Search the Community

A kind friend in the USA bought me this old Academy kit. I won't build it quite 'OOB' - I'll definitely add the Eduard brass set - or part of it - and i need to move the crane, which is in the wrong place. I may also decide to use the 'late' bin-fit, rather than the early as on the picture here - but to begin with it doesn't make any difference to the build. So here we go. Out of order, of course - who needs instructions?

Hi guys I'm building this as part of a SIG on another forum. The M113 is my favourite military vehicle of all time so I was happy when AFV Club recently gave us a new tool. It has also been a good few years since I have built one.The kit is typical AFV Club and overall looks nice but I do have a couple of issues with it. The bad There are a few ejector pin marks that will require attention because of where they are. I will high light some of these as the build progresses. The price. At £60 RRP it is too much for what it is I feel but that's new tool prices these days. I managed to snag this one for £50 which softened the blow. Vinyl rubber band tracks. For the price it would have been nice to have at least separate plastic links. The Academy M113 was the benchmark before this and is a great kit. But it's 25 years old now and like all its predecessors it still didn't have the rear ramp pulley. The AFV Club kit is great to see and they will hopefully release a few different options of the chassis just like Academy did.The good Rear ramp pulley represented. Workable suspension A plethora of small arms are included in the kit. Anyway on with the build.I have no idea which option I will be doing yet but I will be using the picture below for the set up I will be aiming for. The M113 was seen with so many weapons configurations but I think the Minigun on the cupola and the M2 Browning 50 cal on the back just looks mean. (Ignore the topless grunts) M113 apc 1/5th Infantry "Bobcats" 25th Infantry Division "Tropic Lightning" by Jerzy Krzemiński, on Flickr Here is everything I may or may not be working with. IMAG4263 by Mark Inman, on Flickr IMAG4264 by Mark Inman, on Flickr IMAG4265 by Mark Inman, on Flickr IMAG4266 by Mark Inman, on Flickr IMAG4267 by Mark Inman, on Flickr IMAG4268 by Mark Inman, on Flickr IMAG4269 by Mark Inman, on Flickr IMAG4270 by Mark Inman, on Flickr IMAG4274 by Mark Inman, on Flickr IMAG4276 by Mark Inman, on Flickr The Fruil replacement drive sprocket on the left Vs the kit option. IMAG4277 by Mark Inman, on Flickr As you can see from the back of the sprocket the fact these are made for the Tamiya and Academy M113's becomes evident. They will be no use on this build. IMAG4278 by Mark Inman, on Flickr Luckily the AFV Club drive sprocket fits the Fruil tracks rather well. IMAG4279 by Mark Inman, on Flickr IMAG4285 by Mark Inman, on Flickr Fruil's anyone?? IMAG4287 by Mark Inman, on Flickr RB Models brass Minigun. At under 2cm in length and 15 parts it is a little fiddly but this is the third one I have built. On their product webpage there is a handy guild to aid construction. My advice is don't worry about being too careful with the CA glue. Once built any excess can be scraped away with a scalpel. I even ran a lighter over it to burn the remaining away. IMAG4305 by Mark Inman, on Flickr IMAG4307 by Mark Inman, on Flickr Vs the kit M134 IMAG4308 by Mark Inman, on Flickr IMAG4309 by Mark Inman, on Flickr IMAG4313 by Mark Inman, on Flickr IMAG4330 by Mark Inman, on Flickr IMAG4414 by Mark Inman, on Flickr Ejector pin city on the inside of the roof. IMAG4416 by Mark Inman, on Flickr IMAG4417 by Mark Inman, on Flickr IMAG4418 by Mark Inman, on Flickr IMAG4419 by Mark Inman, on Flickr IMAG4420 by Mark Inman, on Flickr Next I have been thinking ahead for how I want to load this out. Here is a great shot with the whole floor covered in ammo cans. M113 apc 2/22nd Infantry (mech) "Triple Deuce" by Jerzy Krzemiński, on Flickr Here they have been stacked on the crew benches. 2018-01-15_11-44-51 by Mark Inman, on Flickr As I was lacking ammo cans I asked the guys from my model club and one guy came through. He had a load of .30 Cal and .50 Cal ammo boxes I could use. IMAG4421 by Mark Inman, on Flickr IMAG4422 by Mark Inman, on Flickr Painting has started. Laying down some metallic for the under layer. I'll be going hair spray technique on this..AK Xtreme Metal Matt Aluminium IMAG4450 by Mark Inman, on Flickr AK Steel IMAG4451 by Mark Inman, on Flickr More Steel IMAG4453 by Mark Inman, on Flickr Mr Metal Color Iron and buffed with a cotton bud. IMAG4454 by Mark Inman, on Flickr Playing about with chipping options for the inside of the APC. On the left is AK Worn Effects and on the right is the Mr Masking Sol. IMAG4505 by Mark Inman, on Flickr The rest of the internals sprayed AK Xtreme metal Matte Aluminium. IMAG4499 by Mark Inman, on Flickr The floor had a coat of chipping fluid followed by Model Air Steel. IMAG4570 by Mark Inman, on Flickr Lots and lots of Ammo tins cleaned up. IMAG4582 by Mark Inman, on Flickr IMAG4625 by Mark Inman, on Flickr IMAG4626 by Mark Inman, on Flickr IMAG4627 by Mark Inman, on Flickr IMAG4628 by Mark Inman, on Flickr IMAG4629 by Mark Inman, on Flickr IMAG4630 by Mark Inman, on Flickr IMAG4631 by Mark Inman, on Flickr I have been playing with enamel washes. Mostly Ammo brown wash for German dark yellow. IMAG4635 by Mark Inman, on Flickr IMAG4636 by Mark Inman, on Flickr IMAG4637 by Mark Inman, on Flickr IMAG4638 by Mark Inman, on Flickr Here is how the floor is looking. A dark wash followed by pigments dabbed over. A mix of Mig Vietnam Earth and Ammo Airfield Dust. These were then coated in enamel thinners from dabbing a brush over and letting the capillary action fill the gaps. Once dry the areas where most foot traffic will occur was rubbed back with an old knackered paint brush and a make up type sponge on a stick. The kind of thing you get in the Tamiya weathering palettes. The effect looks worse under my non daylight LED lights and looks quite orangery like rust. I may try to lighten things up a bit more in the future I will see how it goes. Considering most of the floor will be covered in ammo cans it really shouldn't matter. IMAG4640 by Mark Inman, on Flickr That's where things are up to right now.

