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AFV Club LVT-4 to British configuration


Rodders154

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I am looking to do the AFV club LVT-4 as a British one.  I have taken a visit to Bovington to have a look at theirs and the main thing I will need as I see it is a Oerlikon 20 mm cannon.

The Italeri Crusader 3 AA kit (6444) has 2 but the only place I have seen one is on Amazon and I am not paying £161.34 + £11.08 delivery for one.

 

Any other mods that will need doing?

 

TIA

 

Rodders

 

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37 minutes ago, AntPhillips said:

IIRC the Buffalo didn't carry a 20mm Oerlikon, it was a  20mm Polsten cannon (based on the Oerlikon but not quite the same), see the link below for a visual comparison:

 

https://captainstevens.com/military/weapons/20mm-aa-guns/

 

I took this Yesterday and it definitely looks more like Oerlikon rather that the Polsten.  Thank you for your help

 

Rodders

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2 hours ago, Rodders154 said:

 

I took this Yesterday and it definitely looks more like Oerlikon rather that the Polsten.  Thank you for your help

 

Rodders

 

I would say that is not original fit, probably added at some point post war or even by Bovington.

 

Take a look here, https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=217959 a useful photo of a Polsten fitted to a Buffalo.

 

The Polsten wasn't fitted to every Buffalo. I have a photo of a Buffalo with just two 0.5 Browings mounted on the front bulkhead and one with no armament at all and another as an ambulance.

 

Hope this helps

 

P

Edited by PDH
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6 minutes ago, PDH said:

I would say that is not original fit, probably added at some point post war or even by Bovington.

 

Take a look here, https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=217959 some useful photos.

 

The Polsten wasn't fitted to every Buffalo. I have a photo of a Buffalo with just two 0.5 Browings mounted on the from bulkhead and one with no armament at all and another as an ambulance.

 

Hope this helps

 

P

Thank you most helpful it appears i could get away with no front gun.

 

Rodders

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11 minutes ago, PDH said:

The Polsten wasn't fitted to every Buffalo.

That's right. I'm currently building one as operated by the 1st Northamptonshire Yeomanry who were re-equipped with eight Mk II & twenty-four Mk IV LVTs making 3 squadrons in readiness for the crossing of the Rhine. Each Mk IV was issued with 6pdr Anti-Tank ramps. All LVTs were fitted with one .300 and one .500 Browning and one 4" smoke discharger. This was in March of 1945.

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The Oerlikon on the Bovington Buffalo is definitely wrong.  It isn't even mounted, it's just sat loose on the cab roof.  The Polsten mounting was much more substantial, as modelled by Resicast.  The same mount was also fitted to some LVT2.  The box magazine was most commonly used as changing the heavy drum was awkward with the forward position of the weapon on the LVT4.  Easier on the LVT2 as the loader had side access. 

 

I believe there may be some dimensional discrepancies with the Resicast Polsten: the body may be too long and the barrel too short.  I also believe that the RB Models plain Oerlikon brass barrel and recoil spring cover can be used.  Their 20mm spent cases can be used too.  IIRC the Polsten and Oerlikon used the same barrel and the drum magazine would fit both.  The Polsten was a Polish simplification of the original Swiss Oerlikon design.

 

Polsten box magazines came in pairs in special wooden boxes which no-one currently makes.

 

The Bovington vehicle does have the applique armour plates on the lower hull front and sponson sides, not present on the AFV Club kit.

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4 hours ago, Das Abteilung said:

The Oerlikon on the Bovington Buffalo is definitely wrong.  It isn't even mounted, it's just sat loose on the cab roof.  The Polsten mounting was much more substantial, as modelled by Resicast.  The same mount was also fitted to some LVT2.  The box magazine was most commonly used as changing the heavy drum was awkward with the forward position of the weapon on the LVT4.  Easier on the LVT2 as the loader had side access. 

 

I believe there may be some dimensional discrepancies with the Resicast Polsten: the body may be too long and the barrel too short.  I also believe that the RB Models plain Oerlikon brass barrel and recoil spring cover can be used.  Their 20mm spent cases can be used too.  IIRC the Polsten and Oerlikon used the same barrel and the drum magazine would fit both.  The Polsten was a Polish simplification of the original Swiss Oerlikon design.

 

Polsten box magazines came in pairs in special wooden boxes which no-one currently makes.

 

The Bovington vehicle does have the applique armour plates on the lower hull front and sponson sides, not present on the AFV Club kit.

