Italeri
6396
Steve Zaloga
and I have debated the worth of the Italeri line of LVT kits for
some time now, since we both got to see one of the first LVT-4 kits
released. Italeri has tried to get a lot of stretch out of their
kits, to be sure, but in many cases Steve's criticisms are well
deserved. These include such things as only offering the kit with
the mild steel side pontoon panels; the LVT(A)-1 and this kit, the
LVT(A)-4, both had two large panels of armor plate instead. The
-4 also came with a postwar Italian designed interior and not the
more desirable WWII U.S. one without the side seats and stands provided
by Italeri. Lastly, Steve correctly pointed out that the tracks
were thin and not a good replica of the original, being riddled
with ejection pin marks to boot.
I can agree
wholeheartedly on the first point, as the modified pontoon sides
should not have been hard to provide. But as for the tracks, I think
this time modelers probably brought that one on themselves. Many
modelers have loudly complained about single link hard styrene tracks,
which would have been a better (and more expensive) way to do the
tracks. They have consistently harped for "one piece vinyl"
tracks, partly because some modelers are lazy and want to finish
projects now, and partly because single link tracks are tedious
and do take some of the fun out of modeling. Italeri has also been
singled out in the past for nearly inflexible vinyl tracks (the
M107/M110 series comes to mind first in this area) where the tracks
are hard to wrap around wheels, hard to install, and will not conform
to the wheels in the case of unsupported track runs.
In their defense,
Italeri has tried to compromise and meet modelers half way, and
for most modelers their solution is fine. It does beat the
rubber band tracks with hints of the propelling cleats so well known
on these vehicles, but it is far from perfect. They are much more
flexible, do have the "see-through" effect and spaces
between propelling links, and made a stab at the connecting bars
in the back. Most modelers will be happy with them as is.
But what most
modelers will most likely not be happy with is the new turret. Italeri
got the shapes basically correct, but then they added the very early
model .50 caliber machine gun ring and rear panel that was quickly
dumped when it was found to trap crew members inside the turret
if they had to bail out. This will have to be removed, and if it
is, the barren insides of the turret will be all too apparent.
For some reason
beyond me, Italeri detailed the bottom of the turret basket
and base (part 44) with a race, gearing, and details, but then left
ejection pin marks and the turret attachment lugs on the topside.
(They did provide three relatively thin support arms and a non-slip
base without ejection pins, to their credit.) They do provide what
are probably two bogus covers for the lug slots (parts 83 and 84)
but then there is little detail inside the turret. The 75mm howitzer
itself is mostly one very anemic piece (part 41). Most modelers
of intermediate or higher ability will want to swap most of the
interior parts for those from a Tamiya M8 HMC as they are more detailed,
and the gun itself is much healthier.
Five color and
decal schemes are provided, four Marine and one Army: U.S.M.C. 2nd
Armored Amphibian Battalion, Iwo Jima 1945; U.S. Army 7th ID, Okinawa
1945; U.S.M.C. 3rd Armored Amphibian Battalion, Peleliu, 1944; and
two generic U.S.M.C. vehicles from Iwo Jima. Four of the vehicles
are in an attractive three-color scheme of tan, field green and
brown; the other is straight olive drab.
Overall, history
shows this has been one of the more popular vehicles to modelers,
and many of us still like it since we built the 1/40 scale Adams
(then SNAP, then UPC, then finally Lifelike) kit of the USMC "Winnie
the Whale" in the late 1950s and early 1960s. But while it
puts paid to the awful Nitto (and its descendents) 1/35 kit, it
is still not a perfect kit, and building an accurate LVT(A)-4 will
take some other kits and parts, plus a lot of patience. One could
also use it as the basis for a conversion to a Korean War LVT(A)-5
with bulbous bow and covered turret if they did not want to accurize
it!
- Cookie Sewell
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