After school was done I didn’t just work on my dio, I’ve also bough a on sell Italeri 1/35 LVT (A) 4, famous during Iwo jama this is my first amphibiphus tank, it only toke two days to finish it.
Still needs to be painted but I’m also learning about how to applywater gel, melted plastic pebbles that use for wave, the scene is the tank comming out of the water in a beach sand.
Only big delay/problem is the tracks refuse to sick together since each set are in two pieces, I had to melt them to combine them but it cause them to get thighter and brock on of the sproket wheels, that’s why there’s tape on one side, what do you think?
Looks rather compact, but the start looks promising. Can’t wait to see the finished product. If you are looking for some help check out the model railroad section. Especially in books. AMAZING stuff they are doing and it can be adapter to our uses quite nicely and easily. Especially when replicating realistic looking water.
Looks good. I’m almost done my LVT-(A)1. Here are some hints to working with the tracks:
If they break, use staples. They’re easy to hide on this type of track.
Put the tracks in slightly boiling water for 10 seconds. Take them out and put them on the LVT. When they cool, they will tighten down and form to the correct shape of the running gear.
Remove the mounting tab from the drive sproket and replace it with brass rod.
Paint the tracks with enamels. Acrylics will just flake off.
All of these were lessons learned by me on two LVT’s.
Looking good so far, gotta keep the pics coming as you progress.
I had the same prob with the tracks when I put together the LVT4, aggravating. If your willing to put up about 20 or so bucks you can get the after market set from Trakz. I picked up a couple for the several LVTs “waiting” in the stash. If you are willing to part ways with a considerable sum of green, Hard Corps Models produces a track set for the LVT that bar-none has no competition.
I’ve painted the tank with tamiya olive drap (normally the undercoat would be tan but it would be much easier making the version that doesn’t has camo) but some how the color just doesn’t look right on him, the decals, wash and weather comes before the tank is place in the gel water.
sherperd maine in “How to do diorama’s” says that a layer of plaster is applied just below the water gel, the gel will take form of the plaster top (for instead waves) but how to make the blue color of water mit be tricky, I think that the plaster is painted the color of the water. It mit not be nessesary for all that trouble if the shore water is shallow, then you can see right thought without the plaster.
T-rex, before you put that model on the base, you might want to lay down a thin coat of white glue, and a thin layer of black sand (wasn’t Iwo Jima"s sand volcanic ash-black?) and then press the tracks nto it to make impressions in it; it’s not gonna look realistic if it’s comng out of the water onto soft beach sand and there’s no track impressions behind it. I’d spring for the AM tracks, too; don’t take the chance of the tracks falling off later on!
RE:Tracks in the sand- they would be quite indistinct. Waves wash them away rapidly. The Amtank itself would look good sunk a bit into the surface sand with some channels left by the tracks behind it. Sand is notorious for doing that and many accounts of Iwo speak of the sand filling in everything.