M113A ACAV Update set, Dashboard & Seatbelts 1:35 Eduard for AFV Club Kit These are designed for the new AFV Club Kit Dashboard & Seatbelts (36378) The main part of the set is the provision of seatbelts for the troop compartment of the M113. Belts are also supplied for the other three seats as well. In addition for the drivers compartment new controls and a dashboard are included as well. Update Set (36377) This set provides for new grills on tops as well as other internal features. New headlight assemblies are provided as well as frame for the top of the vehicle and other grab handles and small panels. Review samples courtesy of

A new project then. What to build, what to build? I have plans for a summer project so I was hoping to find something simple, preferably requiring very little outlay of money, so a perusal of the stash. I know, actually building something from the stash, who'd a thunk it? As well as being cheap(ish) it needed to satisfy a couple of other things; not my current trend of IDF as I'm sick of Sinai grey and it's variations, it had to be in 1/35 & it had be fairly simple so no complex interiors. With that in mind, I stumbled across these two bad boys. M113 ADV - 1 by phil da greek, on Flickr I'm a big fan of the M113 in all it's guises but I especially like something that's a little different. So, with a little imagination, a little truth and a little plastic card..................... By 1984 it was apparent to all but the most die hard in the US Army that the M247 Sgt. York DIVAD was not going to work. Meant to work alongside and ultimately replace the M163 Vulcan system and the MIM 72 Chaparral system (AIM 9 Sidewinder on tracks) the M247 was not working as planned and was horrifically over budget, by the late 80's it would be a bad memory that nobody would admit to having been involved with. Something was needed to plug the gap. They could have gone down the route of the Flakpanzer Gepard from West Germany but what fun would that have been? The army needed an air defence system that was mobile, that could keep up with the forces it was meant to protect and could provide a degree of protection from the enemy air forces. You'll remember the gunner / commander on the M163 has his head stuck out. The Stinger missile was now in service with the US and had recently been used in combat by UKSF in the Falklands in 1982, could this system be incorporated into existing vehicles? The IDF would of course eventually take a four shot Stinger pod and bolt it onto some of their M163s and give us the "Machbet". And of course there would be the M1097 Avenger system, Stinger on a Humvee and of course the short lived but very successful Canadian ADAT. But before that..........................

So, I've finished it - more or less. It still needs figures, and I may still 'tweak' the weathering here and there. The first photos aren't great - the colour balance is a bit off, and I don't seem to be able to fix it - just like the Achzarit... What this probably means, is that I've got the colour right... IDF Sand Grey/Sinai Grey doesn't seem to photograph very well. I've just taken another, which is a bit better. That side-on shot, shows the 'down by the stern' trim - these vehicles all seem to 'sag' that way, so I 'fixed' the suspension so it did too. Sorry about the banner - I still need to pass someone a few dollars to get rid of it!

This is my Academy M113 ACAV in 1/35 scale. Finished a while ago but only now I managed to update my site. Now I'm about to start working on a suitable base and the 5 crews... Hope you like it. Rato Marczak www.ratomodeling.com

Hello All, This is Trumpeter's 1/72 M113 'ACAV' with Black Dog resin stowage accessories and ammo crates. The rolled up fencing on the front is wire forming mesh w/ masking tape straps, and the antennas are stretched sprue. The finish is Model Master Olive Drab, weathering completed using pastels, drybrushing, Tamiya weathering pigments. The base is made from a section of pre-made model railroad groundwork on a picture frame. Thank for looking! Cheers, Albert

Hi folk,s, I fancy getting away from aircraft for this build and as I,m really enjoying some small scale vehicle building right now I am going to build Airfix,s Sheridan light tank which I last built well over thirty year's ago,My favorite pre owned dealer has both JB and Airfix's re-boxed M113 APC and fire support vehicle's in stock so I,ll order tonight after a bit of research on marking option,s in the various boxes the small scale will give plenty of time to complete them in the time frame while doing other thing,s.