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M113
- Thread starter Peter Bibby
- Start date
BMAN! 
Duke Maddog
Well-known member
Looks fantastic and so realistic! I know in the 'Nam they tended to put sandbags on the floor to help protect against mines. Some weapons, ammo cans and maybe a couple rucks would look good in there too.
Looking forward to seeing more.
Looking forward to seeing more.
Dont forget a nudy pinup picture or 2 also
Skinny_Mike
Well-known member
JamesOLeary
Master at Arms
The model is coming along quite well and I enjoy seeing your in progress photos. I agree about needing to add some stowage of ammo cans, a couple of rucksacks (make sure they are the right type for the unit and time period depicted - the main Army rucksack for the majority of the conflict was the lightweight rucksack with the aluminum tubular frame. The Tropical Rucksack which had a X-type frame that did not extend past the main bag did not start getting issued until really late in 1968 and early 1969. Guys in an APC probably would not be on the priority fielding list for such an item, though.), cases of c-rations, 5 gallon cans of water, a cooler, and a few waterproof bags that the crew would keep their spare uniforms in.
The Tamiya kit represents more of a straight gas-powered M113 due to the squarish fuel tank (the M113A1 has a more rounded side to it). Since mold making technology was what it was back in the 1970s when this kit was originally produced, they were not able to make the correct headlight guards that would be found on a M113, so they made some that would be found on a M113A1. Early in the war, and as late as 1967, many units arrived with the gas powered M113. A unit I am quite familiar with, 2/47th Infantry (Mechanized) of the 9th Infantry Division arrived in January of 1967 with their old, worn out M113s that they had trained with when they formed up at Fort Riley, KS. They continued to use them until they were either destroyed or could no longer be fixed mechanically and only then were those tracks replaced with the M113A1. The gas powered M113s had white interiors and the diesel powered M113A1 had the seafoam light greenish interiors. Now, depending on the unit and time period depicted, since the Tamiya kit has the headlight guards for a M113A1, you model could depict a vehicle that was sent to a depot for upgrade and returned to action...probably unlikely, but possible. Or, your vehicle could be a M113A1 by covering the fuel tank with some centerfolds and/or a map taped to it to hide it.
I learned about the interiors and the differences of the M113 and M113A1 through some friends who were in 2/47th Infantry (Mech) and 11 ACR. I had just completed a diorama depicting a scene from December 1967 and used the Academy M113A1 Vietnam Version kit as a "wedgie". I painted in interior the light green color and when I showed my friends who were from 2/47th Infantry, although they thought the work I did was good, they did let me know in a very nice way that they did not have any M113A1s in that particular platoon at that time and then told me about the differences of the two versions. When I made my "Breakfast in the Boonies" diorama, my friend Bill Rambow who was the gunner then the driver of the vehicle depicted in that diorama, guided me through with the finer details I placed into the interior. I also learned that not all of their vehicles were equipped with ACAV shields - some had full sets, some had partial sets, some had none, and his track with the 106mm Recoilless Rifle had the ACAV gun tub for the .50 without the shield (because it interfered with the operation of the RR) and only one shield for the left M60. I also learned what his unit's load plan SOP was and recreated that on the model of his track. Instead of the normal troop seats inside, his company had replaced them with wooden bench boxes they made that organized their load plan of ammo, claymores, grenades, explosives, etc. To see more of what I mean, here are a few in-progress photos of that interior before I put the top on:
In these, you can see the load out in the box benches since I sculpted the seat covers pulled back to expose the insides of the box benches. Also note, since the guys rode on top, they were able to load up the inside with a lot of stuff.
The work you have done so far looks quite impressive, especially for what seems to be an "Out of the Box" build and your painting of the interior looks very good and realistically used. I look forward to seeing how the rest of your build turns out. Keep up the great work.
Cheers,
James
The Tamiya kit represents more of a straight gas-powered M113 due to the squarish fuel tank (the M113A1 has a more rounded side to it). Since mold making technology was what it was back in the 1970s when this kit was originally produced, they were not able to make the correct headlight guards that would be found on a M113, so they made some that would be found on a M113A1. Early in the war, and as late as 1967, many units arrived with the gas powered M113. A unit I am quite familiar with, 2/47th Infantry (Mechanized) of the 9th Infantry Division arrived in January of 1967 with their old, worn out M113s that they had trained with when they formed up at Fort Riley, KS. They continued to use them until they were either destroyed or could no longer be fixed mechanically and only then were those tracks replaced with the M113A1. The gas powered M113s had white interiors and the diesel powered M113A1 had the seafoam light greenish interiors. Now, depending on the unit and time period depicted, since the Tamiya kit has the headlight guards for a M113A1, you model could depict a vehicle that was sent to a depot for upgrade and returned to action...probably unlikely, but possible. Or, your vehicle could be a M113A1 by covering the fuel tank with some centerfolds and/or a map taped to it to hide it.
I learned about the interiors and the differences of the M113 and M113A1 through some friends who were in 2/47th Infantry (Mech) and 11 ACR. I had just completed a diorama depicting a scene from December 1967 and used the Academy M113A1 Vietnam Version kit as a "wedgie". I painted in interior the light green color and when I showed my friends who were from 2/47th Infantry, although they thought the work I did was good, they did let me know in a very nice way that they did not have any M113A1s in that particular platoon at that time and then told me about the differences of the two versions. When I made my "Breakfast in the Boonies" diorama, my friend Bill Rambow who was the gunner then the driver of the vehicle depicted in that diorama, guided me through with the finer details I placed into the interior. I also learned that not all of their vehicles were equipped with ACAV shields - some had full sets, some had partial sets, some had none, and his track with the 106mm Recoilless Rifle had the ACAV gun tub for the .50 without the shield (because it interfered with the operation of the RR) and only one shield for the left M60. I also learned what his unit's load plan SOP was and recreated that on the model of his track. Instead of the normal troop seats inside, his company had replaced them with wooden bench boxes they made that organized their load plan of ammo, claymores, grenades, explosives, etc. To see more of what I mean, here are a few in-progress photos of that interior before I put the top on:
In these, you can see the load out in the box benches since I sculpted the seat covers pulled back to expose the insides of the box benches. Also note, since the guys rode on top, they were able to load up the inside with a lot of stuff.
The work you have done so far looks quite impressive, especially for what seems to be an "Out of the Box" build and your painting of the interior looks very good and realistically used. I look forward to seeing how the rest of your build turns out. Keep up the great work.
Cheers,
James