M113 ADV (AIR DEFENCE VARIANT)

[phildagreek]

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..........................

 

 

 

[phildagreek]

You take a standard M113A2 and you get Raytheon to bring some Stingers and you get the M61 Vulcan Cannon and you get Boeing and Ford Aerospace and some other folks and you throw a ton of money at it and things start to happen. You rip the guts out of the M113 to squeeze in all the electronics so there's no room for the crew or their kit so you look to the IDF for external stowage ideas and you start working and cutting with what's available and totally make it up as you go along.................

 

M113 ADV - 2 by phil da greek, on Flickr

 

Showing the raised cab roof to accommodate computers, that thing that looks like half an oil drum from Tamiya? That's part of the pedestal mount you doughnut.

 

M113 ADV - 3 by phil da greek, on Flickr

 

Another view, reinforced driver's hatch, system has to be able to fire and manouver.

 

M113 ADV - 4 by phil da greek, on Flickr

 

Pedestal mount roughed out, an idea of dimensions.

 

M113 ADV - 5 by phil da greek, on Flickr

 

Some bolts to hold it all down. Access hatches added to get at all the gubbins. The pedestal taking shape, limit thingies added to show the vertical movement of the gun.

 

The underside and road wheels have been painted in basic green (Humbrol 116), as this is a prototype I guess any colour scheme is possible but I'm leaning towards 3 colour NATO, which for me, will be a bit different. As always she'll be brush painted in Humbrol enamels and Winsor & Newton varnishes. The weekend (& work for me) is looming so that's where we're at.

 

If anyone has any thoughts or suggestions then feel free to chip in, if anyone out there knows more about the real project (?) then join in.

[Sairou]

This is looking promising, and I like that you gave us plenty of background information. I love the M113, so I'll be following this.

[snapper_city]

Me three love the M113. This reminds me of the ADATS conversion from Legend. Watching with interest. 

 

 

[phildagreek]

Working on the sides of the vehicle, working on the pedestal which i guess will be the focal point of the whole thing. A couple of progress pics.

 

M113 ADV - 8 by phil da greek, on Flickr

 

M113 ADV - 7 by phil da greek, on Flickr

 

Just a simple little project where the cost of plastic card will soon outweigh the cost of the kits!

[FrancisGL]

Another interesting project from Phil factory!, .... cheers Phil 

Edited April 12, 2018 by FrancisGL

[phildagreek]

Thanks Francis. 😎

[phildagreek]

A weekend update, almost as it happens....

 

M113 ADV - 11 by phil da greek, on Flickr

 

M113 ADV - 10 by phil da greek, on Flickr

 

M113 ADV - 9 by phil da greek, on Flickr

 

Exterior stowage is finished, fronts and doors added, although hard to see as the doors are clear acetate and don't photograph well. Exhaust system has been added, many of you will remember that the variants of the M113 had beefed up exhausts (which look a lot like those on the LAV 25) to enable cleaner and quieter running of the engine for generators, the ADV version was very power hungry and needed a lot of electric for computer systems. There was an external / demountable generator available that could be run a little distance away but that meant some of the crew would be exposed setting up and clearing up and removed the mobility option.

 

Thanks for looking in.

[Dads203]

That’s some serious work fella, nice to see some proper modelling going on 

[Ripaman]

Very nice scratch work Phil, do you have a picture of the ADF you are making 

 

Regards

Richard

[Bullbasket]

Your scratch addition are as always, very good.

 

John.

[phildagreek]

On 4/14/2018 at 4:58 PM, Dads203 said:

That’s some serious work fella, nice to see some proper modelling going on 

Cheers! That's some high praise coming from you. 

 

 

[phildagreek]

Let's throw some colour on this beastie. I was going for NATO 3 colour, but I decided to base it on that, this after all is a developmental / experimental vehicle so it's only fair it's colour scheme is as well. For those who like the info, it's Humbrol enamels, the green is 116 with a touch of light grey, the brown is 026 with a touch of matt red to make it a little orange, and the grey is 032 described by Humbrol as Panzer grey. All were thinned and painted over an undercoat of light grey using a brush, each colour got 3 coats with the last coat being the lightest.

She's sat drying thoroughly before a gloss varnish, some basic decals and then matt coats and dirt. I'm working on a commander who is a modified Mini Art USMC tank figure. Some pics below.

 

M113 ADV - 15 by phil da greek, on Flickr

 

M113 ADV - 14 by phil da greek, on Flickr

 

M113 ADV - 13 by phil da greek, on Flickr

 

M113 ADV -12 by phil da greek, on Flickr

 

Work continues on the pedestal mount, attaching the weapons system and FLIR turret, the main problem trying to decide on the level of detail I'm going to add to this simple build!

 

Thanks for looking, get outside and enjoy the weather!