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This is a vehicle that was first used during WW II and which found great success, especially in the Pacific theater. I don't usually do track vehicles but in this case the LVT-1 is one that was used for training purposes on the beaches of Cape Cod during the war. I was asked to build a replica for display in a small museum that houses Cape Cod memorabilia from WW II. It had several names including "alligator", "wild weasel" and even "water buffalo".
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This is a photo of one of the LVT's coming ashore on the Cape. Top speed in the water was about 3 mph. On land, about 25 mph.
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This is the beginning of my rendition based on a 1/35 scale Italeri kit of the LVT-2 which is vastly different in some respects, being some 5' longer and with a different drivetrain from the LVT-1. So a few modifications have been necessary to back it up to LVT-1 look. The white materials are Evergreen sheet and strip stock with a few kit features thrown in for good measure.
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And here's the second build that has been on the drawing board and work space over the last few months. It has been a bit of a headache. This is going to be the Pierce tower I posted some time ago. The first try at the cab was a disappointment. Doors were wrong, things were omitted during the building process that shouldn't have been. So I set the cab aside and started over. Part of the frustration was being able to vacuform a decent set of windshield pieces. They were cloudy, at best, and it wasn't until I found that using a very smooth buck surface was part of the solution. The photo below shows the first cab on the left and the new and refreshed version on the right.
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This time the doors a flush mounted and are a good fit. The interior was taken from a Trumpeter ALF kit and heavily modified. Part of the difficulty was making sure that the interior tub and interior panels did not interfere with each other during the building process. The more I added to the tub, the more difficult it became to get it inside.
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So this is were we are as of a few days ago. More has been done since and the feeling is a bit more satisfactory this time around.
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The decals are ALPS printed. Headlight bezels are resin castings and are coated with Molotow chrome. The lenses are cast clear resin. The grill surround is Renshape and is painted with Alclad over gloss black. The US flag is hand painted on photoetch mesh and inserted inside the rear of the grill surround. The "new and improved" BMF was used on the fenders. It is way and beyond better than the bright chrome version that BMF has. It has a certain amount of stretch like the original did and takes a nice shine. Windshield wipers are long common pins soldered and bent to shape. The blades are now black, done by sliding a piece of paper behind the blade to protect the glass and then using some flat black paint on the blade to darken it. When the paint was dry the paper was slid out from behind. The front door on the right has been altered since this photo was taken to get the chromed belt line straight.
The last three photos are of where we are now. Still have the rear door steps to get done. After that some exterior details.
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More to come as the build progresses. The chassis needs a rear extension as well in order to fit the body on. By far one of the longest pieces I've ever built.