Allmost finished. Whats missing is the antennas. I will add those when the model is mounted on its base. Some small touch-ups and a bit more weathering is still left to do. Next step now is to paint the crew and making the base.
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The rope looks like a real one!
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Looking good. The weathering is really nice.
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I guess it is because I made it from string (the kind you use to keep a roast together in the owen).
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Wow, looks great weathered and with that cammo net, the gear too 
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Wow. All that stowage really makes the model. You put in a huge effort into painting all that stowage and it looks spectacular. You’ve taken an old vanilla kit and brought it up to date in a very impressive way with all your additions. The weathering, too, is outstanding. Excellent model!
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Indeed ! If you’re not as skilled as Erik, Thachweave makes rope bumpers for the AAV and other amphibious vehicles
H.P.
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Thanks for posting the link for Thachweave.Tripod Henri @Frenchy, the Helo sling nets are something I’ve been looking for for quite some time now.
Cajun 
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Have to give you high praise for this model build Erik, even without a camo scheme it’s still very colorful and eye catching with the crew stowage detail, in fact studying the monotone finish has shown me some ways to highlight my OD paint finishes. Good job 
, eager to see a crew on board!
Cajun
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Ha Ha, thank you for the nice words, but you don’t need much skills to make those rope coils though. I was not aware you could buy them so I saved a little bit of money there, since they are really easy to make.
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Fantastic products. A question here: do I need to ‘seal’ the rope before painting it?
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I don’t know about the AM coils but what I did with my coils was to soak them in heavily diluted paint for a while, until they had absorbed some color. When dry I again “soaked” them in diluted PVA glue and formed them to the vehicle. When dry they got a rather thick coat of gloss varnish before I did some weathering with a homemade brown oil wash. When dry they got a dull coat with the rest of the vehicle. I finished it with some MIG desert color pigments.
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Thanks for your process. really incredible results!
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For those of you (if any…) who wonder how the camo net is done, here is the recipe:
I start with a piece of brass wire of the desired length and basically wrap it in Cleenex tissue. One tissue is easily split into four sheets so I apply as many as needed to achieve the wanted “thickness”. Each layer is soaked with diluted PVA glue. Before further work I bend the net into the basic shape. I then use tea leafs to sprinkle the net for texture. First layer is of a very fine Earl Grey tea. When dry I give it a coat of “spray can glue” and sprinkle some herbal tea leafs in a more modest pattern to not over do the texture. Then the net has to dry for several days due to the long drying time of the glue. Then I add a base coat of paint and super glue it to the vehicle. When dry the brass wire makes it easy to form the net to the vehicle. Add some straps and finished. It is a bit of a messy process but it is really easy to make.
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How did you do the choccy chip camo!? (i think that’s what it called). I gotta try that some day
Your model looks amazing!
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It is painted with a very fine brush and paint thinned so it runs perfectly. I usually test the paint on my thumbnail before touching the model. It is not very difficult, but some knowledge about how to thin your paint is necessary.
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I have started painting the crew. At the moment they look pretty ugly, but that will change. If I should guess they are approximately 30% done.
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More figure painting. I´m not very good at it, but by some strange reason I really enjoy it. Now the fine detailing will start. None of the Tamiya or Dragon figures are very good compared to modern resin figures, but I´m up for a challenge.
The vehicle crew. I do not bother to paint parts that can´t be seen.
Marines. Next step is detailing the Load bearing gear
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The figures are done. They turned out ok, despite my mediocre figure painting skill. And no, you will not see them yet… 
Since the painting phase is over I have started building a base. As a starting point I use a cheap picture frame. The idea is the Marines overrunning a hasty built Iraqi fire position. This is how it started.
And this is an hour later. It looks a bit crappy, but there is a plan behind the «crappyness». Hopefully I manage to finish this project during the weekend.
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Construction of the base continue. After the initial glue had dried I covered the base with air drying clay. I use a generous amount of PVA glue at this stage to get the clay to better stick to the frame when dry.
Then I use a sculpting tool to form the terraine. It does not have to be a perfect, smooth surface. I also test fitted the vehicle to make sure it fits to the ground.
Then I covered the base in a mixture of AK desert terraine paste, fine sand, water and PVA glue. This is applied with an old and stuff brush. I sprinkled some additional sand on top for texture.
Last step was to prime everything black. Now everything has to dry until tomorrow.
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