Tongde M113A1 - Australian Army Vietnam 1966

[Estnische]

Thanks gents - I'm glad you are enjoying it as much as I like finding the background material.

Yeah, that minigun. Apparently that photo was taken at a demonstration trial. They abandoned it after figuring out it was too hard to keep the ammo supply going in the field.

[Estnische]

I found this little gem yesterday.



Here is the link - https://www.military-references.com/wp- ... 0_1978.pdf
There is a lot of detail inside. For quite a while now I noticed this canvas roll placed in between the engine grilles consistently on Aussie M113s.



Based on other photos of it, I guessed it held wire cutters for quick access. But the manual shows it is a debris cover for the engine grilles.



Similarly, here is an 81mm mortar carrier version. There is quite a lot going on here



The manual shows both the 81 and 107mm mortars and the three-part hatch details for anyone wanting to build it.

[Herr Dr. Professor]

Thank you for the link to the M113 resource.

[Estnische]

More details to add to the top deck, including the fuel cap.



The AHHQ fuel cap is somewhat squarer and taller.



The TD actually looks more accurate – go figure. I had salvaged it before I obliterated the top deck features. I also added a variety of fittings, antenna guards and associated bits where appropriate.



Next was the driver’s cupola. The periscopes will go in later.



Now to the commander’s position. I’m not going to use the TD version, but it is worth noting how inaccurate it is. Here you can see the front of the armour comes to just behind the centre of the driver’s hatch. Also, the bottom of the armour is nice and close to the top deck.



On the TD you can see it is further forward and much higher.



As Louis pointed out, the AHHQ commander’s hatch instructions are a little confusing. To me the pivot bar is also unnecessarily complex and weak.



I drilled out the plastic pivot points and used brass (inner) and aluminium (outer) tube instead. Here we are with it assembled.



I will do the gun and shield in the next update.

[Estnische]

As I mentioned at the beginning of the build, the Aussies made their own gun shields - many slight variations can be found in the photos of the time. The guy in the driver’s seat in the first photo below is an Australian pop star from the ‘60s who had several Top 40 hits – Normie Rowe. Normie was a conscripted National Serviceman, or ‘Nasho’, who served his two years as an M113 crewman. His story gave a public face to the long-suffering Vietnam veterans in Australia.

Being conscripted poured cold water on his career. He was discharged in 1970, by which time his recording contract had expired and his backing band had moved on. Even worse, veterans were being lambasted for participating in an unpopular war, and Rowe had been used as a pin-up boy for the Army. He ended up being treated like a pariah by the very people who had been buying his records and screaming at his concerts only a couple of years before.

In 1969 another Australian artist Ronnie Burns had a hit called ‘Smiley’, and it was later revealed the song was written about Rowe.

“Smiley, you're off to the Asian war
And we won't see you smile no more”





Images behind the gun shield are rare, but they usually show objects tucked inside the shield for quick access, such as map pouches and ammo boxes.



I started off with the AHHQ version as the base, and added the wings. I also added a map slot and spare box.



Here is the original TD 50 cal. The barrel is too short and I have never seen the carry handle used on M113s.



I did a rework using various parts from AHHQ, Aber and TD, as well as some brass sleeves to join it all together.





Here is the commander’s station mostly complete. I plan on ditching the AHHQ plastic nubs that the 50 cal pivots on and using a brass pin for final installation.

[Stormbringer]

That 50 cal is a wee work of art on its own mate

[Meter rat]

A great build, and tribute to the men who served in them.

[Estnische]

Thanks gents.

With dust having settled on Christmas, it is back into it. Time to finish the front plate fittings, including re-establishing the on/off switch.



As Louis did, I mounted LEDs inside the light fittings. I could not get white micro ones, so I went with yellow.



For anyone electrically challenged like me, here is the result of an online LED wizard that figure out the wiring after I measured the voltage from the MFU socket as 5.4v.



Here is the wiring of the lights. A little less chaotic than the TD layout.



The lower front hull had a nasty mould line that had to be filled and sanded smooth.



Now I have the power switch up front, the trim vane hinges are going to get a work out. I reasoned that those tiny AHHQ hinge nubs are just going to snap at some stage, so I decided to adapt the TD hinges for durability. It took several attempts to get the alignment right, and the hinges now have brass pins to help secure them to the body. The vane also has brass rod for the hinges, which has a slot and then a plasticard cap to secure the rod.



Some of you may be wondering why it was called a trim vane. The M113 was amphibious, with the tracks alone providing the forward propulsion. In proving tests, FMC discovered that water was prone to sweeping up the glacis plate and into the open hatches, so they added the trim vane to deflect moving water away.



With power connected, my clumsy soldering worked first time out. Lenses will not be installed until painting is completed.



The AHHQ kit has two spare track pieces bolted onto the front glacis, but a regular feature on Aussie and US M113s was the extended length of track to give the driver some confidence.



Here they are temporarily mounted.