Tamiya AMX-13 French Light Tank

[Fatboydim]

This is the new AMX-13 French Light Tank from Tamiya released earlier this year.

The model is in 1/35th scale moulded in tan coloured plastic with full-length flexible vinyl tracks. Detail includes, one etched part, tools, jerry can and a commander torso figure with markings for 2 French Army Units.

The box art.

A sheet naming parts of the tank.

Sprue A (X2), hull & turret.

Sprue B, the hull top & torso figure.

Sprue C, details including, hatches and canvas turret cover.

Decals, full-length flexible vinyl tracks & the etched part.

Apart from using wire to simulate the sag in the top run of the tracks, I intend to build the kit straight out of the box. I've not tried the wire technique before, but I think the tracks will benefit with a sag along the top run whilst still using the tracks provided in the kit.

Thanks for looking, Joe.

[Gremlin56]

Nice choice of build, nice model.

Julian

[Antoine]

Thanks for the pics.

Indeed the sagging is quite present on an AMX-13.

[Fatboydim]

Nice choice of build, nice model.

Julian

Thank you Julian.

Thanks for the pics.

Indeed the sagging is quite present on an AMX-13.

Thank you Antoine, I'm a bit disappointed with the quality of the photos. They looked ok before I uploaded them to Photobucket. I've looked on line at photos of the AMX-13, and like you said, the sagging is evident.

The model goes together quick with no problems. I glued the suspension arms in place followed by the top roller mounts. Before gluing the front hull section to the main hull, I drilled the two 1mm and one 1.5mm holes marked on the inside of the front section. Next, comes the rear hull panel. A bracket glued to the inside of the rear panel contains a large captive poly cap. The rear plate is then located to the main hull section. This bracket with the poly cap will enable the upper hull section to be held in place without the need for glue.

I made the two drive sprockets, the ten road wheels and the two idler wheels. The road wheels and idler wheels are also held in place with poly caps. These were push fitted onto the suspension arms. I glued the top roller wheels in place with PVA glue. I need these in place for when I sag the track, but want to be able to remove them for painting. The smaller detail parts have been left off in case I damage them whilst fitting the metal wire across the hull to hold the tracks in place.

The hull with the wheels fitted. The bracket on the inside at the rear contains the poly cap.

I glued the tracks together using poly cement. Tamiya point out not to use Tamiya Extra Thin Cement. When these dried, I fitted them over the wheels.

The tracks in place.

Jumping ahead slightly, I will fit the location lugs and retaining pin on the upper hull so it can be attached temporally on the lower hull to give me some idea of how much sag will be required. With this in place, a measurement can be taken from the lower surface of the upper hull and the holes can be drilled at the right height.

Thanks for looking, Joe

[Sgt.Squarehead]

You are doing a great job with the model, but vinyl tracks.....What on earth were they thinking?

[Antoine]

Don't worry about your pics, they're fine.

About the tracks, vinyl ones could be ideal for some tanks, I wouldn't use anything else for a modern Leo or AMX Leclerc, where tracks have a quite tight fit.

But here....

Tight, much too tight.

[jetboy]

your pics are great, but i much prefer the version with the rockets on....lol

[wyverns4]

Whey back when, I used to 'wire' vinyl tracks for that sagged look and IIRC there were two points that I found out to be most useful, the hard way

1. Drill the holes for the wire at the same location on both of the hull sides and use one length of wire to do both sides.

2. Warm up the tracks before fitting with a warm water bath. It makes them a little more flexible and reduces the strain on wire and plastic.

Cracking build of one of my favourite AFV's, Just which one do I get Tamiya or the other, (Takom?, not the Heller!)...?

HTH!

Christian, exiled to africa

[Fatboydim]

You are doing a great job with the model, but vinyl tracks.....What on earth were they thinking?

Thank you Sgt.Squarehead, I know what you mean about the tracks. It would have been better to have the same type of tracks Tamiya supplied in their new SU-76M kit.

Don't worry about your pics, they're fine.

