AFV Club M113 ACAV

[JamesOLeary]

I've been steadily trudging on between mowing and other chores. Here is my current progress...

I got the main body of the model primed, then a undercoat of Vallejo USA Olive Drab, and a final coat of Reaper Black Green to get that Post-war Dark OD Color. It was then lightly drybrushed with a lighter shade of green and then shot with some dullcote. With the exception of the dullcote, all of the painting was done by hand with a round brush as I did not want to run the chance of stray spray paint getting into the interior.

Today I will start applying the markings and registration numbers.

Thanks for looking.

Cheers,
James

 

[JamesOLeary]

AFV Club M113 ACAV - Bumper #s and registration #s

Today I started to apply the dry transfers for the bumper numbers and registration numbers. Except for the U.S. Army, all numbers and letters were applied separately which is kind of time consuming, but since decals do not exist for this track, it is what has to be done. I tried to apply HARASSMENT along the sides, but those letters were not sticking properly, so I put it aside and will try again tomorrow.

This is what I have so far...

Registration numbers...

Bumper Numbers...

Thanks for looking.

Cheers,
James

 

[moon puppy]

AFV Club M113 ACAV - Bumper #s and registration #s

 

[JamesOLeary]

AFV Club M113 ACAV - Track Name Markings

This morning I was able to get the track name markings (HARASSMENT) applied to the sides of the M113. Since the lettering on the actual vehicle was stenciled on, I had to paint the stencil marks onto the letters. I think it turned out fairly well.

Now I can start weathering this model and finish up the sub assemblies.

Cheers,
James

 

[Duke Maddog]

Sweet! That rocks man! I love it!

 

[lupanzer]

Very good!

Luiz.

 

[moon puppy]

Yes it did turn out well!

 

[JamesOLeary]

Yesterday I started the weathering process. I started with applying some oil filters to replicate dust and dirt that got into the nooks and crannies. As that was drying, in some of the areas that were still wet, I applied some mixed AK Interactive pigments just to see what would happen. They seemed to work fairly decent. I then used straight pigments. I am modeling this kit to represent this track as it appeared in December 1967. At that point in time, the track had been in Vietnam 11 months and spent most of that time out in the field. The unit rarely spent time at their main base camp at Bearcat, so the only time the tracks were cleaned were when they came in on stand down. In December 1967, the battalion had been out constantly for over 2 1/2 months and although it was during the dry season, they did encounter a heavy rain storm that mired some of the tracks in the mud and actually sunk C-14 (The LT ordered the driver to cross a swollen river even though the driver insisted that the track would not be able to swim across the river because of problems with the bilge pumps and that the track shrouds necessary for that action had been removed early in 1967) which accounts for the track being dirtier than it normally might be. I still have quite a bit more to do in terms of refining the weathering effects. I started the paint chipping process by using a mix of black and white to create a grayish color that replicates aluminum without having to use a metallic paint that might mess up the finish. I know there at ejection pin marks on the driver' hatch, but those will be covered with a flak jacket, so I did not waste my time filling them since they will be covered anyway.

Now to work on this some more...

Soon I will be working on the tracks. I don't look forward to that, but it is necessary to get this finished.

Thanks for looking.

Cheers,
James

 

[bob letterman]

Wow! That looks great James!!!

Very impressive!



Bob

 

[phantom II]

Wow love all the detail James but the weathering is even more impressive

Cheers, Christian B)

 

[moon puppy]

Yesterday I started the weathering process. I started with applying some oil filters to replicate dust and dirt that got into the nooks and crannies. As that was drying, in some of the areas that were still wet, I applied some mixed AK Interactive pigments just to see what would happen. They seemed to work fairly decent. I then used straight pigments. I am modeling this kit to represent this track as it appeared in December 1967. At that point in time, the track had been in Vietnam 11 months and spent most of that time out in the field. The unit rarely spent time at their main base camp at Bearcat, so the only time the tracks were cleaned were when they came in on stand down. In December 1967, the battalion had been out constantly for over 2 1/2 months and although it was during the dry season, they did encounter a heavy rain storm that mired some of the tracks in the mud and actually sunk C-14 (The LT ordered the driver to cross a swollen river even though the driver insisted that the track would not be able to swim across the river because of problems with the bilge pumps and that the track shrouds necessary for that action had been removed early in 1967) which accounts for the track being dirtier than it normally might be. I still have quite a bit more to do in terms of refining the weathering effects. I started the paint chipping process by using a mix of black and white to create a grayish color that replicates aluminum without having to use a metallic paint that might mess up the finish. I know there at ejection pin marks on the driver' hatch, but those will be covered with a flak jacket, so I did not waste my time filling them since they will be covered anyway.

