M-113A2 APC - Late 1980s with Tow launcher - Build

[lmcq11]

What is this trim vane for? Fording a river ore something?

It is a breakwater plate. Before crossing rivers, the trim vane is lowered, it keeps the nose up to prevent water from entering the vehicle through open hatches. There is a variant with foam for extra buoyancy.

M113 Trim vane

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[lmcq11]

Hi,

In this post, I am presenting the finished external fuel cells.

First, a few reference pictures of the rear of the vehicle with the tail lights arrangement that i tried to repro the best I could with the material that I had available.

M113 external fuel cells

M113 external fuel cells and tail lights

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M113 external fuel cells and tail lights

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Now, the model after a few hours of modelling today.

M113 external fuel cells and tail lights

The tail lights guards are challenging to repro and brass strips must be used. I did not have in store the right width for the brass strip for the main guard body so I had to make do with what I had available. I also had to scratch build the fuel caps and the guards for the wiring. AFV Model handles were also installed. I am happy with the results, its not perfect or totally as per specs but they look good.

M113 external fuel cells and tail lights

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M113 external fuel cells and tail lights

M113 external fuel cells and tail lights

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M113 external fuel cells and tail lights

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The rear of the vehicle is now completed.

M113 external fuel cells and tail lights

Red transparent covers will be added to the tail lights after painting.

M113 external fuel cells and tail lights

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Next step is to focus on the interior of the fighting compartment. There is a part of me that just want to do a regular M-113A2 APC, the other part wants to create a Tow missile launching vehicle. I will see how it goes with the scratch building of the pedestal before making a final decision. In the end, things need to look good and I have to say that the use of the Verlinden Interior "as is" is very tempting.

Regards, Louis

[lmcq11]

He, here is the Tow Missile launcher, and top of the base.

Some reference pictures

Tow missile launcher

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Tow missile launcher

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These are the parts coming with the Verlinden kit. Sadly, there is no night vision apparatus provided.

Verlinden Tow missile launcher

Building the kit was a real pain. Instructions are vague and need to be supplemented by much other references. The model does not assemble very well. Most parts had to be adjusted, supplemented with plasticard or unglued and repositioned at least 3 times each before getting it right...I think... The tube was also shortened to represent the short version of the launcher seen on M113 reference vehicle.

Verlinden Tow missile launcher

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Here is the completed launcher. The missile container and tube were hollowed in order to insert a 5mm LED on both ends. As this is a missile, the back light will represent the missile engine. LED wires will be later positioned around the launcher base to represent the wiring seen on reference. The upper external mount is made of Lego, always useful and a time saver.

Verlinden Tow missile launcher

Verlinden Tow missile launcher

Verlinden Tow missile launcher

Verlinden Tow missile launcher

Verlinden Tow missile launcher

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Next step is to install the tread plates inside the vehicle and create the internal mount for the missile launcher.

Regards, Louis

[c.rainford73]

Louis you have managed yet again to raise the bar and offer such brilliant work for us to enjoy

Can't wait to see the missile launcher in action!

[lmcq11]

Tanks Carl !!

Hi,

I thought I would build the internal missile launcher mount today but it made more sense to build the rest of the interior first so that I can build the new parts around them. As i do not have any blueprints or measurements, everything needs to be build in a proportional way by looking at few reference material available. So, here is the interior to which will be added later the launcher mount, missile rack, gunners platform and other smaller items.

The tread plates were added. These are made of JTT 97449 Diamond plates HO-Scale which is perfect for 1/16 US vehicles.

Ludwigs Verlinden M113 RC 1/16

The tread plate attachments seen in reference were made with small brass washers and M1 brass bolts.

Ludwigs Verlinden M113 RC 1/16

The Verlinden central pole is installed minus the rear seat which will be replaced by the TOW gunners platform, which will be tricky to create.

Ludwigs Verlinden M113 RC 1/16

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Because this M-113A2 is a modernized version with safer exterior full tanks, the old interior fuel tank will not be installed. This free up space in real vehicles for extra storage.

Ludwigs Verlinden M113 RC 1/16

Left side of M113 interior with Verlinden parts installed. As per reference, the TOW missile control box is installed on the left wall on a custom attachment. The rest was put in place in a realistic fashion. As there were over 70,000 M-113 built and many countries did their own modifications for Tow launching, with all kind of variants and modernization efforts, there is really no fixed standard to follow for an M-113 interior.

