Afternoon all,

I finally broke down and bought myself one of the Italieri LVT 4's. I was wondering if there are any real pitfalls to be aware of before I get started... No one I know has built one of them... Any words of wisdom?

I know that they used a French LVT as a model for this kit ..there are a few things that weren't on American LVT's such as the seats in the back ...Also it is a very late model with the .30 cal in the front. The decals are Bogus you need to make a lot of mods for the vehicle named SID ...I built the the LVTA1 as an LVT2 and becareful when I glued everything together it was warped ...Might be the conversion kit but I think it can from the original kit... Don't forget the pump on the right hand side when you are looking at it from the front. (never know whether to say it looking at the vehicle or standing in the vehicle looking forward ) lol The .50's are showing their age but all in all it looks like an LVT.. This is a much better kit than the one from Tamyia and Dragon..lol.. :-) Have fun with it ..

Rick

I have one ready to be assembled and from what I understand the tracks can be a little trick. There are no AM replacements so if you accidentally break them or melt them trying to glue them together (I have heard several people do this althoug I don't know how) you have little recourse.

I just drilled a hole and added a straight pin just infront of the sprockets and this helped make the tracks look alot better ..easy fix. Mine went together no problem just don't glue on the sprockets add them at the same time as the tracks. Everything will slip into place.

Rick

Hi John
The most important thing to remember is to fit, fit and fit before gluing.
After I've joined the tracks I fold them over at the center line of the sprockets and the out side wheels and then I turn the hot water from the tap on them until I feel the resistance to go straight is weak, at this time they go on with a perfect fit and no resistance. Note be careful not to melt them if your hot water tank is set at a high temperature. I place the joints of the tracks at the top and bottom.
Cheers
Ralph

Built this last spring:



No problems, all OOB except I added Verlinden .50cal and .30 cal MG's. I deleted the benches but left the attachment points. I added a tarp for fun and the figure is just for the photo.

I had no distinct problems with warpage or parts fit OTHER THAN the upper hull, lower hull seam along the very front...it was annoying, but was eventually defeated. :-)

THe tracks were zero problem for me, and I used two staples per joint to help keep them together...and it looks just fine, no problems at all.

To all,

Thanks for the fast replies and all the good gouge on my trac project. I see what y'all mean about the tracks, and test fitting before gluing. I got to put my brandie new mini bar clamps to use and it cured the issue with the hull front plate pretty well. I knew I could count on y'all. Thanks again!