M113A1 NASA Rescue "Complete & Mounted"

Jadgpanther & Gino - Thanks for looking and for your comments.

Rounds Complete!!

Mike - Thanks for the info and for looking.

Rounds Complete!!

Just thought I'd pipe in on the rusty tracks.  The 113 series of vehicles have tracks that come in, believe it or not, bare metal.  They have bolt-on track pads, so that they can be changed when worn without changing the entire track.  Most of the other vehicles (post-WWII) are metal tracks with incorporated pads.  The entire track piece is encapsulated in the rubber compound.  The end caps (the part that hold the track links together) are bare metal, and therefore show less rust.

Also, the military uses their tracked vehicles alot more, and some of the rubber from the road wheels ends up as a layer on the track shoes (the idividual links), and thus appear to be less rusty.  And even though the military uses their stuff more, the tracks still get VERY rusty in short order.  That is where the majority of the "squeak" comes from when they move.  The track isn't messed up just because it is rusted, but if the bushings, pins, and related parts are worn out.  (A MBT with pads that are worn out DO need replaced, as that's the only way to replace the pads.  113's, Bradleys and the like that have bolt-on pads tend to need to replace the track less often, since the pads go first.)

At least, that's the way it was when I was in, and the 113 didn't change much up to that point...can't see it being changed in the last 15 years.

Michael 

Jester & Modelfreaks - Thank you for looking and I appreciate your comments.

Rounds Complete!!

WOW thats a new paint scheme. I like it, very interesting. Nice painting and weathering. It looks great!

-Brandon

Kevin - Coming from you I am again humbled. I thought it would give the old bucket a new look. Glad you liked the ground work. The stone paint does a nice job as concrete.

Thanks for looking and for your comments.

Terry - Thanks for looking and for your comments. As most people know here....I tend to go for the different.

Thanks for the comments.

Rounds Complete!!

Thats brilliant, great choice of vehicle, well I mean one that is not going to pop up too often.

The ground work is superb.

Terry.

I too am in awe over this build Mike. Your mastery of the paint mix, home made decals and attention to detail all the way down to the base that it now sits on is really beyond any words that I can come up with right now. A wonderful and colorful build to this old bucket kit and certainly one that is being and will be enjoyed by many.

I know that over the years, some have talked about doing this version and fans of the 113 have dreamed of having this in their collections but none have ever made it to this point. You have made a lot of us very happy!

A virtual hand shake out to you Mike! Please continue to surprise (and awe!) us in the future!

DM & Bill - Thanks for looking and for your comments

Rounds Complete!! 

MUCH better redleg!

Lookin' to yer next project.

Karl - "Shucks...I'm speachless"...Thanks for the comments. I know on the figure....well, I tried.

As far as marketing the decals....I did not get in this to make money...but....if any of my friends here want to make a set for themselves...fell free to PM me. (Hummm, maybe give Archer a call)

Thanks for all your help

Sfcmac - Thanks for looking and your comments.

Rounds Complete!!

Mike, this is seriously one of my favorite builds I've seen here! So unique and different! VERY cool!

The wheels look great! And the base is perfectly done. It would reallly help to put a figure in there if you could find one suitable to the scene?

Man; you really SHOULD market those decals! What a great option for such a common, and old, kit!

All

Here is the completed and mounted NASA M113. The last few things done to the model were on the road wheels (thanks Karl for forcing me to look). It appeared the wheels had a green hue from their old OD color and the lug nuts had a steel look. I washed the wheel hubs with a green wash, then dry bushed steel onto the lug nuts and lastly gave the nuts and hub a raw sienna wash to give a more rust look on some details. I also added a small fuel stain on the fuel fill area.

The base is simple....I drew lines on a "scale 12' x 12' to be the concrete expansion joints. Then painted Tamiya Flat black and after drying used 1/32" striping tape to mask the lines for the expansion joints. Now for the fun....I used Valspar Stone paint in Santa Fe Sand to paint the base. This is sold in Michael's and gives a cool pebble look stone finish.

To get it closer to a concrete color it was washed twice with a grey wash and then with a wash of white and yellow oxide.

That's it....you see it complete.

