I've wanted to have an M114 in my collection for some time, but I didn't want to spend $100+ on an Accurate Armor kit and I'm not confident enough in my skills to properly build the road wheels and tracks. So I said to myself, "Self. What if the M114 design was built by FMC instead of Chrysler? What if they stuck to the same overall appearance, but used M113 components and details?"
This allows me some leeway in thinking that it might have actually worked like it was supposed to and could be built into different variants. So I went in to this project with the final goal to cast several bodies to make early, mid and and late versions.
Starting with the Academy hull, I cut 17mm from the length, 5mm from the width and 7mm from the height. To readjust the road wheel spacing, the third road wheel station was cut out completely and the fourth moved forward by 5mm. The frontal hull angle was made less steep while the lower bow was heightened.






The interior was reinforced with .015 styrene sheet and the rear hull designed with the M113 ramp door in mind.




The roof was cut from various thicknesses of plastic sheet. The detail comes from shaving some from the M113 kit, photo etch and scratch built components.






I designed it to use as many detail parts from any Academy M113 kit; engine hatches, cupola, suspension system, etc.



That's about a weeks worth of work so far and I still have some detailing left to do before it takes a rubber bath. Its been a relatively straightforward and laid back conversion. I've really enjoyed the process of this build; thinking that instead of the C&R design, FMC would stick to the M113 style and detailing. Not how it ended up, obviously, but a nice diversion nevertheless.

Brian

Brian-- you are doing a fine job on what has to be the worst vehicle ever created by man....keep up the good work
DJ

Wow, great scratchbuilding skills! Looking forward to seeing how this turns out.

Got some more work done on the wee beastie. First up, the front fording board and its hinges were built and detailed.









I also started to work on a rudimentary interior. I cut up the floor from a junked Tamiya M113 and used the engine access bulkheads as patterns to make new ones.











The fuel tank also got shortened and shaped. Kinda looks like a drink cooler.









There is still a lot of detailing to do on these parts, but they are coming along nicely.

Brian

Very nice work! The redeeming quality of the 114 is that they make for good targets

Impressive, that's looking really good.

So I poured some rubber and got a couple of parts cast. Unfortunately, I ran out of RTV and my local supplier is out as well so I have to wait to pour the rest.







What I've got so far isn't the best, but then again, I don't have access to pressure pots and other fancy equipment, so its serviceable for my needs. Hopefully I can get more rubber soon and can pour the other half of the hull and roof.

So I finally got some more RTV rubber. Hooray! Now I can pour the other half of my molds. Fast forward two days and everything has set. I have some difficulty demolding the master patterns, but nothing that cant be mended. I pour the resin, taking care to brush it into the nooks and crannies, place the two mold halves together and wait for things to harden.
Nervous with anticipation, I begin to take out the new part. This is what I've waited for, weeks of work culminating in one glorious moment!



Huh.
Ok, ok, not quite what I wanted.
But then, the first casting is always the worst as that's the one you use to tweak the subsequent castings.
Problem. This is my mold after that first part.



Yes, I had to tear it apart to get to my crappy first casting. It seems that my ambition has far outstripped my ability. I probably should have gone the "early Verlinden, solid hulled armor kit" casting route instead of trying to get all fancy.
However, its not a total waste. Any time you can learn something is time (and money) well spent. I've got a broad idea where I went wrong, and while I wont go the hollow hull route the second time, I can apply the knowledge from this to make my next molds better and easier to use. On to 2.0!

Brian

Brian,

Old M114 one of my personal favorites...

That is some sweet scratch work. Looks very believable.
Too bad about molds.
Keep it the good work, really looking forward to following this one.

What did you use to mix those large amounts of silicone and resin? And how did you mold the top half? Poured the silicone and pushed the top half in?