ASLAV 25
Ref : Trumpeter #392 ASLAV-25 Reconnaissance Vehicle (phase 3)
Real Model #RMA 35189 Coyote-Bison-ASLAV wheels set
 

The ASLAV 25 Reconnaissance Vehicle is derived from the LAV 25 and entered service with the Australian army cavalry units in 1989. The eight-wheeled vehicle is fully amphibious and fitted with a two-man turret armed with a 25mm M242 chain gun, two MAG 58 MGs and two banks of four smoke-grenade launchers. The crew is composed of a driver, a vehicle commander, a gunner. Up to six scouts can be carried in the troop compartment.

The ASLAV 25 evolution followed 3 phases. Phase 1 was the purchase of former 15 USMC LAV 25 in order to conduct a series of trials in Northern Australia. Phase 2 started in 1992 by the procurement of 97 new built vehicles from General Motors of Canada. Later the 15 original ASLAVs were upgraded to the Phase 2 standard. In 1997, Phase 3 was launched by the procurement of 144 new vehicles along with the upgrade of the Phase 2 vehicles to the newer standard. The Phase 3 program included new electric turret drives, improved thermal sights, an integrated laser range finder, a second generation drive line and new suspension components.

From the beginning, the ASLAV 25 has been operationally deployed. It first saw action in East Timor in 1999. Australia being part of the international coalition against terrorism, the Australian army deployed the ASLAV 25 in Iraq from 2003 to 2009 and in Afghanistan from 2006 to 2013.

From 2020 it is to be replaced by the Boxer within the Land 400 program.

The kit

It comes in a light grey plastic with some nicely cast details. There are neither heat sinks nor flash. The seam lines are thin and easy to remove.
The box includes 7 grey plastic sprues, 1 clear plastic one, 2 hull halves, 9 rubber tires, 3 photoetched parts frames, 1 decals sheet, 1 instructions booklet and 1 color painting and marking guide.

The decals give you the choice between two different vehicles. Trumpeter provides you with several service stencils which is good unfortunately a number of them are in fantasy English.
Take note that the kit depicts an early phase 3 vehicle. So if you intend to show it in action, you won't be able to set the action in Iraq or Afghanistan.

 

The build

The hull

It starts as usual by the drive train. The process is a bit tedious but there is no problem during the steps 1 to 4. As I wanted sagged tires, I didn't use the kit tires and wheels. To be honest, removing the seam line of the rubber tires did not please me too. I chose Real Model offering to replace the kit parts. They are a drop fit. As usual, I didn't glue them yet to ease the painting of the lower hull.

At step 6, you need to assemble the protections of the propellers and this needs some care to get the 3 parts perfectly aligned. Another issue in this stpe is the location of the PE parts PE-A5 and PE-A7. The instructions clearly show a notch or a line on the lower hull but none are present on the model itself. So placing the parts is a kind a guess game.

At step 8 you start the upper hull assembly. Trumpeter asks you to add the details on the upper hull before gluing both halves together. I prefer gluing the hull halves first and then adding the details.

The side bin on the right side has a wrong shape as well as its brackets. Fixing this is not an easy job but can be done with the appropriate reference pictures. Unfortunately I noticed it too late for my model. The muffler assembly is a bit tricky too. I advise you to glue the top cover D26 at the same step to avoid trouble with the part PE-A6.
At the same step, you have to place some tools and the basket on the left side. So the tools can properly rest you need to shorten the locating pegs. Concerning the basket, it is better to attach the basket before its front bracket.

At step 9 I only modified the wire cutter in front of the driver to be in the lowered position.

At step 10 you need to thin the pegs of part D60. Trumpeter omitted to mention the handles B39 while you can see them on the drawing.

The turret

I first removed the raised vision block molded-in glasses. At step 13, the MG mount was assembled but not glued to avoid any breakage.
At the bottom of part C16 you need to remove the peg which prevents the part to rest on the turret roof. The side bins need a lot of care to get the PE mesh parts properly glued.

Step 14 is the most tedious as the grenade launchers assembly is painful. There are a lot of seam lines to remove. Then you have to glue the 4 launchers in a perfect cross shape and finally you must glue the tiny PE chains. Once done the other issue is gluing part PE-C6. It is the side mesh of the rear basket. I simply did not manage to use this part and not only in this kit but also with the other Trumpeter LAV turrets (LAV 25, LAV III). So I finally replaced it by some Aber mesh.

 

The decoration

You don't have much choice with Australian armor. The camouflage is made of specific colors (Lustreless Olive Drab and Tan) and black. There is no perfect matching reference in the Tamiya range I'm used to. So I made my own recipes. The tan color is Wooden Tan which proved too light so I applied some Flat Earth washes. The green is a mix of Olive Green and Yellow Green.

Take not that Trumpeter scheme is wrong. You need to refer to actual vehicle pictures to know where to apply the colors.

The weathering starts with the oil dots technique to break the tones monotony. Then I applied a pin wash to enhance the details. I finally created a dusty look with some well diluted shades of Flat Earth and Red Brown. Some mud was added here and there.

 

Conclusion

This is another interesting variant of the LAV 25 and the Australian camo brings some originality. Unfortunately Trumpeter missed the opportunity of depicting a truly operational vehicle. The only AM manufacturer which filled the gap was Arms Corps Model which is no longer running.

 

 

Click on a thumbnail to see the full sized picture

         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
 
         
         
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10/2018