Now to work on this some more...

Soon I will be working on the tracks. I don't look forward to that, but it is necessary to get this finished.

Thanks for looking.

Cheers,
James

What a transformation!

Looks well used and abused, just nailin' this James!

 

[Brokeneagle]

Brilliant work on the 'Nam dust' - i love the exposed aluminium scratches especially as they contrast perfectly between the dust and the Green base.



Ian.

 

[Duke Maddog]

Wow, the weathering truly brought this to life! What magnificent work here!

 

[JamesOLeary]

Thanks, Guys.

I think the aluminum scratches and chips make the model look a bit less like a piece of plastic and a bit more like a metal object.

I finished the chipping and scratching of the hull including wear spots on the front where crew members climb up the front to get on top near the driver's hatch. The road wheels have been added. The AFV Club road wheels are comprised of 6 pieces and attach to the suspension arms with a little piece extending out of the toad wheel. This makes mounting them a bit trickier than those on the Tamiya and Academy kits. I think the Tamiya and Academy attachments are more secure, but the AFV Club looks a bit better. I also painted in some of the details like the tail lights, basic headlight colors in prep for the clear plastic lenses, the red pull trigger for the internal fire extiguisher, etc.

After seeing this picture, it looks like I need to dirty up the floor a bit to match the exterior dirtiness...

Since this track does not have a gun tub, the gunner only has a shield to use for cover. While riding, and also for when standing guard, the gunner is not going to be standing for hours and hours in the hatch. Since this is a gas-powered track, nobody except for the driver (who has to be inside to drive) rides inside as they all sit on top, the gunners (those with gun tubs, too) used a piece of wood placed across the periscope guards to use as a seat so they could still man the .50 but be able to do so while not in the hatch itself. To replicate this, I used a piece of bass wood.

So this is how the figure will be positioned behind the .50 ...

Now I am working on getting the individual tracks put together. I am using Modelkasten tracks. They have two versions of the tracks and I have the latest version which requires you to glue the separate track pads to the track and then you pin the tracks together. It is a long time consuming process, but they are really nice plastic tracks.

Thanks for looking. Now back to work on the tracks...

Cheers,
James

 

[Duke Maddog]

Sensational work James! I love it!

 

[bob letterman]

Sensational work James! I love it!

What Mark said!



Bob

 

[moon puppy]

 

[JamesOLeary]

Over the past couple of days I have been working on the tracks and other things like the .50 cal machine gun. I am using the ModelKasten workable tracks (not to be confused with their earlier release that resembled the tracks that came with the Academy M113 kit, sinkholes and all) which have separate track pads as shown in a previous post. When I got my first box of them a couple of years ago, I put a few runs together, but I applied the glue after putting the pins in place, so several spots were glued together and did not bend. I thought I could still incorporate them into what I was working on, so when I got ready to paint the tracks I had two sets - one that was constructed properly and was totally flexible and the other that had a few spots where a run of tracks was flat. I thought I might have gotten them spaced out properly so the flexible portions would go on the drive sprocket and the idler wheel. Come to find out, the left side takes 61 links and the right takes 62. The one link difference caused a straight portion to hit the idler wheel area so it did not look right. Now I am making another set of tracks for that side. Kind of puts me off of my schedule to get this completed, but the extra effort will be worth it after seeing how the left side turned out. I still need to weather the tracks and the drive sprockets and idler wheels. In the second photo you can see the proper track tension present. I also have the beginnings of a converted gunner figure sitting in his spot.

Other things I have been working on are the M60 gunshield, the ramp, and the .50

Now back to the tracks!

Cheers,
James

 

[centaur567]

You got the dirt just right. Gary S.

:drinks

 

[JamesOLeary]

Thanks, Gary. I used photos of the vehicle and listened to the crew members to try to get the right amount of dirt. Most of the time this unit's tracks looked cleaner on the sides, but they were dirtier at the time period this model is depicting.

Damn, that track got hit in the front by RPGs twice! Looks like the one on the right front never penetrated, but the one on the driver's side did. I hope the track was hit when it was sitting somewhere and the driver was not in there.

Cheers,
James