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.
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.
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.
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.
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.