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Hey all, I was browsing a Hobbytown USA and found a few model kits on sale; specifically the 'put on your shelf and admire from a distance' kind, and a kit for a 1/35 scale Marine Light Armored Vehicle Recovery caught my eye. I've been messing with it for a bit, and noticed that the vehicle footprint, height, and access points would make it a pretty decent stand in as a counts-as CRASSUS ARMOURED ASSAULT TRANSPORT (aka CAAT) with a few modifications.

It would need some sponsons bolted on, and the included weapons replaced with giant 40k versions, but other than that is there anything in particular about things like Tamiya and Trumpeter model kits that would make them unsuitable for pushing around on a gaming board?

The plastic tends to be more brittle and the details smaller than GW kits, so anything which sticks out is in danger of snapping easily when handled a lot. Leave anything like that off or reinforce it with plasticard.

Generally speaking, real-world vehicle proportions tend to be longer than 40k ones. You may need to shorten or widen most kits, but if the proportions of the LAV are already OK, no worries.

Wheels often look skinny compared to the super-chunky 40k ones. Bulking them up can be tricky, but hiding them a bit under some extra armour is usually simple enough. Helps cover up the suspension, which tends to look a bit too detailed when placed next to GW models too.

This Dakka article covers the common scaling issues pretty well. As mentioned, the main difficulty in translating real vehicles to 40k is the heroic scaling of the game's models - vehicles with the proper overall dimensions will have comparatively tiny details (wheels, doors, etc.). It can also be difficult, in the first place (although you seem to have that covered), to find vehicles that roughly match their 40k counterparts in all three dimensions (tanks with the proper footprint will be too short, trucks of proper length and height will be skinny, etc.).

With sufficient conversion, though, historical kits can serve as wargaming models just fine. Plenty of people have done it before and not just for Orks, although it becomes easier to mask (or translate, if you prefer) the original kit when ramshackle add-ons are expected.