all assembled.


One of the things that I'm proud of is that the front windows can be opened:






I even provided the Field Mod armor plate for the front as an optional piece:


Another thing that I am particularly proud of is my "Counter Sunk" screw detail.
Dragon got this all wrong on their kits, they molded them as rivets (Incorrect).
I missed it on my A-4 conversion, but corrected it on my A-1.


Here is a look at the engine deck implaced:


Here are the "few" stowage items that I included:


And so here are a few views of it over all:








So this is up and running.

Great looking conversion Ken .....!

Well, Having empty window just kept bugging me and bugging me.
I kept wondering what to do.....then the batteries in my Flashlight died....
I tore open the new battery pask and Voila!


I knew what needed to be done.








First I cut them out "over sized" then I trimmed them down to fit.


Then I took "super glue", placed a Fine Tipe on the end, and added a little glue to hold them in place.


Here is the result(s).






Now I am done.

Excellent job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Its a beauty....
Congratulations