Been sweating up another AAVP-7A1 "Tuna Boat," and fell across the AFV Club LVTP5 kit. It comes with Marines on top, and Hobby Fan makes an interior, some Marines and sand bags. I was wondering if anyone can tell me more about the kit, its issues, the included figures and the resin upgrades?

You can check out Terry's build for some insights :

http://www.missing-lynx.com/reviews/modern/lvtp5/afv35022.htm

or Jim's one : http://www.guntruck.com/LVTP5A1Amtrac1.html

But unfortunately the kit doesn't include any figures ...At least there are none in the two I have patiently waiting in my stash

Eduard has released a PE set for this beast :

http://www.eduard.com/store/Eduard/Photo-etched-parts/Photo-etched-set/AFV/LVTP-5A1-1-35.html

Hobby Fan stuff on PMMS :

http://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/reviews/vehicles/hobbyfan/hflvtp5.htm

IIRC, Hobby Fan's interior is said to be based on a Taiwanese amtrac one that may differs from a USMC one..

You can even find a resin conversion set for the LVTH-6 version :




H.P.

Merci milles fois, mon ami.

I'm actually thinking of forgoing the interior and getting some Marines to sit on top for a VN dio. I didn't realize the kit had no figures, the box art makes it look like it does.

I've built a couple of them, including one with the Hobby Fan interior. The only issue I recall having was the fit of the roof. Twice I ended up with gap between the hull and rooftop towards the front on the sides.

The sandbag set fit rather well. However, you won't be able to open the large hatches on top....which is really only a negative if you build it with the intention of showing off the HF interior. The sandbags come in four parts. If you do decide to get the interior and sandbags you can use the single sandbag casting covering the turret (which is integrated with the sandbags) while still being able to open the hatches.

The sandbag set also comes with a driver and commander. The driver is cast to fit the seat included with the interior set but it was tough to get him to stick his head out the hatch as the parts didn't line up well.

The Eduard set is pretty simple but it adds some nice details, definitely worth getting.

I've got the Hobby Fan figure (#515) set with the 5 Marines sitting on top. I might even have an extra driver and commander. PM me if you're interested.

Hope the info helps.

It's a nice kit. Beware of the large sinkmarks on the sides, they are faint but need to be filled and sanded smooth.

Cheers,

Christophe

I too have a couple in the stash that are awaiting their turn for building. In the box the pieces look awesome, as does the resin interior and H6 conversion. I have not compared the resin interior to images in various tech manuals as yet though.

In addition to resin & PE goodies SpadeAce produce individual track links comparable to Fruil offerings. And if you can track them down MecModels offers decals of colorful LVTP5s in Vietnam. I’ve had no luck trying to get to their site lately, hopefully it is merely an internet issue as they several interesting resin kits and decals all focused on the Vietnam War.