Why on Earth would you scratchbuild an M113 in 1:35 scale?

[Guest]

Thanks, guys

[Guest]

Has it really been a month since I built anything at all …?

Since I couldn’t get into World of Warcraft tonight (160-minute queue …), I thought I’d go to my hobby room instead and finish the M113’s floor ribs. What I still needed to make as the longitudinal rib down the middle and the flat tops of all of them.

However, the torsion bars need to pass through holes in that middle rib, so I had to make them. I began with a piece of strip like I had used for the others, and drilled three holes in it with a 1.2 mm bit:

[ATTACH]400588[/ATTACH]

Actually more like two-and-a-half holes, because of course the one in the middle kept slipping to the side on all the pieces I needed After that, I connected them and cleaned up the hole using a sharp knife:

[ATTACH]400589[/ATTACH]

And cut it to length, by measuring up the distance between the transverse ribs and then making sure the hole was centred in the resulting strip:

[ATTACH]400590[/ATTACH]

This is easier than trying to make the hole in the middle of a strip you’ve already cut to length. With this method, you only need to start far enough from the end that you have an excess there.

Then I glued each into the hull as I made it, so I wouldn’t mix them up:

[ATTACH]400591[/ATTACH]

Because the original photo (see earlier in this thread) shows that most of the torsion bars were still attached to the hull sides, I figure they ripped through the longitudinal rib, and so I did much the same on the parts I had made.

With all this done, I put more plastic strip (thinner than I used for the ribs) over the top to make a T-profile out of each rib. Again, this needed bits ripped out:

[ATTACH]400592[/ATTACH]

The torsion bars are not fixed yet, but will go approximately like this, because they tore free on both sides. I suspect that happened because the engine and transmission sit over the frontmost ones, so their weight would have prevented the bars from coming along with the hull side.

[scottie3158]

Jakko,
Lovely scratch mate.

[adt70hk]

Speechless......

[Guest]

Thanks, guys

[Jim R]

Hi Jakko
That is coming on a treat. Great scratching. The tip about cutting a central hole is worth remembering.
Jim

[Guest]

Thanks, but these are the easy bits, if I’m honest. The real problem is the amount of destruction that’s not clear from the photograph I’m working from. I’m still very puzzled over things like what remains of the driver’s compartment — you can’t tell in the photo whether the wall is still there, for example, or his seat. Or what remains of the fuel tank and battery compartment, in the rear corners of the hull, and the benches along the sides. I think I’ll just have to take a stab at this, though, and just do a best guess based on what I have in terms of spare parts and what I feel like scratchbuilding

[Guest]

The engine, transmission and steering gearbox:

[ATTACH]400717[/ATTACH]

All of these are from Tamiya, because every other M113 kit with an engine has the later diesel, whereas the ARVN’s M113s had petrol engines, like Tamiya’s original kit. I had to remove the lower part of the transmission from the kit’s floor and will need to add plenty of detail to the engine, as it’s missing a lot according to photos in Hunnicutt’s Bradley. I also needed to extend the steering gearbox, because of course the engine will sit on top of the ribs I built into the floor, rather than having everything on the same level as in the original kit. I just glued some bits of 2 mm square rod underneath:

[ATTACH]400718[/ATTACH]

These purposely overhang the rear so I can file it into shape with the rest of the gearbox when the glue has set.

[Guest]

Scratchery at it best.

[grumpa]

Great "scratchery" as John says!

Jim.

[Guest]

Cheers

[Guest]

The differential housing is now finished, with an extra plate underneath to raise it to the correct height:

[ATTACH]401243[/ATTACH]

Here’s the engine and transmission with some additional details:

[ATTACH]401244[/ATTACH]

This is the distributor and spark plug leads, plus a box and a rod with handle at the rear of the engine. I have no clue what those last bits are for, but they’re probably important More stuff needs to go onto the front and left side, and more cables and things all over the engine.

[Jim R]

Hi Jakko
The way you're working on this just gets more impressive with each update. You really are going the extra mile. Looking great.
Jim

[scottie3158]

Jakko,
All looking very good.

[Guest]

The way you're working on this just gets more impressive with each update. You really are going the extra mile. Looking great.

Thanks, though I wish that I’d press the accelerator a bit more, really

All looking very good.

Thanks