Photoetch Stencils for Armor Kits
With an ASLAV Example

By Shane Abdoo

The base kit of the ASLAV is the Italeri LAV-25 Pirahna. Although the kit leaves a lot to be desired as far as accuracy goes, its the best of a bad bunch! Other than numerous small changes the ASLAV has in comparrison to the LAV is the wheels. The ones on my kit were modified from the model kit. 2mm of scrap plastic was added to the centre of the 2 part wheels and a tread pattern was then added from strip plasticard. The original was then cast and copied by a friend at Anvil Miniatures. Although the hub depth has not been modified, the overall appearance of these wheels lift the finished product considerably.

Other original parts that were cast are: Inf/tank telephone armoured box, tail light assemblies, heads up display, gunners sight head, headlights and exhaust. Numerous sections of the hull side had to be modified to suit the Australian version, including tool stowage, additional services hatch added near drivers hole, tyre rack on hull rear and stowage baskets on turret side.

Many parts were replaced with sheet brass including ATGW wire cutters on hull and turret, ballistic shield on sight heads and mounts for hatch bump-stops. Some other major conversions required were: smoke grenade dischargers made from brass tube, drivers hatch made to swing out instead of pivot over and trim vane extension added to kit trim vane. The rest involved a great deal of copper wire for brush gaurds etc.

I'm considering producing an ASLAV conversion kit from PE stainless and resin. The main features that require adjusting are the turret complete. The hatches are equal with each other where they should be staggered, the front right should have a hinged section covering expended ammunition outlets. But we'll have to suck it and see if it will materialise.

The ASLAV model was finished using the actual vehicle paints the real ones are done with, so matching the paint wasn't a drama! The markings were done with my own, personally produced PE stencil fret. I have produced three seperate stencils, which retail at $15 (Australian), one for the the Leopard family and one for the MRV, FSV and ASLAV and the final one for the M113A1 family. They are totally reusable and have been designed for ease of use in mind. They are more a modelling tool than a PE fret as they can be used on any military model (numbers etc). They also include very detailed instructions which have reference photos and an invitation to obtain more scanned reference photos (from Feb 20 on). How many manufacturers offer after market service???