Das Werk LARC-V Early (DW35034) 1:35

[Mike]

LARC-V Early (DW35034)

1:35 Das Werk via Albion Precision Alloys

 

 

Although it looks very much like the German amphibious truck from WWII, the LARC-V was a product of American designers in the early 60s, its name deriving from Lighter Amphibious Resupply Cargo, while the V represents the 5-ton cargo capacity that it can carry.  It’s a four-wheel drive vehicle that is also a boat, and can travel at around 30mph on land, and just under 10mph on water, or around 8.5 knots if we’re speaking in maritime verbiage.  It was diesel-powered, running a 12.9L Cummins diesel that produced 300hp.  It saw extensive service in the early days of the Vietnam War, carrying men and equipment to beach landings in huge quantities, and running 24-hour operations to bring munitions directly to the US aircraft that were stationed in-country on nearby air bases.  They were also used by other nations, such as Germany, The Philippines, and Argentina, who used them in the invasion of the Falklands Islands in the early 1980s.  They were also operated by the Australians, who used a pair for flood mitigation and civilian rescues in one particularly bad flood in Queensland, with great success.

 

A mid-life service extension programme was instigated in the new millennium, substantially changing the vehicle under the bodyshell, replacing the engine with a more modern and powerful John Deere turbo-diesel that runs at a constant speed, the power output to the wheels or prop being varied by the new hydraulic drive-train, which has given it more power both on land and sea.  Over 40 of the upgraded LARCs have been authorised for use by various maritime units, including construction units on land and sea, as well as the carrying of cargo to and from larger ships in preparation for operations.

 

 

The Kit

This is a reboxing with new parts, based upon a 2021 issue from Gecko Models, and you may have already noticed their logo in the bottom right corner of the box lid.  Das Werk are involved in many collaborations, of which this is one, and it arrives in a nicely appointed top-opening box with a handsome painting of the type emerging from the ocean, transitioning from sea spray to sand with the crew of two in hi-viz jackets, one staring directly at the artist’s camera while he steadies himself by holding a grab-handle on the side of the vehicle’s windscreen.  Inside the box are many bags, some of which are Ziploc-style, which may indicate the new sprues, which would mean that the new cab with fabric roof panels, some weapons components, the clear parts, Photo-Etch (PE), braided cord, decals, the smaller tyres, and four small 3D printed parts are new, which seems sensible to this reviewer, at least.  There are sixteen sprues and a hull part in grey styrene, a clear sprue, four small tyres in hard plastic, four 3D printed resin parts on a print base, a PE fret, length of braided cord, decal sheet, and a modestly sized instruction booklet that is printed in colour on glossy paper, with decal option profiles on the rear pages, and the steps in a 3D isometric style that gives a better idea of the shape and size of the parts when compared with line drawings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Construction begins with the four axles, which are made from a two-part cylindrical shape with a tapered axle end to give the wheels room to rotate, adding a toroidal lip that is studded with bolt heads to the axle end, and fitting a circular bracket onto the ends of the front wheel axles that will be linked by a five-part steering arm when inserted under the hull.  The other method of propulsion is the screw that has either three or four blades, a long drive-shaft, a three-bladed stator, and a shroud that protects the blades from damage in shallow water.  The front axles are pushed into position over the steering linkage, while the rear wheels are inserted into their sockets without additional parts, fitting a baffle at the rear of the recess that will have the screw installed later.  At the front, a bar is fixed under the bow with a towing eye added, deflecting debris and other hazards away from the front wheels, then inserting the water-propulsion system in its trough near the stern, adding a deep rudder behind it.

 

The driver’s compartment floor is next, with a central driver’s position identified by adding three foot pedals, and two boxes that will be under the fore deck that is mated next, adding a pair of headlamps in round-topped fairings that have separate rear parts and a choice of wire-meshed, or clear lenses, plus a small 3D printed indicator on the outer side.  ‘Wing’ mirrors are mounted on each side of where the windscreen will be, two small davits on the edges of the coaming, and a short aerial base that is inserted into a socket on the deck.  The new covered cabin for the crew is moulded as a single part with spaces for five windows, plus an insert between the two side panes, and wound rope grab-handles on the rear frame, flipping the assembly over to add a tube under the front three windows, which looks like a heater tube to clear the screens in bad weather, which also mounts a pair of lamps to illuminate the controls, which are coming up in a second.  A sloped dashboard has the raised instrument panel fitted to the top, with an additional instrument box on the left, a pair of PE brackets on the front edge, plus a lever inserted next to a small instrument cluster that is moulded into the base.  The steering column with wheel added to the top, and a stalk at its mounting point is attached to the centre of the instrument panel, then this assembly is put to one side for a while.

 

The rear bulkhead of the cab/wheelhouse has three seat mounts inserted into slots low down, with the two seat cushions glued to the mounts and bulkhead as appropriate.  This is put to the side too, while the bulkhead at the rear of the load area is made.  It is detailed with two PE brackets, one either side of a pair of L-shaped brackets moulded into the bulkhead, adding a pair of triangular supports to the edges, a handle to a circular depression, and a long, curved rail with chain moulded into the centre.  The load floor is made from two sections, each part lined with tie-downs that have separate cups fitted under the deck, the longer section mated to the cabin bulkhead along with two triangular supports, while the shorter section joins to the rear bulkhead for later insertion into the model.  Meanwhile, a raised fairing over the fore deck is detailed with handrails, a hatch with prominent hinges and separate handle, removing four raised lines on the sloped section, and installing another part on a sloped base at the front.  More details are removed from the sides of the fairing, and a small horn/klaxon is fixed on the rear left.

