Heya, Folks,

I am slowly making my way towards completing my Trumpeter LAV-25 kit and I was wondering if anyone might have put their kit-supplied tires aside in favor of resin replacements...? If so, would they be willing to part with one of those tires supplied with the original kit...?

I'd love ta throw a spare up on the vehicle after I get around to painting it...why Trump didn't give us nine wheels, I dunno.

Many thanks!!

Much Aloha,

Johnny B.

Hi,
Can't help you directly with spare tires but why don't you try to cast one or two from the kit parts ? Just make a rubber mould and pour in some plaster with white glue. It works pretty well for such a simple part and cost less than resin or AM parts.

Olivier

If you cast an extra wheel, don't forget to cast the metal rim!!! In the Trumpeter kit, the rubber tire and the rim are separate pieces. On actual LAVs, you carry a spare, which is the rubber part, and the rim.

On the Trump kit, look at the plastic wheels (not the tires), and the _rim_ is everything except the inner cylinder that sticks up (the one with all the little tiny fasteners around the rim)(those are actually allen bolts on the real thing). So, cast a wheel/tire combo, then cut the center section out carefully from behind. Presto, spare wheel!

I'm doing the LAV also, I'm trying to dig out my old USMC photos for detail. Got some good ones of living with the vehicle (doing a diorama).

Thanks, boys!

I may try and cast one up, but I don't have much experience in that area...

Plan B is to take one of the plastic wheels from the Italeri LAV Air Defense kit and drill out the bolt holes to see how it looks...

Don't wanna spend $22.00 + S & H for a set of replacement wheels..though the set Misison Models carries ("Model Shatenblau" or some such company)...

Thanks again, guys!

Aloha,

Johnny B.

Thought about casting a resin wheel to hack up for the part needed, and casting the tire in black RTV, but I think that dries shiny

I took an old Accurate Armor LAV late tire and drilled the center secton out, sanded it smooth, added plastic card stock to simulate the back of the wheel, drilled the mounting holes and main hub. Looks exactly like the spare wheel should. Took a couple of times to get it right(I had 8 extra wheels from an old set), but it is accurate.

Good luck, whatever you do, post some pics.

Melon