Hi all,

I am brand new to that website and its forum. I knew it for long, but never registered, finally I decided I had to get in a site I visit very often !

Here I come with a single shot of my LVTH6-A1, which is an APC from the vietnam era used by the USMC. The kit is the LVTP5-A1 from AFV Club, and I scratchbuilt the turret as well as its new rest place. A tough time, but let me know what you think about my "beast"

There it is :



Comments welcome !

Regards,

Richard

Beau travail Richard ! (j'ai le kit AFV Club en 3 exemplaires..... toujours dans leurs boites )......Et bienvenue au Club (avec un grand A ) !

Frenchy

nice
really good work...
regards!

G'day mate, very interesting, from what i can see it looks fantastic, got any more pics for us? of the tunnel system would be great.
The Amtrac is interesting i have never seen it with this turret before.
Cheers

from http://afvdb.50megs.com :
" LVTH6 was the armored amphibian version of the LVTP5. The hulls were identical, but the H6 had a turret armed with a 105mm howitzer installed over the cargo compartment. The vehicle commander and loader had their own hatches in the turret. For water operations, the weight of the LVTH6 was reduced to 84,200lbs (38,200kg), and the howitzer ammunition was reduced to 100 rounds. Ground clearance under the center of the vehicle was 17" (43cm).
LVTH6s were modified to become LVTH6A1s, and the most obvious external difference is a large housing behind the turret which contained the modified engine air intake and exhaust system."

Here's a link to a larger picture of Richard's Amtrac :
http://img155.echo.cx/img155/5344/diolvth6a117ea.jpg

Good job Richard !
Frenchy

Hi there !

Thanks for your comments !

I will soon post some more pics of my model as well as of the diorama and the tunnel system.

Stay tuned !

Did I mention the turret is a full scratch ? Don't look for an aftermarket set, it still is a unique product.

Thanks again.

Regards,

Richard

Nice job. Have you seen Carfaces scratch-build? Same subject. I've wanted to do it also - care to cast another turret for me!

Hi all !

Thx for your comments. Here I come with pics I promised last time.

Got any questions ?

Here we go :
lets start with the turret itself, not entirely finished (antennas lack...)








and now a glance round the diorama, through the tunnels, where "rats" will have to chase...







The pictures were taken indoor with tungste light on, and with the flashlight of my camera, explaining the violent highlights, but they don't look that bad, hey ?

Feel free to revert gimme your comments

Regards,

Richard

Very nice, the tunnel work is amazing, I especially like the entrance under the Buddha statue

Hi Shain,

And thank you !

The tunnel system was roughly built out of 4cm thick styrofoam panels. I used two of such panels sized 30cmx45cm (about that) that I then sanded and cut with an X-Acto to shape up the various levels and tunnels. There is a meeting room for Charlie which roof went down 'cos of APC overweight ground pressure.

I made stairs going in a little tunnel where low sized VCs easily ran, while the GIs would have to crouch...

Happy to see you enjoy.

Cheers,

Richard

That is a most inventive diorama. Thanks a lot for sharing it with us

Simon

Looks geat, good job.

Salut Richard,
welcome aboard. Your dio is really stunning with this tunnel. You turned an original idea in a great dio.

One point though, you could give the spare track links a more worn-out look. They look too new.

Keep on posting your models.

olivier

Hi everyone, hi Olivier,

I'm glad you seem to enjoy my dio !

As Olivier last said, I haven't given an enough worn-out look to spare tracks, but other details depict an unfinished project, I mentionned the antennas were lacking, but also the periscopes are camoed as the rest of the AFV, no glasses on... ...

I will finish the whole soon, I promise !

Anyway, thanks to you all for your enthusiasm !

Regards,

Richard

Hi !

I recently added the lacking antennas, out of the Verlinden AFV antennas set, and it gives the LVTH6A1 (bless you !) a better look. Pics will follow...

Regards,

Richard

Richard,
Welcome aboard!! Now you are with the Greatest bunch of modelers on the web. Enjoy, they're all here to help & coach. Nice dio. Love the Amphib,and the tunnel work is outstanding.

A marvellous job of a really imaginative subject, one suggestion, how about investing in a .50 cal from Verlinden, to make that superb turret even better.

John

Great project . Nice job!

Very Nice Richard,

Check out my gallery for another 'Nam subject dio.......in 1/35th......all scratch-built.

Hey, you didn't make a mold for that turret did you - I was thinking of doing the same thing......

Enjoy!

DaveF

Richard

Very nice job How hard was the turret to scratchbuild?

Hey all,

Thanks a lot for your comments !

Cheers,

Richard