Ok, I've decided to wander off into unknow territory; I'm gonna try to build an M113A2 serving in OIF. I have never built any modern stuff. I've done some research and I really like the look of all the equipment that hangs all over the vehicles.

Here's something I need help with: what about the sand skirts on the side? Do they remain on in the desert?

Besides the google "m113 in iraq" results, are there any other good sites with photos? Thanks in advance for the help.

Patrick

The Tamiya kit is a bit of a misnomer. Basically, the rule of thumb in US use, if it has rear fuel cells, it is most likely an M113A3. Without fuel cells, it is normally an M113A2 vehicle. There are a few exceptions like the M981 FIST-V and M1064 120mm carrier, both of which have external fuel cells but are based on the M113A2 chassis.

The rubber skirts are to assist during amphibious use. Sometimes they are removed when the unit goes to the field because of mud build up. They may help keep dust down in a desert environment. I guess you could go either way during OIF.

you can get away with leaving the skirts on or off. If you remove them, one thing ive noticed is the crews leave the front part still bolted on becuase it has a step cut out on it, so thats the metal bits at the end of the skirt.

Try frappr and corbis for images, type in things like M113+OIF, or iraq etc

[quote]Ok, I've decided to wander off into unknow territory; I'm gonna try to build an M113A2 serving in OIF. I have never built any modern stuff.

Oh my, have we progressed through the years! Referring to an M113A2 as "modern stuff"! When I ETS'd from active duty, it was indeed modern, especially considering the M106 mortar carriers in the CSC were still gasoline-powered!

Happy New Year to all of the Armorama crew, whatever your age!

Jim Peterson

You can have a look at Don Busack's Primeportal website :
http://www.primeportal.net/
You'll find a lot of OIF M113-related stuff there...

HTH

Frenchy

I guess an M113 isn't really modern; but it's a lot more modern than the suff I usually build. :-)

Thanks for the help guys, and Happy New Year to all!

Patrick

Patrick,you might find this site to be of some use to you

http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/m113.htm

If that site is not of use there are some good links at eh bottom of the page so hopefully there will be something there that can be of help. If you have some spare cash you could invest in the Concord book Thunder Run- US 3rd Infantry Divisons Drive to Barhdad which has some usful photos.

Regards from the Swamp

Eth

If your going to build an A2 or A3, I would reccomend the Academy kit. It has way more details then the Tamiya kit. I had bought the Tamiya kit to build and an Academy kit off of Ebay to steal the interior out of, and as I was looking through both kits, I noticed there are a lot more details in the Academy kit. If your building the A3 varient, and are going to do the interior as well, youre going to have to scratch build some spall liners for the interior sides. You can take a look at robs motor pool on here for some detailed pictures of the spall liners. I would also reccomend a PE set, as it will add a lot of little details to either kit to really make it look realistic. as it stands, the one I am working on now is about a half Academy half tamiya kit with Eduard PE, and scratch built spall liners. im not finished with it yet or else I would post some pictures, but it is a lot of work to build it accurate. As far as the side skirts are concerned, I have noticed A3's with them both on or off. Its up to you. Dont forget to drill out the mounting holes in the side if youre going to leave them off. The Academy kit already has these holes drilled, but the Tamiya doesnt. As Rob stated, the guys who remove the side skirts generally leave on the front metal part due to the step. At least those are my observations. good luck, and have fun!

Gary--do you know how to access Rob's motor pool? I can't seem to find a link to it around here.

As for Tamiya's OIF M113, what do you think of the new parts they included in the kit? Are they any good?

Hey Lucas, the new parts in the Tamiya kit are just their modern US equipment set. The best M113 kit on the market is the Academy M113, although they do not do a Iraq version, but it would not be to hard to convert one of their M113's to Iraq specification

Regards from the Swamp

Eth

By the time OEF/OIF rolled around, with few exceptions all M113 family vehicles were of the A3 variety (there may have been some Guard or Reserve units with A2's but I don't recall seeing any). This includes the M1064A3 Mortar Carriers, which are quite different from the older 1064, mounting an Israeli derived 120mm tube and completely redesigned interior. Even the M577 command post variety was up to A3 standard by then. The FISTV is the only chassis I have NOT seen an A3 version of with my own eyes but that doesn't mean it hadn't been upgraded.

As far as the track dust shields, it's your own discretion as to whether to leave them on or dismount them. We would often removed them to ease suspension maintenance, plus we would often have to remove them during shipping over ocean and just not re-mount them in-theatre (I still have no idea why the loading masters in the US or in Kuwait wanted the shields removed...).

And Patrick, while the ol' 113 may not technically be "modern" anymore, the A3 is still a great little machine. When they are in top-notch condition they're like a little hotrod-I've hit 60mph in a fresh 1064A3 on the tank trails in Grafenwohr Germany (don't tell range control...) and the Brads and Abrams lose drag races to the little box all the time.

If compared to their previous M113 kits, there's a new "E" sprue that includes all the parts to turn a A1/A2 into a quite convincing "A3" (externally at least ) like the external fuel tanks or the modified trim vane. It also includes new side skirts and exhaust . IMHO these fuel tanks are better than those that can be found in some Academy M113 kits... If you decide to build a A3, you'll have to add the missing add-on armor plates on the front slope. However that may be, some Academy+Tamiya kitbashing is the way to go.

Frenchy