 

The hull is a long part, surprisingly so after drawing comparisons with the German amphibious truck earlier, but there would need to be a substantial cut-and-shut to make it as long as the LARC.  There is a small notch in the side of the bow, which has a triangular insert added from inside before the forward deck and raised fairings are joined in turn, and the join hidden by a two-part bumper strip around the perimeter of the bow.  The instrument assembly is brought out again, and has the front section of the cab glued to the front, adding a pair of capped pipes low on the part beforehand.  The panel is then shown painted, and ten instrument dial decals and data placards are applied to the front, with a further two on the top of the box to the right of the main panel.  The two faceted side panels that will complete the assembly have four PE placards with decals applied on the port section, while the starboard section has just two, both of which are then glued to the front section creating the faceted front of the vehicle’s control centre that is lowered into position in the cab behind the fore deck.

 

The engine compartment behind the load area has two exhausts made up by adding two flapper caps on the upturned tips, with PE vanes added to the caps, then dropped into position in two cradles, fixing them in position with PE straps either side of the central raised section, which is separated by adding a strip longitudinally, joined by a gaggle of small parts that fit in and around this section, and a pole in the centre at the rear.  The engine bay doors are detailed with four raised parts each, then are fitted over the openings, the hinges locating on the outer edges.  A large louvred grille fills a rectangular hole in the sloping rear, fitting a curved PE mesh panel over the exhausts to prevent crew and equipment from being burnt on the hot exhausts.  These should be relatively easy to bend if you anneal them in a flame and let them cool naturally, rolling them round a cylinder of the appropriate size, which is usually a little narrower than you think you’ll need, as the brass will bounce-back a little after rolling.  At the rear of the hull is a styrene radiator panel that has a circular PE insert to the front and a square mesh on the rear that has its corners clipped.  It is glued behind the louvred section of the rear bulkhead that is glued into the hull, and is backed by a curved trunk that will prevent viewers from seeing the empty space inside.  Another small insert is fitted to cut-outs in the hull near the rear on both sides, then a pair of towing eyes with separate pins are mounted on triangular fillets that require the drilling out of two holes in the keel.  Two optional corner bumpers are fixed to the hull at the lower edges or their locating recesses are filled, and a choice of two styles of rear lights are supplied for various decal options.

 

Finally, the two load area assemblies are fixed to the lower portion of the hull, and the engine compartment roof is mounted to the rear, with more bumper strips hiding the join again.  The windscreen and cab roof are also installed at the front, adding a clear part to the rear of the roof, depicting the small windows and the rolled-up canvas cover that keeps the weather and spray out.  Additional windscreen wipers that are styrene and PE combinations are applied to the diagonal front windows, dotting a few small parts around the wheel-house/cab.  For one decal option, a pair of 3D printed lanterns are supplied, which must be mounted on scratch-built bases that are supported from below by a length of 0.4mm wire, as shown in the small 3D picture nearby.  A pair of canvas-covered railings are fixed to the sides of the load area, with bumper strips hiding the join between the deck and hull, adding PE tensioners and other small parts nearby, but as-yet the LARC hasn’t got any wheels.  There are four of them, one for each corner, and they have large balloon tyres on small hubs that are each made from two parts.  The outer part has the hub, one sidewall and contact surface moulded to it, while the inner hub and sidewall are added from a separate part.  If you were wondering what the smaller tyres are for, they’re hung over the edge of the hull on rope to protect the vehicle during docking, using the string supplied, and drilling two holes in each one, then following the suggested locations on the diagrams.  Additionally, four rope bumpers are found on the T-shaped sprues, and these can be mounted on the corners at the stern with cord, and/or on the bow if you wish.

 

 

Markings

There are five decal options on the sheet, which you can expand using the numeric decals on the number plates that are also supplied.  From the box you can build one of the following:

 

• Bundeswehr, AmphTrsp/UBtl 2, 1970s, Emden, Germany
• ‘Unsere Marine’ Exhibition, early 1970s, Freiburg, Germany
• Corpo de Fuzileiros, Portugese Marine Corps., 200s, Portugal
• US Navy, Operation Hastings, 1966, Cua Viet, Vietnam
• US Army, 165th Trans Co. (Light Amphibian), Thon My Thuy, Vietnam, 1968

 

 

 

It isn’t documented who printed the decals, but they have good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas.

 

 

Conclusion

I’ve long had an interest in the Vietnam War, but never came across this particular type, unless there was one in the background of the movie Apocalypse Now as Robert Duvall is uttering those immortal lines?  Detail is excellent, and with a suitable load on the deck, it’s a tempting prospect, especially if you’re not terrified of modelling scale water and can replicate the waves rolling into a beach where Charlie don’t surf.

 

Highly recommended.

 

Available in the UK in all good model shops.

Review sample courtesy of

[John_W]

Interesting Kit.

There are some more "interesting" colour schemes out there for it, Argentina used them in the Falklands, and you will see one in the background of the well known photo of the captured Royal Marines. The USMC used them in a three colour camouflage in Lebanon, and a quick Google (Other search engines are available) shows some very bright civilian examples.