Ok enough of me criticising other peoples model, time to be on the receiving end once again.

Just completed the M113A2 that i constantly go on about. Here are some results to go with all the talking ive been doing. This may not be the best model created but i still would like to say thanks to Frenchy, GreyHunter and Gino for the reference tips and ongoing tips.

This kit is practically OOTB and was first constructed to about 80% before i sprayed it with too much yellow until it became a taxi. Subsequent coats lightened it back to what you see now. A combination of dry brushing and pigment powder went into the weathering process. I didnt want this model to be caked up with mud as most of the reference photos i got showed the APC as mainly being somewhat dusty but still relatively clean.

I am my most harshest critic and to kick things off, i feel my biggest let down is my lack of skill in painting figures. I have purchased the Osprey book on how to paint military figures so i am making attempts to master that skill.

Frontal View



Rear View


MG Gunner


The only things left to do on this:
- Weather the ammo boxes and sleeping bags with some dry brushing
- Figure out how to define the figures eyes a bit more without looking like its been punched in both eyes.

I might venture into making a diorama with this but i need to master my figure painting first.

Standard Operating Procedures....comments and criticisms welcome.

Looks good. One thing that sticks out to me is the driver's hatch. It should lay flat down and the real hatch locks into that position so it does not accidentily come loose and knock the driver's head and kill or injure him.

Hi, Jeremy
Looks like a nice, clean build. And that is my first thing to comment. It looks to clean. I command a Nor version of the 577, and even in Norway where we don't have much dust and dirt the damn thing need a proper wash after a day in the fields.
Further on I would have tried a gloss coat on the head lights to simulate glass. Also the periscops look too "silverish" for me. In real life they look much more black. I'm not a rivet counter so the rest of your M113 looks pretty good to me. Maybe a dullcoat on the figures? It might be the light but they look a bit glossy on the pictures. I hope I was not to hard in my critics, because I'm not sure if I am able to build a better model myself :-) .

Edit: And the drivers hatch! That is a serious mistake, and must be corrected.

Cheers
Erik

For me, it´s very good, i´ve the same problems painting figures, so we gotta keep doing it until we make it right. Only one thing looks odd to me, the towing cable in the rear ramp it´s almost fully yellow. But i´m not an expert yet, so it´s your call.
regards

First off, congrats on at least completing something. Now for the comments...
Sabot already mentioned the drivers hatch....
The periscopes were already mentioned. Black and a nice gloss coat will look great.
On the TC's and Drivers hatch are two very prominent knock out marks. These need to be filled or sanded out.
There are some serious seam lines/ mold parting lines on all of the stowed gear. That and they look very shiny.
The spare track shoes on the front slope should be black or a dark rust. Black is how they look new, and the rust for ones that have seen some use.
Lastly, all the stowage seems to be magically attached to the side and front of the track. They would need some sort of rope or strap to attach to as there are no tie downs where they are located. Thats an easy enough fix though. Maybe some rope for the stuff up top as well to prevent it from falling off during operation.

Hope I wasn't too harsh on you Just trying to give you what I see. Overall a nice clean build. I especially like the weathering on your tracks. As to the figures, give it time and practice, practice, practice. Even Bill Horan didn't become a master overnight! Thanks for sharing your work. "Q"

Thanks for the useful comments so far guys. I will see what i can do with the driver hatch since its cemented in place.

I will try to dirty it a bit more with pigment powder as well.




Yeah i contemplated scratching up something so that it would be appear to be fully strapped but i risk having a mismatch with the straps that comes with the stowage.

As for the spare tracks, i initially had them painted flat black but after checking a few reference photos, the dust settles on it quite abit and turns it somewhat dusty which was the effect i was trying to achieve. Perhaps i should try darkening it back a little.

These are good comments and would certainly help me improve. Keep it coming!

Looks pretty good. Most of the things I see have alraedy been pointed out above. Couple others though. Tailk lights, the lower slit on them should also be black. A little gloss over the black as well, and on the headlights/IR lights (black lenses). On the figures, it looks like you just used sand and brown for the uniform camo. There is actually 3 colors in the Desert Camo Uniform (DCU). Mainly sand, large khaki-green squiggles, smaller brown shadows around the khaki-green colors.

Looks like this:

I may actually have to darken the darkish yellow that seems to have blended in on the photos. I often use Tamiya's Dark Yellow, Nato Brown and Buff in replacement of the 3 colours but the dark yellow seems to be so close to the Buff colour that it no longer stands out. Will see what i can do with that.

Will paint over the lower slits of the rear lights.

Good build Jazza,
I agree with the others about the stowage. I just cut some thin strips of paper and painted them kahki, then glued them 'under' the side stowage to simulate ratchetting straps (see pic in my gallery), I glued 'em pretty straight as if they were under tension so the weight of the rucks wouldn't pull them down too much.
One other thing, has your gunner had his thumb amputated?
Tom

Nice clean build you have there Jeremy. Other than the things mentioned I could not find anything else to nit pick. Let see how it it looks after you weatherd it a little.

A war scar was added for realism. :-) Just kidding.

No the thumb is there, just the angle in which the photo was taken made it look that way. Last i counted, all 5 fingers were there.

Im definitely going to be slapping more dust on this guy when i get back home.

Jazza,

Weather away as all AFV's are muck magnets, even I found driving up a motor way. Hope this OIF M577 pic gives you some inspiration and even better Mig Productions Iraqui Sand weathering pigment is spot on.

For the uniforms, there is a great article elsewhere on the site that will really help. If you cant get Vallejo paints as suggested, try using deck tan as the base colour instead of Dark Yellow as Tamiya suggest.

Keep up the good work and have fun with your modelling!

John

Based on the photo of the M577, the sand colour seems closer to desert yellow than light sand.

Perhaps i will try adding more light sand coloured dust. If that dont turn out, i might try desert yellow coloured dust. Thanks for the reference pic John.

you'll be surprised but this happened in my base.
an instructor was driving the 113 and a bump or something along the way caused the hatch to release and close on her.
she sustained light spinal injury but could have suffer a much more serious injury and be paralyzed.

I think the model needs shadow and highlighting. It appears too one dimensional without shadowing and highlighting. For desert colored vehicles I would use a dark brown in the recesses, and a lighter color than the base color for the highlighting. This will make a miniature look three dimensional. Natural light does not work to create realistic shadow and highlighting. I like to use oils for this process as they are very easy to control with thinner.

Some weathering beyond that would help too, as mentioned. Oils can also be used to make subtle streaking, which would look great with the boxy look of the M113.

Bob