I really appreciate that, Jerry, both that you are interested in following this build and the kind comments. Thank you.

Regarding the canvas document bag, I'm afraid I was not aware of its existence.

Unfortunately, the only two pictures I have of Swedish M113's are the two that are in the beginning of this blog, I have no pics of the Swedish interior at all, but considering the period I could at least safely guess that these were petrol and not diesel engined vehicles. Other than that, I haven't had much to go on.

There is an early M113 standing in the Swedish armour museum, and consulting my pics I see that the bag is not in place, but perhaps it was not in the museum vehicle when they got it.

Since the interior is now "buttoned up", I think it may be difficult to add at this stage, but if you happen to have any pics with it in place on the engine cover, I'd like to see what I can do. Please feel free to post pics in this blog.

Generally, apart from the Swedish Scania armoured trucks, the vehicles the Swedes used were captured, borrowed or stolen and in many cases required a lot of work to get them roadworthy. However, I don't know if this was the case with the M113's, or if these vehicles were delivered to them relatively complete.

These kinds of things get lost very quickly when transferring vehicles from unit to unit. Tie down straps got lost quickly as well.
I have no pics,sorry,but the bag mounted on the upper left of the engine panel,IIRC. It was about 10inches wide and about 12 inches long and maybe 5 inches deep. It had a top flap that closed with two snaps and also a canvas handle on the top. It was mounted on the panel using two canvas straps with metal clips on the end that were hung onto two tie down type clamps on the engine cover. The same type of clips that were used on top of the hull for tiedowns for pioneer tools,etc.
Here you can see some outer hull rear details like the mount for the fuel can and ramp locking hooks. This was Baumholder 1978 in front of C1/39th Inf barracks with our messhall building in the background. It would be nice to be able to see my toes again like back then!! Hehehe



J

Hi Jerry,

Thanks for the helpful information. After some consideration, I think I will have to skip this item. Since my interior is now closed down, and it can be difficult to reach the rear engine wall through the hatches, I don't want to risk getting glue stains all over the place :-)

I have a small "document case" on the radio shelf to the right of the radio, I think I will settle with that.

Cool pic as well, thanks for sharing! What is the the TOW launcher mounted on, an M151?

Cheers,
Sven

The M113 is the tow carrier before the introduction of the hammerhead or tow under armor versions. It mounted on a pedestal that moved up into the rear top cargo hatch. There was also a platform on the floor that raised up. The tow you see here has been ground mounted for a maint. inspection on the dirt behind the vehicle. Hard to make out in the pic. We did a lot of time wasting things like this for sure.
J

Ah, I see. Thats one of the version of the M113 I would like to build one day. I have the HobbyFan conversion, so maybe one day :-)

Dear Sven, which is the colour for the outside Swedish OUN M113, gray?

Great project , very nice.

Regards

Federico

Hello Frederico,

Thanks for your kind comment.

The colour I use is custom mixed, using mainly Tamiya XF23 Light Blue, mixed with very little Olive Green XF58. Be careful with the Green, very little is needed, otherwise you loose the Blue tone. You can darken it a little with German Grey XF63 if you wish, but again, very little. Its about 95% Light Blue in the mix.

Hope this helps, :-)
sven

thanks

Well, it feels like forever since I posted an update on this build, so here are some more pics..

Quite a bit has happened since the last post, exterior painting is done and markings applied. The markings are from the Star Decals set. Its great to see manufacturers daring to release such unusual decal sets!

Weathering is in progress, three sides plus the roof is pretty much done, even though I might add a nice wet run down the trim vane to add some interest. Other than that, I am not going to make it much dirtier than this.

Hoping to be done with this build over Easter. :-)

A sincere thanks to those of you following this on facebook as well, and the very kind comments there - very much appreciated!

Thanks for looking!

Cheers, and Happy Easter to you all.
Sven

PS (Edit): I just realized that I jumped over a few steps in this blogg, i.e. did not post pics of the model before painting, and a couple of the painting steps. Added these above the pics of the weathered model.

Ready for paint (build steps more or less complete):











Base cammo and decals (trim vane only dry fitted):





Track painting and weathering (before and after pigments):



Weathering of wheels and suspension:



Weathering:

Very nice job Sven.

Were these the same vehicles that were loaned to the Irish contingent?

Many thanks Paul!

Not sure if the M113's were loaned to the Irish contingent. I believe the Swedes did hand over some of their armoured trucks to the Irish, though.

[quote]

Wow, I can't imagine Baumholder without the US Army there, especially the 8th ID.

I was in Baumholder with 2/68 AR. HHC, Mortar Platoon, 4.2 inch, 85 and 86. I am following this one close so I can build my M106A1. I have 2 Tamiya kits in my stash. I just built a Gamma Goat with 2/68 bumper numbers. I lived in Ideroberstein.

Thanks for following the build, Jon, much appreciated! :-)

Nice, very nice! I was hoping to see more of this fantastic build and I'm glad you didn't lost interest in it.

The paintjob looks great, the weathering as well. Can we see some more photos please? I forgot, are you planning to build a vignette with some figures around the model?

Well done,
Mario

Cracking job Sven mate,Looks a mighty fine 113 to me.Lets hope some model manufacturer releases some overdue new toolings!!!!/
Richard.

Hello Mario and Richard,

Thanks very much for those very encouraging words, I am very grateful.

Mario, these are the latest pics (taken yesterday), but I promise I will take many more when the model is finished (during Easter I hope :-) ). Yes, I plan to make a scenic base and add a figure or two, but that will unfortunately have to wait since I am working to a tight deadline to get the model done in time for 08-Open in Stockholm in April. After that, I will get to work on a base and figures :-)

Richard, yes lets hope that the looooong overdue new tooled M113 will appear some time soon. It is unbelievable to me that nobody has done it yet, considering the amount of variants and sheer number of these vehicles produced. Both the Tamiya and Academy kits do leave a lot to be desired.

I have 3 "buckets" in my stash, and i'm almost inspired to start one of them. I say almost because i think i'd like to do an easy, relaxing build first. Fantastic work! I've downloaded every picture for future use.

Thank you very much, Brian.

I think you're doing the right thing. Tamiyas or Academys buckets are not the most relaxing builds.

Glad I can inspire, I hope the pics will be useful :-)

Added some more pics to my post above, had completely forgotten to post pics of the more or less completed (unpainted) model and base paint/decal stage.

Thanks for the additional photos! I like how you document each stage of the build... I think this would make a very interesting feature article for Armorama. Hint, hint!

Mario

Thanks for the "hint" Mario. :-)

Sure, I'd be happy to do that once I'm done.

Looking very good as usual Sven, can't wait to see it finish...
Alltid lika roligt att se dina modeller!

Stort tack, Roger!

Much appreciated. Will you be at 08 Open in two weeks? Then you can see it live.

Hello Sven, no i will not go to 08 Open but maybe you will be in Göteborg later this year... Otherwise i assume we will see it here also or at Ipms stockholm forum...

Hi Roger,

I plan to come to Gothenburg this year as well, so I'll see you there instead :-)

I will post the latest pics here in a few minutes, getting close to the finish line now, finally!