Peter Van Buren, who in the past has wowed us with some amazing ships, has decided to do a few armor units. In a word... Wow.

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If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!

just one word: WOW
thats really impressive.congrats Peter

simply stunning, from the chipping on the machine gun to the mortar shells on the floor, you REALLY put a lot good work into this.....excellent model

my hat is off to you

-Mech

Overall a good looking build. A few comments though: If the brass rounds on the floor by the tube are supposed to be empty mortar shells, they are incorrect. Once a mortar round is fired, there is nothing left behind. The whole round goes down range. Next, the M16 on the upper hull next to the driver's position is an M-16 port gun only used on M2 Bradleys. They are not used in any other application. Also, on the vehicle right front light cluster, the upper amber light should actually be a blackout light, not an amber turn signel. M-60 mount looks way too tall too, it would be above head level of the crewman in the hatch when standing up.

I think they are live mortar rounds Gino. This comes with the Italeri kit which to me does not look like the 81mm round for the M252. Do you know of any kit that has the 81mm mortar rounds or anything that would come close?

Don't know of any correct mortar rounds for the 81mm. I agree, if they are supposed to be live rounds, they don't look right either. They should be an OD green color for HE and grey for smoke too. The man you need to ask is Kevin Keefe, a.k.a. "kkeefe." He is the resident mortar expert here. You might check his site,
Mortars in Miniature for more info.

Not to cause any trouble, but it really does not matter to me if something is not of the correct length/height/width. The model is beautiful and masterfully completed, I enjoy looking at "art ". Since that is what we all do, a 3-D painting, all that nit-picking at times tends to kill the moment, when its easier to just sit back and enjoy yours/others work.

Stuff that is more noticeable (tracks are facing the wrong direction, interior of a vehicle is painted wrong, roadwheels placed incorrectly, that stuff I understand, cause I did all that stuff) But when it comes to measure this or that and its off by 1mm or whatever, ugh!!

Sorry, its a pet peeve of mine. But, kit is gorgeous, who makes it?

I agree that the kit looks good and said so in my opening statement. I am just pointing out accuracy issues that would make it look even better. As I am someone who is around military vehicles all the time, active duty Army, I notice things that are not accurate. They are just suggestions that I offer up, not a mandate to fix them. I feel that, if you are representing an actual vehicle, figure, etc, then it should be done accurately. I leave the inaccuracies and what-if to the sci-fi builders, who also do some great stuff, just not me bag. I aslo feel that if someone offers up their model here for all to see, that should also entail constructive criticism in order to benefit all and hopefully make everyone a better modeler.


By the way, I just said it looks too tall, I didn't give measurements or count rivets.

No hard feelings though. Just giving my point of view and two cents worth.

I noticed the mortar rounds as well Gino, nice observation. Other than that Im just gonna say impressive my friend, impressive.

Italeri is the only manufacturer that makes LAV-25 Mortar Carrier AFAIK.

Hi Spades. In a lot of ways Im with you on the artistic side of things ... I would (and have) painted/built things wrongly because they look better rather than do it right and be accurate. A lot of this comes from having little or no knowledge and it looks good. But when you find out something is really noticable wrong ... does it still look good in your eyes? There is always a point with every modeller on accuracy. Where it lies is up up to each and every modeller. I can admire a model, but appreciate the input of those who have knowledge of a certain item. I love getting this input so the next time Im in the same situation, at least Im aware of what is right.

It is an awesome model though .. building and painting. Its great to see ship builders trying their hand at armor, but the novelty wears thin, when they upstage us at our own game!!

Dont get me wrong,,,input is always great. I was prior military so I tend to look at certain vehicles more closely than others. When looking at someone else's kit, if I spot an "inaccuracy", I make a mental note, but it does not take away or change the way I look at it from that point on.

Im all for each of us helping each other out as much as possible as I have also benefited from it. God knows I have helped out others in return so we can all reach that "plateau". As I mentioned in my prior post, i'm not against it, but its a just a pet peeve. We have all in some form or fashion seen someones hopes/dreams suddenly become crushed because thier critism was not constructive, only belittling, not to say that the critism offered earlier was negative, which it was not.

Overall, I still love you guys (NOT IN THAT WAY !!!!).

Thanks for the compliments. You guys are sharp-- the kit-supplied stanchion for the machine gun broke, and I replaced it with one that it now seems is too tall. The rounds on the floor were supplied with the kit so I just included them; would they be more proper stored as "live" rounds waiting to be fired?

All comments and criticsms are welcome and no offense is ever taken. Accuracy is not always my strong point and I have made my peace with it as a hobby. I respect those who get it 100% right but clearly am not among them, so feel free to point out whatever seems wrong.

Anyway, it is nice to have joined you online in the armor world. As Jim wrote, I have been primarily building ships but recently started in on some modern US armor, perhaps having seen just too much TV from the Mid East to ignore it any longer!

Best wishes,

Peter

GINO: I saw your winning model online from TamiyaCon. Superb work. Did you visit Japan? I live here, but couldn't make it to Shizuoka last week. What was your experience like?

Peter,
I didn't actually mke it to Japan, model went though. Look here for photo and explanation.

As far as the mortar rounds from the kit, if they are waiting to be fired, yes, they would be stored. It is unsafe to have them laying out. Also check KKeefe's site for more photos of mortar rounds for painting tips. http://www.mortarsinminiature.com/

With these corrections, the model will be great. Great first armor effort.

Peter:

First of all, welcome to Armorama!. Please don't take any comments as a rip -- you have a nice model and we can only see you getting better.

One thing I notice and hasn't been mentioned is that your weathering seems uneven. Some of the parts are barely weathered (jerry cans and rear doors are notable because they are light-colored) and other stuff seems like it's been in the field for weeks (canvas packs and tarps, most notably).

ACE makes one in 1/72.