About the tracks, vinyl ones could be ideal for some tanks, I wouldn't use anything else for a modern Leo or AMX Leclerc, where tracks have a quite tight fit.

But here....

Tight, much too tight.

Thank you Antoine, the tracks are too tight, but there is enough slack in them for the wire to do its trick.

your pics are great, but i much prefer the version with the rockets on....lol

Thank you jetboy, is that the SS11 version?

Whey back when, I used to 'wire' vinyl tracks for that sagged look and IIRC there were two points that I found out to be most useful, the hard way

1. Drill the holes for the wire at the same location on both of the hull sides and use one length of wire to do both sides.

2. Warm up the tracks before fitting with a warm water bath. It makes them a little more flexible and reduces the strain on wire and plastic.

Cracking build of one of my favourite AFV's, Just which one do I get Tamiya or the other, (Takom?, not the Heller!)...?

HTH!

Christian, exiled to africa

Thank you Christian, that's how I intend to fix the wires in place. Good tip about the warm water.

Thank you gentlemen for your post, Joe.

[Sgt.Squarehead]

I don't know if it's of any value in 1/35, but in Braille Land we usually tart up the (moderately awful) 1/72 Heller AMX-13 with running gear from a Hetzer.

FWIW

EDIT - Apparently Fruil have it well covered if you decide to replace them, they do sets with or without track-pads:

http://www.hobbylinc.com/fruilmodel-amx-13-tank-steel-track-link-set-170-links-plastic-model-tank-tracks-1:35-scale-126

http://www.hobbylinc.com/fruilmodel-amx-13-tank-rubber-track-link-set-170-links-plastic-model-tank-tracks-1:35-scale-130

[Fatboydim]

I don't know if it's of any value in 1/35, but in Braille Land we usually tart up the (moderately awful) 1/72 Heller AMX-13 with running gear from a Hetzer.

FWIW

EDIT - Apparently Fruil have it well covered if you decide to replace them, they do sets with or without track-pads:

http://www.hobbylinc.com/fruilmodel-amx-13-tank-steel-track-link-set-170-links-plastic-model-tank-tracks-1:35-scale-126

http://www.hobbylinc.com/fruilmodel-amx-13-tank-rubber-track-link-set-170-links-plastic-model-tank-tracks-1:35-scale-130

Thank you Sgt.Squarehead, I'll keep that in mind if I build another AMX.

The tracks require three sags between the various wheels and rollers. Using a vernier, I measured the three centre points between the drive sprockets, top rollers and idler wheel. I marked these three positions on one side of the hull. These would be the centre of the three sagging points. Next, using the rear hull plate as a datum I transferred the positions onto the other side of the hull. This ensured that the longitudinal position of the wire would be the same both sides. I then measured down the sides of the hull to the amount of sag needed at each position. The front sag was 2mm, the middle sag was 3mm and the rear sag was 4mm. I drilled the holes in six marked positions. I used a length of 0.68mm stainless steel wire for each of the three sag wires.

Top hull in place with tracks fitted.

Side view of tracks before fitting wires.

The three wires fitted in place.

Tracks & wires in place.

Side view showing track sag.

View from front quarter.

View from rear quarter.

Being able to clip the top of the hull on and off is a great help. All the fitting can be done, removed for painting, then re assembled with no problems. Thank you for looking, Joe

[Sgt.Squarehead]

Looks perfect and it's an awful lot better value for money than Fruil.....I was staggered at the price of those things!

[Antoine]

Nice, really.

Didn't know that trick!

You forgot an area, but that's not really important.

The drive sprocket when at the front always create a little slack just under him.

[Yeoman1942]

Neat trick and great sag

[Fatboydim]

Looks perfect and it's an awful lot better value for money than Fruil.....I was staggered at the price of those things!

Thank you Sgt.Squarehead. I'm happy enough with them. I would rather pay a bit more and have Tamiya provide individual links as standard. There must be a reason they don't do it. They supply individual links in the 1/48th range. I've made both their British WW1 and the French B1 Tanks. Both had individual links and worked perfectly.

Nice, really.

Didn't know that trick!

You forgot an area, but that's not really important.

