SPA Modeler

This is far enough along, that it may be safe to post about it. . . This has been fun to do, thus far. Good old plastic band tracks, Ancient decals which surprisingly have held together long enough to apply to the interior so far! Not much left to do but assemble the hull, add the road wheels, etc.















I don't build a lot of armor. Little or none with interiors. So, this was something new for me. This is a pretty typical Tamiya kit, even as old as it is. The top is removable and seems to fit pretty well.



















The external stuff wasn't too challenging..yet.









Yes, something broke. The rear gate went on perfectly. Then it fell open and one of the pins on the hinge broke off.



this was one iterationl..didn't work as there was not enough left to get a good bite.



What the kit looked like.



What I finally tried and looks like it will work is this. Took a piece of .060" sheet, drilled a hole first so it would not burst the sides, then sawed it to size. I then cut a notch in the gate so there was something to hold it in place. I think this will work. Done and painted.







This hinge piece on the top hatch....it was there. When I pushed it into place to glue it, POOF....it was gone. So, made one from styrene strip. A bit large, but it works.

Looking good, Lyle. Looks good to me on replacent hinge.

Thanks, Tom. So far so good on the hinge!

Ah, a classic golden oldie Tamiya 113! You can’t go wrong with this one! Just a tidbit of info for you on painting- the inner surfaces of the hatches should be OD, or Dark Green, or whatever exterior color you’re using, not white. Those were never white on operational tracks. Otherwise, you’re doing great so far! Enjoy!



Panama, 1989. The bright item on the cargo hatch is a cloth panel for air recognition.

Thanks, Stick. Fixing the hatch color is easy…are you in this picture?

Look at you go, Lyle! Your scratch-built replacement parts look great and kudos to you for tackling them with aplomb! I have the Vietnam version of this Tamiya 113 in my stash and want to build it in tribute to my cousin Thomas who commanded one in Vietnam, circa '68-'69 in the Iron Triangle. Looking forward to your next update!

LyleW wrote: ↑Fri Mar 15, 2024 10:01 am Thanks, Stick. Fixing the hatch color is easy…are you in this picture?

I wish. It is my old Battalion, 4/6 Infantry, “The Regulars” but after I left… they led the ground assault on the Commandancia during Just Cause.

Gary Brantley wrote: ↑Fri Mar 15, 2024 1:40 pm Look at you go, Lyle! Your scratch-built replacement parts look great and kudos to you for tackling them with aplomb! I have the Vietnam version of this Tamiya 113 in my stash and want to build it in tribute to my cousin Thomas who commanded one in Vietnam, circa '68-'69 in the Iron Triangle. Looking forward to your next update!

Aplomb? H’ai t heard that in quite some time. Thank you.

Great progress Lyle! I thought Carlos was the guy in the top right giving the thumbs up.

Could be. I had him in one of the chairs.