LAV-TUA

[Gingie]

Here's Trumpeter's LAV-TUA. Technically speaking, its a WHIF right out of the box: Trumpeter moulded the kit with Add-on Armour, and the LAV-TUA never carried it. I'm going pretty much OTB with this, but will do a fictional 'operational' scheme. LAV TUA never deployed on ops in their very brief service career from around 2003-2009.

Kit goes together OK. My biggest gripe is some of the locating holes are too big which creates an annoying ring gap.

Sub assemblies:
 

Dry fitted:

 

Not much filler required here, well done to Trumpeter for this.

[Gingie]

Basic painting done. I'm taking a pause on this now, as I need to try out some AK chipping fluid. I think a winter white wash with some rolled up foil snow-cam blankets should be added. TUA's providing point defence of Tarsands facilities or something!




wheel/tire fit is a bit sloppy:
 

I suspected the paint would not want to stick too well to the tires, so I thinned it with laquer (vice rubbing alcohol). Even then, it still did not bite into the plastic. I really don't feel like plonking down the $ for some resin wheels - they cost more than the base kit.

[Jeffry Fontaine]

I have the AFV Club version of this vehicle and had imagined it to be the same but now that I have seen your WIP it appears there are some real differences between the two models. 

[Gingie]

Oh yeah, very much different. AFV Club is the American TOW, the Trumpeter one is the Canadian System. Amazing to think Trumpeter went ahead and made an injection moulded kit of a vehicle where only 36 ever existed! Would much rather have seen them use their ASLAV-25 moulds and turn them into a Coyote.

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Oh yeah, very much different. AFV Club is the American TOW, the Trumpeter one is the Canadian System. Amazing to think Trumpeter went ahead and made an injection moulded kit of a vehicle where only 36 ever existed! Would much rather have seen them use their ASLAV-25 moulds and turn them into a Coyote.

Does Trumpeter provide a couple of TOW missiles with that kit?  The AFV Club version has two types of TOW Missile included that can be shown as display items or converted with minimal modification to portray a missile in flight and heading down range. 

I have the older resin M113 TOW conversion from Verlinden to make a Canadian TOW vehicle from the stock M113 somewhere in the stash and I can see the family resemblance to that in the Trumpeter TOW turret

What I would like to find is the large equipment box that is positioned over the rear of the vehicle hull above the access door/ramp.  Something about storage containers and boxes that gets me all giggity giggity giggity giggity gooooooooooooo :)

[Mark Aldrich]

Did you use enamels or arcylics on the tires?  I had the same problem when I did my AFV Club Centurion and found out that by using acrylics, no issues. 

[Gingie]

Jeff - Trump does not provide any missiles. Those pics are pretty much WYSIWYG, save for a driver's windscreen assembly I left off. I have a spare box from my LAV-III (its identical) you can have.

That Verlinden TUA conversion is nasty! The turret is not too bad, but the upper hull is fantasy. Did you see what Mark Minnis was doing with his on the MCV forum?


Mark - I used Tamiya Acrylics thinned with laquer. I even washed the tires before painting. I have heard the AFV Club tires are better for paint adhesion than the Trumpeter ones.

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Jeff - Trump does not provide any missiles. Those pics are pretty much WYSIWYG, save for a driver's windscreen assembly I left off. I have a spare box from my LAV-III (its identical) you can have.

That Verlinden TUA conversion is nasty! The turret is not too bad, but the upper hull is fantasy. Did you see what Mark Minnis was doing with his on the MCV forum?

Thanks for the offer, eMail on the way. 

Have not seen the MCV topic yet.  Will go looking for it now. 

[apophenia]

Basic painting done....

Looking good and the wood on the C6 makes it pop already  :)   Now, why hasn't Real Models issued any LAV RWS conversion resin yet? 

[Gingie]

I'm not sure if we'll see the RWS conversion. I provided Miloslav with tons of photos, but I think he has other better selling products to master first. Plus, with LAV-UP on the way, I'm not even sure if LAV-RWS will be around much longer. There's already some talk on what to do with the ex-TUA hulls that never got converted to RWS (ie Ambulance variants etc)

[apophenia]

I'm thinking that Mr. Hrabaň is missing an opportunity there    But, yeah, LAV UP would definitely be on more people's wish lists. Interesting to know that conversion plans for the remaining LAV-TUA hulls is shaping up.

[Rickshaw]

Isn't that Turret a Norwegian product and didn't the Norwegians put it in M113s?  I seem to have a dim memory of it in that application.

[Gingie]

Yep - Jane's entry here:

http://articles.janes.com/articles/Janes-Armour-and-Artillery-Upgrades/Kvaerner-Eureka-Armoured-Launching-Turret-ALT-for-TOW-missile-systems-Norway.html

[Diavel]

looking good Gingie, I am a fan of the LAV's and I have done several different versions of it for my US Marine task force in 1/72nd scale.
Chris

[apophenia]

Isn't that Turret a Norwegian product and didn't the Norwegians put it in M113s?  I seem to have a dim memory of it in that application.

Another vehicle fitted with that Kvaerner Eureka 'Armoured Launching Turret' was the Swiss Panzerjäger 90 (a 6x6 Piranha I ) conversion).

[Gingie]

And that PzJg 90 would make a very plausible Canadian Army Whif....



The swiss have since converted their TUA into RWS equipped section vehicles and ambulances (note the Amb below is a prototype; the in-service version has a higher roofline). And again, two subjects that would not look out of place on a 80's-90's Canadian Army ORBAT.