A few years ago I decided I wanted an MP V100 from the Vietnam era. But the only V100 out there in 1/35th was the Verlinden Brick, so I decided to Scratch build it and this what I came out with.


When I heard Hobby boss was coming out the V-series I thought great a little less work. This would be a breeze since I had already built one prior, wrong.
I think it might have been little easier if I had just scratch built the chassis.
What I have done is taken shots of the original kit chassis and what I have done correct it.

Because I wanted to have all the hatches open, meant I would have to work around the kits toy like features where I could and re-do where I had to.Yes, I'm one of those types that likes to put interiors in just say it's there even if you can't see it all
First I re-did the wheel wells to get the angled slab side design seen in the real vehicle.

As you can see I used Styrene (in white) and putty to fix the tub around the axle locations. This is also to correct the inside appearance. And yes there is a bit of surgery involved.

While I was doing my test fitting I noticed how difficult the upper shell was when taking off and putting on. I decided to cut the forward sloped panel just before the drivers periscopes using the panel lines as a guide.
Well that's it for now, my only comment is I wish that if Hobby Boss intended to show the interior the least they could have done was open the hatches on the real vehicle to get it some what accurate. I'll get of the crate now I hope this some of you out there
Seeya Shane

shane !.Intereasting what your doing Mec models do the decals for the catch 22,

Can I have the measurements for the fire wall around the engine?

let me know and I will dig out some photos for you

Hi Jaymes
Actually I've been helping Lawrence Goh research the various markings for V100s in Vietnam. Somebody else has put a set of V100 decals out with Catch 22 on it. But I haven't seen them yet.
I think I'll wait till Echelon comes out with the Catch22 set.
Because the chassis tub is off I had to do best guess on the firewall. So I went for looking the part rather than having the accurate measurements. I used all of my resources that I've collected over the years, and there's quite a bit if you look. I found out that the engine used in the V100 was the Dodge 361 the same engine that was used in M113a1 I believe. So I grabbed an engine from the old Tamiya ACAV and small tranie I had laying around from and old car kit and plumbed it. So basically I adjusted the firewall to fit the engine but also fit it using my reference material as to where the walls should be into interior of the vehicle.
Also when I fitted the drive shaft tub for some reason it forced a slight enough curve in the Tub to put off the upper body once I cut off the nose. I had to do a little adjusting to make it fit again. I don't this will come up if you are using the kit in it's origin form.
As to pics the more the the merrier as they say.
Seeya Shane

M113A1 used a GM (later Detroit Diesel) 6V53 engine. This was also used in the M113A2 and a turbocharged model (6V53T) was used on the M113A3. The M113 used a Chrysler 75M.

The Dodge 361 is a V8 (at least from what I'm finding), the 6V53 is a V6, so there should be a pretty big difference in the look of the engine block.

Joe your right about the diesels but I'm talking about the early Gasser M113s. I've been following a couple of V100s and the restorers say the M75 is basically a militarized Chrysler 361 that was common in trucks back then, and the same engine as the early M113s. The engine is mounted "backwards", as in the fan is at the rear, the transmission is forward of the motor, then the transfer case is ahead of that.
This one of those engines

My reply was based on the fact that you said you had taken the engine from an M113A1 kit. The only difference between the M113 and M113A1 is the engine. The M113 had the gasoline powered Chrysler while the M113A1 had the diesel. If the engine included with the M113A1 kit was the Chrysler, then its the wrong engine for the intended vehicle, but as you say perfectly suitable for the current project.

OK, I've heard enough about the motor characteristics, and thanks to all for the information.

After looking at the chassis pan and all of my reference photos, I decided to go what turns out to be half-way between the kit piece and the scracthbuilt as shown in the photos. I didn't have it in me to recreate the inner fenders that are flat panels on the 1:1 item. I did correct those major interior areas that are viewable from outside using the half-open side doors and open driver hatches, plus the turret opening. Oh yeah, that meant having to scratchbuild the turret basket, gun receivers, mounts, turret controls, ammo boxes and feed chutes. The fiberglass transfer case cover had to be created, the engine compartment walls as well.

If you want more, think about pitching that half-size steering wheel for something more the correct size, and maybe add the clutch pedal, since only one pedal is included in the kit, rather than the two (clutch/brake) on the real thang.

I might even take some photos some day!

Well here’s an update on what I’ve gotten done so far on Catch 22. I made a the engine from a spare engine block from Tamiya’s M113 kit and a small transmission from a car kit. Of course when you build an engine to be in a piece there is always got to be a draw back. On this one I build the engine plump and detail it and then I put a big honkin radiator over the whole unit.




This the engine bay without the engine in place. The tank on the side is a reservior for I believe hydraulic fluid.

With engine in place you can see there isn’t much viewing room.

The upper super structure

A basic intercom was made using fuse wiring and scrap styrene, also in this picture you can see the view ports that have to be built if you have the interior open.

comms gear around the drivers hatch

Hope you like it so far. The sad part is that all the work that went into making floor layout look a reasonable representation get covered over if you load it with the crew gear and ammo boxes.
Seeya

I had the same challenges on the inner vision block mounts w/cushions. I wanted to master one, then make some resin copies, to aviod the repetition of scratching all of them. No luck, so a day later they're all done. I used an old Verlinden commo set for the speakers and RT 524 set, added the hull-top bracing. Decided early on that the engine would remain a mystery. I'm so looking forward to the second week of June, wife is on vacation, and I'll have a week to finish!

By the way, what decals have become available for the V-100 since the release of the kit?

Hi Jim
So far from Echilon (http://pachome1.pacific.net.sg/~kriegsketten/). There is Abbaxas, Devil's Disciple, The Ugly duck, and Budweiser from the 720th MP Btn. There will be others being brought soon by Echilon . There is another company that just brought a set of their recently but I don't remember the name. The one thing about Lawrence material is for the most part one set represents one vehicle.
Seeya Shane

Thanks Shane. Nice to see a variety of colorful markings! I'll see what else Echilon brings on before I purchase. Besides, theres always the final assembly before the decals.

Hi Shane,

Nice to see your progress on the model! Not to worry, the "Catch-22" part is already on the way to you - shipped a couple of days ago! So that you can finally complete it. The rest will be printed soon so the set can be complete and be released (3 vehicles). So far, only the Abbraxas set contains 1-vehicle marking (largely due to the complexity of markings). The rest contains 2 or more vehicles. Looking forward to complete another exciting set (Dragons!)

The problem with V100 decal jobs is that there are a lot of wonderful markings (particularly on the lower front), but most of them do not have enough coverage - side and rear views. Thus resulting in either the lack of "US ARMY" numbers or what sized stars they have on the sides. Believe me... there is almost no standard - sized stars on many of the V-100 markings I've worked on. Same goes for the "MILITARY POLICE" markings on the sides - each vehicle is unique! The stencils are (almost always) unique to each vehicle. Everytime I start a new marking set, I've to always start from scratch! If I ever do find a match to the stencilings I've created previously (and I'm talking 100% match) I'd definitely re-use them to save time and effort. But no... we're talking about 99% effort here... I'm not exagerating. Thus, it is a very slow and painful process, as I'm only dedicated to giving modelers the best I can offer. Heheh! Well, off the soapbox I go!

If anyone has a complete set of marking data on the V100s (full views if possible, or sufficient info), do give me a holler!

Cheers!

Lawence