Some more progress today. AMU brush guards on Australian M113A1 were a bit beefier than the standard, using flat stock section twisted, then bent into shape, before being welded in position. The results were somewhat agricultural - thankfully. As such, I rate my efforts as broadly representative.







More tomorrow - may even finish the roof!

Made a start on the driver's hatch. By the time I inherited 'my' car, a series of stolen APC rampage incidents (http://m.imgur.com/gallery/11iTk69) had led to a 'spider' lock being installed in place of the hatch-mounted driver's night viewer. I'll add the lock cover, hasp, & hold open next.



Almost all of the hull roof fittings are now complete & fitted. The 'cut' edge of the driver's hatch can be seen here. Still need to finish the hinges.



Away for the next week, so things will slow down.

Just a quick shot of the stock roof of the kit. Done quite a bit of work on this, it seems.

Hi Greg
You have been busy. Had wondered why the Oz ones had the spider locks, now I know. Don't recall theft of APC's being an issue in NZ - having most of them at Waiouru probably put paid to that notion.

Mal

Hey Mal,

Yeah, there were a few, if I recall correctly. One wound up on the Sydney harbour bridge with the thief suck-starting a shotgun. Crazy. Probably my ARN, knowing my luck!

Greg

Sometimes work helps out with gathering references...







Should help the CAD for 3D printing.

Cool. Are those the Diehl tracks? Pads are much thicker & different shape from what I'm familiar with.

Mal

Mal, they're Diehl 513D. We used B or C, but there's no difference with the pads. They are way thicker than T130 & E1.

Well, doesn't primer make a world of difference?



Time to finish the driver's hatch and move on to the hull rear & glacis.

Not sure about the tan....

Hi Greg
Looks good, perhaps a touch of white in the brown to fade it a bit?

Mal

Was a 1 BDE HQ (104 Sig) ACV named Conan. The Sig that stole it was the actual Driver of the vehicle. I was on Guard at 2 CAV that night and we had Bde HQ in a tizzy demanding we chaeck our compounds for a stolen Vehicle (Same for 8/12. 1 CEr and 5/7). They would not accept it was not one of ours. We had to supply an AT team with two 84's and Ammo at very short notice for a Chopper ride courtesy of 161 as the police had nothing that would stop it then.
Very unsavoury ending as the driver had severe Mental health issues and the police "Hero" cracked the Drivers lid slightly stuck his handgun in and emptied the weapon into the driver. No one was at risk at that stage as there were two AT teams sitting on the offramps. The other thefts were one from 10 LH in perth and two from 1/15 at (Then) Kingswood
Al

Thanks Al, always great to get a first-hand account. Sounds like it was handled badly by the police. Wonder what the orders for opening fire were for the 84 teams.

Mal,

Apparently adding flesh to the 30219 helps lighten the tone a bit.

Greg

The CAD guy (thanks Matt) really took advantage of the great references I was able to collect to refine the CAD:



I've done more work on the driver's hatch cover and refined the tone of the FS30129 tan. Adding 'flesh' toned paint has certainly improved the look:



Only some minor fittings to go & the roof can be set aside to concentrate on the hull.

Focus this week is getting the turret mold-ready, so it can be cast while I'm travelling for work. So, sealing up openings, adding detail, & generally refining things.

So that I can add the vision blocks, I painted the turret interior with Tamiya XF-71 Cockpit Green. As the commander's hatch cover will be closed, the colour, coupled with the semi-opaque CD case plastic vision blocks, will be sufficient for my purposes of a curb side M113.

As expected, adding the turret vision blocks that I'd cut earlier from a CD case to pre-cut holes in the turret sides set at a 60 degree angle wasn't fun, nor tidy.

Now that they're basically fitted, the turret structure is sealed, ready for a mold to be taken. Still need to detail the sealant, weld runs, & vision block bolts, but it's definitely on the downhill. Primer, then in the mail to get a resin copy for a future build.



Mantlet rework to follow.

Sadly, wasn't able to get the turret finished & in the mail before heading out of town for work (anyone in Long Beach or DC & can recommend places of interest, please mention it).

That said, 'my' CAD guy, Matt, finished up the Diehl 513 and put it up on shapeways. The three links & eight connectors are being printed as we speak, with long task of casting in resin currently being negotiated.



Any ideas on number of track links per side on a M113A1, when fitted with Diehl?

Did you figure out track count?

Those tracks looks good. Your CAD guy knows what he's doing. As for places of interest, you should stop in at Smithsonian museum while in DC. You won't regrat it. In fact, all of the museums there are worth a visit.

Well, after some time in the US, Japan, & Indonesia for work, minor progress has been made on 31.

Thought I'd add a splash of colour to see what things look like. Neither the camouflage pattern nor the colours are 100%, but they are good for project morale.



Comments welcome.

Some expressed concerns over the fidelity of the colours used, specifically the tan (FS30219 out of the tin). I used the early morning light that better captures what it looks like IRL:

[URL=http://smg.photobucket.com/user/gregoryknowles2001/media/6A3E72D4-3DD6-4ED0-A798-9760B2DD46A6_zpsxfme0tfr.jpg.html]/URL]

Haven't had any bench time for the last month or so....but found an hour to throw together the Christian's new stretched M113 that I'll build as an AS4.

It's pictured here next to 'my' A1, ARN134329. I'm hoping to discover whether 329 was reborn as an AS4. The black disk is the base of the 'Tennix turret'.

Just wondering how this is progressing?
If it's not - perhaps this might be inspirational?
- https://www.rctankwarfare.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=24115 -

Mal

Barely - the turret is out for casting, though I didn’t build it with casting in mind, so there’s some figuring on how to get that done.

Cool, glad it's still going.
Interesting thing, when I accessed this from home the pictures were visible, but now the photo bucket problem strikes?

Mal