SPA Modeler

Yes, it's another completion for me, and it's an AFV This is the Revell Germany boxing of the Italeri 1/35 M113 which I built in the guise of Army Republic of Vietnam as would have appeared during the battle of Ap Bac on January 2, 1963 while assigned to 4th Mechanized Squadron, 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment. The kit was mostly built OOB, although I did replace the kit's .50 with a better one from the Academy US Machine Gun set, as well as add a tripod mounted .30 cal. from that set, and several other WWII/Korean War vintage weapons inside the track (M1 Garands, M2 Carbine BAR, M18 57mm Recoilless Rifle). I also added mesh screens where appropriate to the engine deck, stowage to the interior and more detail in the drivers compartment, as well as replacing the pioneer tools and jerry cans with better ones from my spares bin.


Thanks for looking.

Comments and critiques are welcome.

Man, what a well weathered and armed softskin! I admire your knowledge on those vehicles and the units they used them.

What I immediately noticed is the empty hole in the hatch. I guess the kit did not provide any, how do you say, periscopes?
You made an impressive job on the dusty appearance! I dig you representation of dried and wet dust on the hull!

Thank you Thomas. Yes, the basic kit was kind of Spartan on the interior, so I did add some periscopes for the Driver and Track Commander, as well as other details like a radio, instrument panel, and some other odds & ends inside. You can't see that stuff in there photos, but in others during the assembly it's all there. I will pull a few of those up for here later on.

Talk about taking me back to my youth. I built that type AFV kit back then. Didn't think they still made them. Love the weathering and detail. Well done!

Wow, that is a stunner.

Only a few weeks ago I drove a "M113 Random on Random Curve" according MIL-STD-810 (US testing standard) on our electromagnetic shaker. It's still a standard vibration curve for new military equipment that's made for armored personnel carriers, and we're talking about a 55-year period!

Well done, Stik. Looks dusty like it should!

Thanks for the compliments guys! I am happy to hear that it meets with your approval.

Here are a few shots of what you can see on the inside thru various open hatches.













and this is the interior before I closed it all up... it is pretty much all visible thru the open hatches













and there you have it... thanks for looking... again

Nice interior! I like all those stencils and warning signs! These all came with the kit?

No those are actually from an older build of an Academy M113 that I did not use them on.

Great work as always Stik, the more I look at the armor pieces that are being built, the more I tell myself to go out and buy a good quality armor kit and give it a go. My only experience so far with armor was a 1/35 Trumpeter Korean Tank that my-then-8 year old son wanted. It turned out to be a total turd!!!! I'll have to get some pics added of it, in my opinion, it didnt turn out too bad for my first armor piece; however, I didnt even bother with weathering or anything like that.