Thank you all for looking and you comments. Thank you for the nits Karl....no nit is to small nor am I too big for a nit. Thanks Hans & Manny trying to help me out with some figs.

Before I head to the next project, the AFV M1128 MGS, I will spend a little time putting together some sheets for the equipment used in an artillery fire direction center for and FDC dio. I will try to post so you can see what I am talking about...(Hans....it's coming).

Again and as always......Thank you all

Rounds Complete!!

EOM...(End of Mission)

SMJ - Thanks for stopping in and your comments.

Everything is decals which I produced. The white stripes, patches rescue logo and numbers. Getting big long straight decals on are as much of a and airbrush. The stripes on the front and back have the patches on the stripe so I only had one decal to lay down. All the decals were done from scratch.

DM - My man....OK, except the wheels. See my next post and hopefully I addressed it.

Thanks again to all.

Rounds Complete!!

 After all is said and done, there isn't much left that I can add. When compared to the picture, (except for the wheels) they both look identical. This is so very well done! I really don't see someone else doing this exact same model and pulling off such a success as you have.

redleg12: I'm glad I had a chance to surf back a few pages in armor or I would have missed this one!  I can't say I'm too hip on this era or type of vehicle...I never even realized this type of armor would be used by NASA. 

I do enjoy viewing a fine build though! Looks like some pain-staking work both inside and out, really well executed my friend!  Cool color scheme too...since I haven't followed along (sorry.. ) clue me in on those white stripes...ALL decals or masked and airbushed?  Either way that's tough to do...nice job!

Manny - First, I am truly humbled to hear the term master from someone by you as a comment to one of my build. You who I consider one of the masters of a dio and especilly figs, I don't know what to say except thank you.

The decals are the product of an engineer with computer skills and some (I think) modeling ability. I will be putting some things togeather for my artillery friends and will try to put it up here as a tutorial. Yes, software helps but there are easy of cheap software (or free) you can use. Like modelling it requires expermentation.

Again, all I can say is thank you.

As for the girl.....hummmm. It might be nice but what the astronauts have on is more of a jump suit, similar to a tankers jump suit only in dark blue. The flight suit would require a lot of "stuff" to remove. But....I appreciate the help.

I will try to make the move into some figs. I have to get over the fear of the unknown and the fear of crappy figs detracting from a good build. I'll be there soon.

This one, as I said above, is so different I think it can stand alone (sorry Doog).

Thanks Manny

I'll be back soon with final mounted pics. Thanks to all who have looked and/or commented.

Rounds Complete!!

Wow, really stunning work...any modeler who makes his/her own decals/markings is a "Master" in my book...I gotta say, I believe the roadwheels are the same color as the chassis to my eye and that the shadowing makes them appear darker...here is a "rider" for you:

She is a Legend's female fighter pilot in 35th...

Phil - Thanks for looking and thanks for the idea. If they have them in 1/35....maybe!!

sfcmac - Yep the 113 tracks just seemed to rust more than others....maybe it just shows more. Thanks for looking and your comments.

Hans - I agree and I looked at some tank figures in jump suit....so far I did not find anything I liked. This is such a different build, I may not want figures to detract the "what da" factor from the 113. Thanks for looking and for your comments

Rounds Complete!!

Phil_H wrote:

I don't know how adaptable they may or may not be, but Legend does some 1/35 female pilots in US Navy flight gear.

That, but also, if you don't care about gender and don't wanna sand off a bunch of Aviation LSE there are bound to be figures out there in uniforms that are fairly easy to convert to flightsuits...

Karl - I'm sure these 113s never get the use the Army 113s get. They most likely sit in a motor pool and come out once a month for a quick spin and PM.

Also we have to remember that KSC is in Florida near the ocean. All the salt in the air and the high humidity have to help promote rust.

I thought the same way as you. When I looked at the pics hung on the wall over the bench, I went for the full rust job.

Well.....I off to wash the roadwheels.

Rounds Complete!!

WOW, Mike, I swear to you, I never would have believed that if I hadnt seen it!! I'm sincerely blown away that there is SO MUCH rust on there!

Well, I was wrong!

Thanks for posting that!

Still looks great! 

Boy, I think you could probably modify some figs to get those suits? Maybe some of the more modern figure sets?