Thanks great help

 

Rodders

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Hi.

I believe the u.k Lvs had a different top hatch configuration for crew.Im sure i read the hatches were aligned symetrical and not staggered.I believe Tigermodels design resin stuff has a replacement roof for the kit.

Good luck with build.

Richard

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6 hours ago, panzerlehr46 said:

Hi.

I believe the u.k Lvs had a different top hatch configuration for crew.Im sure i read the hatches were aligned symetrical and not staggered.I believe Tigermodels design resin stuff has a replacement roof for the kit.

Good luck with build.

Richard

They do indeed, and it fits a treat.

Edited by PhilHendry
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This is the Italeri LVT-4 that I made recently and converted to a British vehicle as used in the 1944 Walcheren campaign.  The Polsten cannon is the one from Resicast. The Squadron Signal in Action volume on the LVT-4 has some useful photos including one of this vehicle.  The Concord book "British Tanks of WWII (2) Holland and Germany 1944/4945" also has some very good reference photos for British LVT-4's.

 

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Looking at my second post do you think the plexiglass domes were an after thought added by the museum or were the fitted in service?  AndrewE,s super build doesn't have them.  If the Cannon is fictitious then maybe the domes are as well

 

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The turreted vehicle is the LVT(A)4 as widely used in the PTO by US Army and Marines.  Despite the 4 designation it was based on the LVT(2).  Used post-war by the French in Indo-China and others elsewhere.  Saumur has one.  Yes, the turret is essentially that from the M8 HMC.  Not sure it was ever called the Scott at the time.  Seems to be a name it gained later.

 

Only UK use AFAIK was the re-formed Royal Marines Armoured Support Group in the Far East post war.  I've never seen a photo of one before.  RMASG was formed for D Day, disbanded on D+14, reformed post-war for operations in the Far East like the Malayan emergency, disbanded again and then re-formed in the early 2000s with the arrival of the Viking in service.  Now downgraded to a Company formation.

 

Production colour would have been OD and that one looks to be in OD unless it had got scruffy enough to be repainted in SCC15, a colour which persisted well into the 50s.

 

The Bovington LVT4 might have the correct cannon mounting frame - it looks about right - but it certainly isn't attached. 

 

The plexiglass domes were fitted over the periscopes in the hope of keeping the periscopes clear of salt spray but commonly removed.  I believe that visibility through the periscopes through the curved plastic was not great and the domes soon got scratched and dirty.  They were discontinued in later production.  In the Italeri kit they were moulded in solid plastic and I never found anything satisfactory to replace them with.  Had I kept the kit I suspect I would have ended up trying to home mould some.  Plus Model sell some clear sheet which is supposed to be specifically formulated for home forming.

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That's interesting.  15/19H were in Malaya, I believe as an armoured car regiment, from Jun 54 until about Aug 57.  An LVT doesn't really fit with the armoured car role as the vehicles are slow and ungainly on land and road track life is short.  But it does give better mobility in swampy terrain, river deltas, coastal areas etc.  Essentially the role the French found for them in Indo China.  Some of their LVT4s had Bofors guns mounted in the hold.

 

The rear AOS certainly looks like RAC red over yellow, and although the legend above it is hard to read it does appear to say "15/19 H".  Does anyone recognise the star formation sign?  It isn't Malaya Command, which was a yellow sword on a green square.

 

Contrary to what I said above, the RM unit intended for Malaya - 34 Amphibian Support Regiment - was earlier than the Malayan Emergency and was intended for operations against the Japanese from Sept 45.  It disbanded in 1948, possibly in India where the unit was stationed in readiness although it seems unclear whether they actually made it to Malaya.  They had an establishment of a dozen LVT(A)4s, a dozen LVT4(R)s fitted with unspecified bombardment rockets and 10 LVT4(F) Sea Serpent flamethrowers.  Records apparently indicate that 50 LVT(A)4 were supplied to the UK.  So what happened to the other 38?

 

Which does beg the question how one came into 15/19H possession, and did earlier units in Malaya like 13/18H also use them?

 

All of which is a long way from a Rhine crossing LVT4......................

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  • 11 months later...

The Polsten was only used by the British it was British Buffalo's you'll only see with one 20mm polsten even at that the troops hated it and first thing they would do when set off was dump it over the side! Just got shot if it, the troops didn't like the thing! There's a good story talking about this on the Bovington Buffalo video from David Fletcher for more information! 

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