M-113 kits?

[akesterton]

Hi

I was thinking of building a NASA M-113 (the ones they use as emergency escape vehciles). I see there is a Tamiya kit in 1/35, and a JB Models (soon to be Airfix?) 1/76. Any others out there?

The NASA vehicle is pictured here:

quest.arc.nasa.gov/people/journals/space/moffitt/lmtank.jpg

The APC Tamiya kit looks like it would be the closest match.

regards

anthony

[neilscrim]

Academy and Italeri do M113s in 35th, probably better kits as well.

Models for sale have got the Tamiya kit reduced to 8.50 at the moment

www.modelsforsale.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=159036

In 72/76th I built the Esci kit a long time ago, a good kit but I don't know if it's available, Italeri are re-releasing Esci moulds but I don't know if they've got around to the M113 yet. Trumpeter also do a small scale M113

[akesterton]

Thanks Neil - I will try the Tamiya kit - the price looks good!

anthony

[John Tapsell]

The Tamiya kit is the oldest but still stacks up well against the Academy kit (which is better in some respects). Personally, I'd rate the Italeri kit as the worst option.

Beware of the designations however. The Tamiya kit is closest to an M113 (but can be modified to an m113A1 easily). The Academy kit is probably closest to an M113A2 but can easily be made into an M113A1, but none of the available kits are accurate for an M113A3 (because the latest kits are all based on earlier releases).

The major changes are:
-engines (M113 petrol to M113A1 onwards with a diesel)
-suspension (rear idler is mounted higher on A2s and A3s)
-splashboard (that plate on the front) is bigger on A1s etc
-steering (A3s have a steering wheel rather than tiller bars)
-exhaust stacks (A2s and A3s have a truck-style 'flip-lid' stack whilst earlier marks have a simple, angled pipe.
-fuel tank (bigger on the diesel variants and removable rather than fixed).

I'm sure there are a few others but I'm working from memory.

For a NASA vehicle, you'll need to do some research as the colour schemes have varied considerably over the years. The earliest examples (for the Mercury and Gemini missions) were covered with a heat-resitant 'zimmerit-style' asbestos paste. After it was removed, they went through painted aluminium, that awful lime green you used to see on USAF fire engines and later to white. Even then, the exact schemes and badges tended to vary slightly.

I was considering building one myself a while ago, but it never got anywhere.

Cheers,
John

[akesterton]

Thanks John - lots of useful info there.

I saw the NASA vehicles a few weeks ago, and the "interesting" lime green is the current fashion. There is a lot of pictures, video's etc of the NASA vehicles but not sure what M113 model it is yet.

anthony

[iansadler]

Hi all for more M II3 photos try this site I found by accident today sit and explore cheers ian
picasaweb.google.com/zippo132

[akesterton]

Thanks Ian - you do seem to find a lot of stuff on the internet most people miss!

Anyone prepared to hazard a guess on what model M113 they have at NASA. I am going to check the photos for the identifying features John mentioned, but wondered if anyone else knew for sure.

anthony

[akesterton]

So - after plowing through lots of NASA photos - it looks like the exhausts are two simple pipes - so perhaps they have M113 or M113A1 as John suggests.

Phew - hard work this research stuff isn't it!

Still, thank goodness for google.

anthony