JGSDF Light Armored Vehicle

I’d wanted to build one of these ever since riding around in one while in Iraq. Besides being a handy little vehicle (I got to take one for a spin) these are just about the coolest Mad Max looking gun trucks on the road.

Tamiya has done a fantastic job combining a terrific subject with superb engineering and excellent attention to detail. I built the kit primarily stock box with the exception of a few bits from the Lion Roar photo etch set. The kit really didn’t need them to be a first class kit but they did save me time fabricating some tiny bits and bobs.

The real LAVs are painted in a dark green but in Iraq between the dust and intense sunlight fade to a lighter shade (at least the ones I saw did). Tamiya XF-51 Khaki Drab replicated this very well. I post-shaded with this color lightened with XF-57 Buff and heavily thinned with Tamiya lacquer thinner.

The kit comes with the notorious Tamiya signature die cast chassis. It really didn’t present a problem here like it does on some other kits though it does make the undercarriage and interior a little less detailed than it might have been otherwise. The one hitch was copyright data that is prominently displayed just inside the rear hatch. I wanted to display this door open so I had to cover the anachronistic markings since removing them from the metal would be nothing but a big pain. This was accomplished with a folded sun shade made from tissue paper. We used sun shades like this everywhere in Iraq so I thought they would look right at home on this vehicle. I placed similar tarps on the bustle rack for good measure.
The decals are a huge part of the look of this vehicle. The large Japanese flags on the doors jump right out and give the truck a distinctive look. Like all Tamiya decals I found them to be a bit thick and prone to silvering. Luckily, since most of them were perfectly square I could trim them very closely. With a heavy dose of Micro Set they settled onto the surface nicely.

The interior is sparse but since I was building the vehicle with all but the back door closed that didn’t bother me too much. The exterior is quite nice and only needed a few handles and the window pistons to make it pop. I did add a sling seat for the gunner. I made this from brass wire and lead foil.
After applying the decals I gave the whole thing a wash with black artist oils thinned with mineral spirits. I followed this up with mud on the underside and in the wheel wells made from ground pastel chalk and selective dusting with pastels to pick out the highlights.



















Israeli Universal Carrier circa 1956

This is the venerable Tamiya Universal Carrier Mk. II kit in 1/35 scale that dates back to the 1970’s. The kit shows it’s age and calls out loudly for photo etch upgrades. I used the Eduard set and it did a nice job providing a few details that really pop. In addition to that, I discarded the awful vintage vinyl tracks that came with the kit for a set of Model Kasten individual link tracks.


Tracks like these are a must on Bren Gun Carriers. There is simply no substitute in my mind. One grand error I made with these tracks was to assemble the drive sprocket before I opened the MK package with the tracks. There was a white metal sprocket in there that I needed to use. The teeth on the Tamiya sprocket are way too big to fit the delicate individual track links. I solved this by cutting the teeth off on the edge where they meet the tracks. It turned out to be not too noticeable.
The Israeli flag was made from epoxy putty rolled and thinned until it was almost transparent. I then draped it over the side of the vehicle and let it dry. Even when it was dry it was still pliable due to how thin it was. I then masked it and airbrushed the markings. The flag is a prototype 1949 proposal type that was never adopted by the Israeli govenrment. Photographs show some troops using this unofficial flag as late as the 1956 Sinai war. If you ask me they should have adopted this one. I think it looks better.