The drive sprocket when at the front always create a little slack just under him.

Thanks Antoine, I see what you mean. I'll put my thinking cap on, but I'm not sure I can do much about it.

Neat trick and great sag

Thank you Yeoman1942. It's my first attempt.

[Antoine]

Don't do anything, it's ok.

This sagging is minimal, and occur when the tank stop without using brakes after moving forward.

[jetboy]

Thank you Sgt.Squarehead, I know what you mean about the tracks. It would have been better to have the same type of tracks Tamiya supplied in their new SU-76M kit.

Thank you Antoine, the tracks are too tight, but there is enough slack in them for the wire to do its trick.

Thank you jetboy, is that the SS11 version?

Thank you Christian, that's how I intend to fix the wires in place. Good tip about the warm water.

Thank you gentlemen for your post, Joe.

IVE NO IDEA OF THE NUMBER ,BUT IT LOOKS THE SAME... mines the heller one......

[Fatboydim]

Don't do anything, it's ok.

This sagging is minimal, and occur when the tank stop without using brakes after moving forward.

I think your right Antoine. I don't think it would show to much so I will leave it.

IVE NO IDEA OF THE NUMBER ,BUT IT LOOKS THE SAME... mines the heller one......

That's the one jetboy. That's a nice looking model you've made there. I didn't realise how versatile and widely used the AMX-13 was until I started building this model.

I hope to add as many parts as I can now over the next few days so I can get to the stage that I can spray the main green camouflage colour. Joe.

[FrancisGL]

NIce progress for now, and a really good trick with wires, i do with my ISU-152, (first attemp), but not one wire for every 2 sides, i do separately, more work, and no exact match... , cheers mate

[Fatboydim]

NIce progress for now, and a really good trick with wires, i do with my ISU-152, (first attemp), but not one wire for every 2 sides, i do separately, more work, and no exact match... , cheers mate

Thank you Francis, I just had a look at your ISU-152. Very nice.

[Fatboydim]

I've glued some of the components together and dry fitted others parts. I've also made the turret which is in two main parts. I've left these separate for ease of painting. The gun barrel is fixed once the canvas cover is fitted into place. If you wish the gun to be movable, the canvas cover is left off.

The top hull with intercom, exhaust & storage locker dry fitted on the right side.

Underneath the top hull showing the two lugs at the front, and the location post at the rear which allows the top to be fitted without the need for glue.

The two main turret parts (which Tamiya refer to as Turret 1 & Turret 2) with the gun barrel.

Parts 1 & 2 are joined together by two locating pins pushed into poly caps.

The turret mounted on the hull.

Thanks for looking in, Joe.

[FrancisGL]

Nice progress for now, cheers Joe

[Fatboydim]

Nice progress for now, cheers Joe

Thank you Francis, I've a few more detail parts to attach before painting. If I can get these done over the weekend, I'll be able to paint the model early next week. I'm using a Tamiya AS-14 spray can for the painting. Because I intend to use a spray can instead of my airbrush, I'll be doing the spraying at work. Joe.

[Andy Moore]

Very nice progress Joe. I really like the way Tamiya have approached this, with the push fit upper hull, and also the inclusion of the mounting strip for the turret dust sleeve, something which Takom didn't bother to supply with theirs.

Andy

[Fatboydim]

Very nice progress Joe. I really like the way Tamiya have approached this, with the push fit upper hull, and also the inclusion of the mounting strip for the turret dust sleeve, something which Takom didn't bother to supply with theirs.

Andy

Thank you Andy, the Tamiya kit does go together really well. I don't get anywhere near the modelling time I would like, and that's why I build the occasional piece of Tamiya armour as it goes together so quick. Also, I don't have the weathering skills that you have, and tend to keep it simple when it comes to the weathering of my models. I looked at your AMX-13 on The Modelling News. I can see a lot more etched parts come with the Takom kit. The lamp guards do look a little thick on the Tamiya kit compared to the etched parts supplied with the Takom kit. But, I am a lazy modeller and will always go for the easy option. Thanks again, Joe