Ludwigs Verlinden M113 RC 1/16

Ludwigs Verlinden M113 RC 1/16

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Verlinden radios

Ludwigs Verlinden M113 RC 1/16

Right side has no seats. The missile rack will be positioned here between the heater at the front and the battery box at the rear and will contain 10 TOW missiles.

Ludwigs Verlinden M113 RC 1/16

Current state of the interior.

Ludwigs Verlinden M113 RC 1/16

Ludwigs Verlinden M113 RC 1/16

Regards, Louis

[lmcq11]

Hi,

This is the TOW missile launcher mounting and gunners platform on the M-113A2. This is Part 1 showing some ref material available.

The launcher is mounted on a complex telescopic system that can be raised/lowered after the launcher tube is disassembled.

M-113 Tow missile mounting

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M-113 Tow missile mounting

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Here are details of the main moving part that is important of getting the basic shape right for an accurate model.

M-113 Tow missile mounting

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M-113 Tow missile mounting

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Detail of the gunners platform attachment on the central pole.

M-113 Tow missile mounting

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Part 2 build following on next post.

Louis

[lmcq11]

Continuing with part 2.

These are the part that were prepared for the mount, all scratch. Some more small details will be added later at the end of the build so that they do not get damaged during manipulation.

M-113 Tow missile mounting

It is important to figure out a system where the TOW launcher will be solidly in place, while still allowing the roof of the vehicle to be raised. This section is glued to the floor and central pole.

M-113 Tow missile mounting

What I interpreted as an anchor mechanism is reproduced on the floor. This area is quite vague in all references so I kept it to a minimum.

M-113 Tow missile mounting

The mount can be raised and lowered but won't make much use of it, it is mostly for the look.

M-113 Tow missile mounting

This is the gunners platform, fixed at that level.

M-113 Tow missile mounting

The complex plate at the top of the pole was split in half so that the front section is glued to the rails and central pole, the other half is glued to the roof and it keep the central pole solidly locked in sandwich. When the vehicle will move, the heavier resin launcher will not force against the base of the pole. The roof is removable of course and the height of the missile luncher can be adjusted. Removing the roof involves a careful raising and turning of the roof around the missile launcher within the top latch, without touching it.

M-113 Tow missile mounting

Rear view of the mount and gunners platform. At one point, I will place the wiring, one set going to the control box on the left, one set going to the battery on the right.

M-113 Tow missile mounting

View of the exterior of the M-113A2 with TOW launcher installed, likely a rare sight in 1/16 scale RC, with detailed interior.

M-113 Tow missile mounting

M-113 Tow missile mounting

M-113 Tow missile mounting

Next step is the TOW missile rack on the right, and the buildup of the TOW missile inventory.

Regards, Louis

[lmcq11]

Hi,

Here are the TOW missiles and the interior rack.

The TOW missile has been around for many decades and evolved in many versions. When looking at reference pictures, including 1/35 and the 1/16 Verlinden model, the containers somehow always look different. So there must be variations. I took one particular picture and tried to model what i saw.

Tow missile

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I had enough material to create 7 TOW missile containers for the interior rack. In addition to the one loaded on the tube, it gives 8 missiles, enough for the gunners to have fun... The core of the TOW container is a 10mm wide plasticard tube, with 3 types of metal washers and a modified Lego pin on both ends. Other features seen were replicated in plasticard. So, this is my scratch built rendition of Tow missiles containers... not perfect but this is the best I could do with no special tooling. Should look ok once painted and some shading applied at the right locations. Markings for them is an issue.

Tow missile

This was the available reference material for the missile rack.

Tow missile and rack

The rack is mostly made of plasticard. It was not easy to create out of nothing. It would have been possible to make it functional with hinges but I kept it simplistic so that I would not spend 2 weeks on it, and it also need to be solid to keep the missile in place so there was little point making it functional. Having the right spacing between missiles is not easy, I can see on the pictures that some adjustments are still required. Need to lower that top shelf a bit.

Tow missile and rack

Tow missile and rack

And here is the rack with the missiles temporarily in place for the picture. The straps that hold the missiles in place will only be added at the end, after painting of the rack and missiles. It would look better with at least 2 more missiles, so I will see later if I can summon enough material in time and patience to build more.

Tow missile and rack

Tow missile and rack

Tow missile and rack

Tow missile and rack

Tow missile and rack

Next step is to build the remaining items for the interior, such as the pedestal holder, night vision storage box and other clamps and gizmos.

Regards, Louis

[BarryC]

Oh Master of the scratch build, I bow before you! AMAZING

Barry

[square4]

This is taking scratch building to another level, very well done.