A few more progress pics

Looks great Chris! There is one thing I noticed, the left side looks weathered with a nice wash, but the right top side looks kinda bare. If I were you, I would put some wash on where the side and top armor plates meet. It looks great, can't wait to see it finished

Wow that is awesome. Which kit is that, or should I say what is scratch built?

That looks cool. Setting that up on a base or dio?

Looks great Chris

RedButcher your Sigs HUGE could you please resize it

Looks real good. The only thing I would sugest at this point is some black paint in the barrel of the recoiless rifle.

That's really coming along Chris. Looking very good indeed.

Thanks for the compliments.

Scubaboy- Teh wash is still a work in progress, thats one of the things I probally do different than most. I sort of do some here and there and where ever I see something while I am doing something else.

Thundergod- It is the Academy M113 A1 Vietnam version kit. Pretty nice kit. Biggest problem I have seen are the pin marks. Some of those are pretty deep and in real pain places to fill and sand them. Such as inside hatches and such. Not to much scratchbuilt stuff as yet. I did put a letter inside on one of the seats and am still planning in some sandbags here and ther on top along with a couple of other things.

Redbutcher- I am planning on putting it on a base. Hopefully will get started on that tommorow. Still rolling around an idea or two for it.

Derek- Good point on that barrel. Will have to remedy that. Would have been easier before I had mounted it though of coarse.

I tried to get a shot of the interior but it came out fuzzy. Will see if I can work on that some and get a good one. I dirtied it up real nice and got stuff stashed all over the place. Definalty one of the high points of this kit is the amount of extras you get with it. Probally will have plenty for the spares box left over.

Looks awsome Chris. I'm very impressed. I think only you know how far you want to take it so the rest is up to you. I'm sure it will be very well done as usual.

sO IT COMES WITH THAT ANTI TANK GUN?

Yes it comes with the recoiless gun.

Just discovered a major flaw with the kit. Not as major as it could be but still. Seems the vinyal tracks are too short. Not short as in being so tight that they would be hard to connect, I'm talking to short to even bring the two ends together. The only up side is that it does come with the option of indis or vinyal, so at least it can still have tracks. I'm just irritated cause it is getting old to find problems with a kit that should have been discovered and corrected through even the most basic quality control. That and I was really not wanting to have to use indis, but looks like I am now.

Beautiful work! I can't wait to see what the finished product looks like when it's all based up.

chris it looks fantastic. thankyou for the peek.

joe

Beautyful model!!
Top job

Looking good, as usual, Chris.

Does the Academy kit come with offset suspension arms? On the real M113, the track is one link longer on one side than the other 'cause the wheels are offset to allow for the torsion bars to be side by side. (Tamiya still uses their old hull where the wheels are in line as if the torsion bars meet in the middle of the hull.) If so, then maybe you have different length tracks and are trying to put the short one on the wrong side - just a thought.

One thing I noticed from the pics was the exhaust pipe. Unless the kit comes with an extension piece that runs down the side of the hull (like the Israeli's used) you might want to drill/carve out the opening a bit more.

Are those ejector pin marks on the back of the .50 cal shield in the 2nd pic and the commanders hatch in the 4th pic? Knowing you, you probably intend to hang something over them anyway .....but I couldn't resist saying something.

Coming along nicely Chris !!!!!!

Looks great so far, LQ2. You may need a coconut tree beside that when finished. It is Vietname Era isn't it?

Thanks again guys.

Peter- I did not know that about the offsets. I checked but they still do not work on opposite sides. Looking at the road wheels though fromt he bottom , they do appear to e a bit off set.
I will definatly thin out that exhaust some more. As far as I have noticed there is no extension but if that is something that would make it a bit more accurate, it would be easy enough to make one out of some tubeing. Know of any pics of it? Yup those are some of those pin marks. And yes you are right, I will probally hang something over them. ( I'm not that obvious with my builds and hiding stuff am I?)

Dwight- It is Vietnam era. Allthough I don't think i know what a coconut tree looks like. Now a pecan tree, that I know.

QUOTE: Originally posted by lizardqing2 Dwight- It is Vietnam era. Allthough I don't think i know what a coconut tree looks like. Now a pecan tree, that I know.

Anyway, if you are planning a dio then coconuts are a good addition because plenty of them in Vietnam. I uploaded a couple of pics at Ron's last year. Maybe it is still there. Or we can have a Coconut group build if you want, too. LOL.

Looking great Chris. Any chance of getting a pic looking inside the rear. Like to see all the detail in the back there.

Chris,

Here's the thread where I posted the coconut pics. Scroll to the middle of the thread.

http://www.finescale.com/fsm/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=11066

Great build , Chris....That is one detailed kit. Your finished product will be another masterpiece!

Regards, Dan

Tigerman- Here's your pic you requested. It's the last one I took before putting the roof on it. Did some additional dirtying and wash before I did, but of coarse did not think of a pic until after i glued the roof on.



Dwight- That tree definalty looks do able. Looks like some feathers could be used for the leaves pretty convincingly. The pic of the trunk did not show up, any chance you still have one so I can see what it looks like? A cocnut group build. That could fit in here, It is sort of natures definition of armor right?

Dan- Thanks for the compliment, but next masterpiece? I'm still waiting to do my first!

WHOA, that is COOL! And a very nice build-up too. Gotta get me one a those!!!

Chris,

I'll check my files if I still have the picture of the trunk.

Chris,

This 113 brings back memories, (some not so pleasant). Like taking some of that hardware off the top so grunts can ride up there.....you know, so the RPG's can pass through? - Seriously, looks very good. Don't forget to paint those hatch seals buddy!. I don't recall seeing any US 113's with a mounted 105 recoiless. I did see one at Cu Chi fire base, but it was ARVN. They used the recoiless until late in the war. The particular one I saw was painted in the old 60's era "motor pool green", the big white star insignia was sprayed over with OD. How are you planning on painting your's?

Steve

Steve

I painted it a faded OD. Might not be 100% accurate , but thats the look I tend to like . hatch selas huh. I take it those would be around the inside of the hatch where it meets the body. Just a WAG , but would they tend to be balck?

Looks good Chris. The beauty is in the details. Can't wait to see the finished piece.

great work Chris,i have been working on my m113a2 for a while, just about finished.

gdarwin[roy]