MEV-L (Marine Expeditionary Vehicle-Light) - SF

[Rafael]

I'm back. Stooopid job held me hostage. No more.

Now on to the fun part:

The subject for this build is a future light armored vehicle, sort of a souped-up Humvee for my beloved Corps.

Of course, in my Universe, the USMC got hold of this vehicle because they needed a fast, maneuverable, rugged, air-transportable and armored vehicle to transport Leathernecks to the battlefield.

Soon it was discovered that the little MEV-L could fulfill more roles than were expected from them, and the USMC, adapting, improvising and overcoming, came up with different variants of the Vehicle.

It is an ideal troop transport, short of an IFV or APC. It can carry six marines plus a complement of two (driver and weapons operator).

Troops board the vehicle via a rear hatch, and there are other hatches and firing ports on the upper hull.

The Vehicle is powered by a reactionless generator which drives four large wheels, each of which is independently driven by its own motor. Steering is accomplished by differential wheel movement, and the wheels themselves are made of a rubberized carbon nanocomposite, which can be ordered by the driving AI to be from totally slick to stubbornly draggy, so the wear and tear of the wheels is greatly diminished.

Outside view is provided by micro-camera clusters positioned in various points of the hull, achieving full 360 deg coverage fed to the driver in his VR helmet and to the rest of the crew/mounted personnel via the vehicle data network.

This is the postulate for the vehicle so far, and is part of what the accompanying backstory will be.

The vehicle's master is made of -you guessed it- foam, and will be molded and cast in resin.


Here, the little Critter in its master incarnation:








Surface detailing and paneling was made in cardboard (Yum!!!)


Made the molds for it. They're open-topped molds (left-right hull halves) jacketed in a plaster mothermold to avoid hull warping. I used Amazing Mold Putty and regular polyester resin, the thick, syrupy stuff used for fiber-glassing. The grey vehicle in the stills is the foam prototype, with basic turret.






Molds and mothermold (the break is for easier positioning of the very thin silicone glove)


First cast



Armored vehicles galore!!! 4 up till now



More to come.....

Rafa

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Very impressive.  Looks like you have the mold making and casting perfected to an art form now.