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A joy to watch

Another stellar build Louis, it's always a pleasure to follow along. I'm really impressed with how you scratchbuilt the driver's cupola and hatch, the fine details are superb.

Just a thought................is there any chance that you are somehow related to Mr Barry C !!??

From the Priest build to this, Im getting a similar "outer-celestial" relativity to 'E.T'. Barrys' Abrams

Mr Bix I've started to wonder if this is indeed true and that Mr Louis and Mr Barry C are somehow intergalactic mates sent here on a mission to setup the " invasion"....... and on the word of the supreme commander convinced themselves that a disguise as model tank builders would be the perfect way to" blend in"

Just doing a clean up lads.............Mr cq11........I will move this into the modern section of Others, to keep consistency.......

Hi,

Back to my modelling after a short break for a business trip. This is the suspension assembly.

At first, i wanted to canibalize a Taigen Panzer III hull. But it would have been a bit complicated because the distance between the road wheels are not the same as the M113 so there vertical braces would have required to be cut in pieces, the torsion bars are too long and the whole arrangement seemed too complicated for me to mess with. The Panzer III is wider than the M113 so i did not see an easy way to reduce the torsion bars due to their complex design. However, for a smooth and for heavy duty operation of the model in the field, reusing a metal frame like this would have been optimal. This tank is just to drive around so no need for anything fancy or complex to build.
The Ludwig model is built to use Taigen suspension but with torsion blades similar to Tamiya. Finding the appropriate parts was becoming an issue for me so Christian Ludwig was contacted and offered the following parts for sale. You can see Taigen mounts with screws, Panther suspension arms and home made torsion blades, exactly what i needed.
First thing to do is to prepare the holes.
Taigen suspension mounts are installed. It was not as pleasant as i anticipated. Do not expect screws to go smoothly into the Taigen mount holes like Tamiya parts. Every screw was a struggle to put on, but managed. The builder would obviously install the suspension before the gearbox mount. I did it in reverse because i did not want to delay my build because of the shipping time of the ordered suspension parts. Those units are the front were complicated to install with the gearbox already there.
The Taigen suspension arms and the torsion blades are installed. In order to keep the blades in place, a small plasticard part need to be positioned at the end of each.
You can see here the type of alignment of the suspension units, a bit sideways. It is a pretty rough system but it works. I will likely add small plasticard parts to better align the blades in their sockets. The whole thing is a bit loose.
This is the result. About 2-3 hours of work.

The road wheel fit to the suspension arm will need to take into consideration the extension and length of them. There is limited possibility to adjust the arm to align the road wheel with the sprocket.
Regards, Louis

Louis this looks like an engineering marvel my friend! Keep up the great work

Hi,
This is the drive cover area.

The Shapeways.com Sherman drive covers were cut in a round shape to fit around the drive shaft and suspension arm. The area that was cut is hidden behind the sprocket and won't show. I've found the remaining round area is of perfect shape for the M113. At $7 each, they are quite expensive for what these are but it is at least something I do not have to scratch built, a rare luxury.
The front hooks were made with the part provided with the kit. However, the hooks were modified to be strait and not curved. I also removed 2mm in height from the base. Nuts are from Meng.
Scratch building the gearbox external housing takes some effort. it is made with 1mm plasticard strip, shaped to go around and follow the shapeways drive cover. It is much easier to run the main part strip first against the corner of a desk to pre-shape it with the required curve, and warm it up just a little. The small overlay part is made with thinner card.
The frontal area is highly visible and this is the look I was looking for with the sprocket on. Notice that I started to file the dents of the sprocket. Now it runs much better with the tracks on.
Front area is completed.
The model as it stands today, next to my old Tamiya M113.
Regards,
Louis

Looking great, she's coming alive!

Hi,

Work has started on the interior. I have determined that it is possible to hide most of the electronics behind the engine firewall. The Heng Long receiver is under the gearbox, the control unit is on the right, minus the black plastic box but it is installed on a plasticard plate instead, and the door elevation unit is on the left. Although the firewall will hide the engine area, the driver's position will need to be hidden somehow.

All this free space allows me to almost fully detail the fighting compartment, which is extremely visible when the ramp is down and the trap on top is open. Gas tank, radio shelves, seating, etc will be scratch built with great pleasure. This is the main reason to jam pack the electronics at the front. It is a question of personal priorities.
The real M113 has a beam overlapping the front and back area. As this is a weak point, it made sense to replicate it to provide much needed support for that central area.
I could not run the beam side to side because of the control unit on the right side, so it is supported by a vertical section in front of it. Technically, the battery fits in the engine area under the beam. However, I have yet to find a practical way of making it removable. So, i will likely need to sacrifice my Zippy Compact battery, with the charging plug accessible through the removable grill. For heavy maintenance, the firewall will need to be removed to access from the rear. It is obvious that both ceilings will never be glued and will provide access to electronics and interior. Will find some magnet arrangement for it. The elevation unit will need to stick out for sure, i have yet to design the mechanism to open/close the rear ramp, likely using a pushrod under the seat, up/down as the unit rotates. Something like that. I have discarded the idea of rotating the cupola using a rotation unit. I prefer to show the cupola accurately, with the commander at the M2.
The main firewall section is built and shown here in dry fit. You can also see that the floor has been installed, nothing is glued at this point. Shapeways wing nuts are looking good on the engine bulkhead.
Yes, the sound, it's very important. The Heng long speaker was too large to hide inside the vehicle. I searched my junkyard and found that the speaker of a Hobby Engine M1A1 is of perfect size to fit inside the gas tank.
This is the scratch built gas tank/speaker, modelled as per references. There seems to be many variations of M113 gas tank sizes, select the size according to period and variant. The wire for the speaker will run under the radio shelf.
The gas tank is the first thing you see when the ramp is down so it is important to make it accurate. It is also visible from above through the trap on top. The floor is temporarily in place, i am waiting for a Henntec track adjuster that i will do my best to fit in. And of course, the proper type of diamond tread plate will be added to the floor. I had to cheat a bit on the floor height because the suspension is higher on the model than on the real M113
View from the back, with gas tank on left and engine firewall in dry fit mode in front. The wires that is running towards the back are for the tail lamps and interior lighting. They will likely run under the radio shelf and behind the gas tank.
The Mato headlamps are wired up, it is quite impressive to have 4 of them.
Overview of the M113
Regards, Louis