I had originally intended to build this as an Egyptian vehicle but as the project progressed for a number of reasons it turned into an Israeli track from the early to mid-1950’s. Both sides used large numbers of Universal Carriers up until the 1960’s. The Israeli carriers were mostly those captured in the 1948 war though they captured large numbers in 1956 as well. A number of different sand shield configurations were used on Bren Gun carriers used during this era. Most were an ersatz affair that ran the entire length of the chassis. As this would have covered too much of those wonderful MK individual link tracks, I opted to leave the original half shields on. It’s still accurate, just less common.
The IDF still used ex-German equipment extensively during this period so I included an MG34 and Mausers from a Dragon Gen2 kit. The boxes and clutter are the sweepings of my spares box.The painting was pretty straightforward. I mixed Tamiya XF-62 Olive Drab and XF-13 JA Green and post shaded with that mix lightened with XF-57 Buff and lots of thinner. I gave the whole shebang a wash with black Grumbacher oil and mineral spirits. The markings are from the Verlinden Israeli Vehicles dry transfer set. This set is nice buy comes with no explanations. Since I don’t read Hebrew that well it would have come in handy. I dry brushed the lot with ground pastels.
The final touch was chalked on numbers and a nickname in Hebrew on the sides. It’s supposed to say “Giant” in Hebrew. I hope it’s correct. I used a Prismacolor white artist pencil for this.





















Sinai 1956 Diorama

This is the first diorama I’ve tried in many, many, many, many years (and it shows!). I like doing them very much but since I’m so bad at figures it makes it difficult. This diorama portrays an incident in the early days of Operation Kadesh, the 1956 Israeli invasion of Egyptian territory in the Sinai in cooperation with the British and French.
Despite the operation being a resounding Israeli success, there were some pitched skirmishes in the early hours of the operation in cities like Abu Ujaylah and Rafah in the Gaza Strip. This diorama could depict either one of those areas. Israeli infantry in lightly armored half tracks and Bren Gun carriers like this one were mauled several times by Egyptian armored forces.

Here a Bren Gun carrier has broken down and the crew was in the process of trying to get it towed away when they had to abandon the vehicle.

I covered the Sherman and the Bren Carrier in previous posts so I won’t go into too much detail on their construction here. The Sherman is a kitbash M4A4 and M4A2 conversion and the Bren Gun Carrier is a standard late model with the Eduard PE set and Model Kasten individual link tracks. The Israeli flag is a prototype 1949 proposal type that was never adopted. Photographs show some troops using this unofficial flag as late as the 1956 war. If you ask me they should have adopted this one. I think it looks better. I included it in the diorama primarily for color and to make it obvious that one of the vehicles is Israeli.
The Egyptian tank commander is from the Italeri Soviet Tank Crew set. Both Egyptians and Israelis used Soviet tanker helmets during this period so finding a figure that worked was easy.


The base is an inexpensive plastic picture frame from Wal Mart. I left the glass in place epoxied the Custom Dioramics resin cobblestones, Verlinden Garden Wall and Gate and resin Palm Tree in place. The blasted apart door is balsa that I just threw together and chipped away with a #11 blade and tweezers. I then I used Elmer’s Wood Filler for the ground work. Wood filler is easy to work with, dries nice and slowly and cleans up with water. As it dries it leaves very few cracks and those that do appear are easily filled with white glue or Tamiya Putty. I added rocks, sand and organic debris while the filler was still wet, then textured it with a large stiff brush. While the ground work was still drying I added the rubble and debris around the walls. This debris is simply dried plaster that I broke up with a pair of pliers and a hammer. I fixed it in place with CA glue. I painted the ground with a mixture of Tamiya XF-59 Desert Yellow, XF-60 Dark Yellow and XF-57 Buff. I used the “hmm… this looks good” method of mixing the colors. The walls and debris were painted with a mix of XF-19 Sky Gray and XF-57 Buff. Once all that was done I gave the entire mess several washes of different dilutions using black artist oils thinned with mineral spirits.
Once this was dry I added the posters on the wall. These are various Arabic language broadsides and posters I found on the internet, sized down and printed on Testors White Decal paper. Some of them aren’t quite period, dating from the early 1960’s buy since very few of my audience speak Arabic and even fewer are familiar with Middle Eastern movies from that era I exercised a little artistic license. The palm tree is a Verlinden trunk with Eduard PE palm fronds. Once all components were in place I blended them together with various ground pastel powders.