Yup, I was out early Sat and Sun mornings, pretty chilly. Trip was great though, well worth it.
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Looking good and nice scratch building.
Cheers,
Ralph
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Thanks Ralph. I hope to get the decals on it this week.
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I got all the decals on it this week, finished final assembly, and added a bit of gear to it. The decals are a mix of kit decals and from the Star Decal sheet for Easy Rider. Most are from Star, with only the instrument panel and cab placards from the kit decals. I also added some placard decals on the quad mount parts and added ammo can decals on all that have exposed sides that would be marked.
Here it is so far.
Some close ups of the bed and inside the cab.
And the quad .50 mount.
Next up is to weather it and call it done.
25 Likes
Beautiful model. The placard decals are an especially nice detail touch.
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Thanks KoSprueone. I like to add the placards since every piece of equipment has a few on it. I think it adds a lot as well.
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Gotta’ be happy with that. Already looks fantastic! 
—mike
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Lovely build and looks cool. Decal placement gives it a nice real genuine touch.
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That’s a beaut Gino! To my eye, just the right amount of gear and equipment without looking too cluttered. It’s perfect. Looking forward to your weathering strategy.
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That’s looking really sharp Gino @HeavyArty, I like that you finished the truck in OD rather than black, it looks much better, the Data plates are a nice touch also as well as the ammo can stenciling, the highway tires are the cherry on top. Nice!
Cajun 
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A real looker Gino! Absolutely beautiful!
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Thank you gentlemen. I too think the gear level is just right. A bit to show it lived in, but not heaped all over like a Black Dog accessory set. As to the OD green truck, pics show that is how “Easy Rider” was. Not sure why since most gun trucks were overall black.
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This model is turning out really nice, Gino. It is refreshing to see someone build a gun truck and add plenty of ammo boxes and appropriate additional items without cluttering the vehicle to the point that the weapon systems are unable to operate to their full capability. The radio turned out well, too. I really like this. I look forward to seeing what it looks like with appropriate weathering.
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Thanks James. The compliments mean a lot coming from you, the Vietnam modeling guru.
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That’s a guntruck, Gino. Everything stunning and what I like the most is how you rendered the colours on the quad. It gives the real hand painting effect to scale.
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Thanks Stefano. That is the look I was going for.
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No weathering on it yet, but I did make a correction. It was pointed out on another site that the platform at the rear of the quad mount was only used on the M16 Halftrack version, not on the Vietnam version.
I have since removed it.
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Beautiful finish. Are you going to add some weathering.
Cheers,
Ralph
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Thanks Ralph. Yup, it is not done yet. I still need to weather it, but life keeps getting in the way.
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Easy Rider is done.
I did some light drybrushing with a muddy red-brown color, a light sandy color, and then a wash of a red-brown color to show the color of dirt in most of Vietnam where these trucks operated. It is intended to show a dry, dusty weathering for a vehicle that mostly operates on paved roads.
Here it is.
Here it is with its cousin, the King Cobra guntruck I did about 20 years ago, way before the AFV Club M54 was even thought about. Still looks pretty good.
This was a really rewarding build. I enjoyed the ease of the AFV Club M54A2 kit and the level of detail it offers. I have a few more AFV Club M54 versions for later and am looking forward to doing them too.
17 Likes