Scratchbuilding an M113

The basic shapes of the panels, drawn on a computer, printed out and pasted to plastic card, 0.75 mm (back) and 1 mm (front) thick. 

Hull shapes cut out from the plastic card. 

Main side panels glued to a sheet of 0.5 mm card to get them to approximate scale thickness. 

Side panels cut out from the extra sheet. 

All main panels for the hull sides and glacis plate. 

Main parts for left hull side assembled. 

Bar long side of the hull built from plastic strip. 

Floor and nose plates cut from plastic sheet. 

Floor plate whacked with a ball hammer 🙂 

Final drive housing from AFV Club M548 (via their YPR-765 kit, where they’re spare), with the inner bit sawn off so the housing can fit against the plate for the outside of the hull. 

Housings in place on the hull sides, with a Tamiya drive sprocket in one. 

Italeri roadwheels and Academy rear mudguards added, with AFV Club suspension arms and simple axles from sprue, for the ones that will be out of sight. 

Final drive housings on the nose plate/floor under construction, with an oversize piece of plastic strip so that it’s easier to glue in place. This will be cut down when the glue dries. 

Basic ribs made for the hull floor. 

Academy idler wheels added, plus more details to shock absorbers and idler adjustment mechanism. 

Tracks installed, from an Academy kit. 

Base made from MDF sheet with picture frame edging and two thicknesses of foam-cored card, and the M113 parts posed in approximate positions. 

Base painted and with static grass applied. 

Remaining torsion bars added to hull floor, together with longitudinal rib. 

Torsion bars installed from 1 mm brass rod. 

Torsion bar mounts added from plastic strip and tube. 

Engine and transmission (from Tamiya kit) detailed and installed. 

Hull front made from plastic card, with Tamiya and Academy lights, Italeri trim vane actuator and Academy spare track links. 

Italeri trim vane, with replacement cover for engine hatch handle from aluminium sheet, because it’s open at top and bottom on real thing. 

Rear hull completed, with Italeri jerry cans (converted to water cans), Italeri bit behind left taillight, Academy lights and Tamiya lamp guards. 

Driver’s compartment with part of engine firewall and bilge pump pipe from copper wire (1.5 mm core from electrical cable). 

Right side of hull with tie-downs, electrical cabling etc. 

Left side of hull, fittings in driver’s compartment. MG barrel and flashlight are Tamiya, everything else is scratchbuilt. 

Both hull sides complete, with straps etc. from thin plastic card twisted randomly and glued in place. 

Tamiya kit radiator and duct, with replacement duct made from aluminium sheet. 

Main pieces in place on base. 

All parts primed white with Vallejo from a rattle can. 

Outside bits sprayed Vallejo olive drab. 

Engine etc. painted and rough shading/dirt applied to floor. 

Sides shaded with wash made from Humbrol Subframe Grey enamel, a tin from the 1970s 🙂 

Engine compartment dirtied up with black wash (Tamiya flat black plus water). 

Junk added to base to represent debris from vehicle. 

Burns sprayed into vehicle and base, using black and a few different shades of grey. 

Burns from right-hand side of hull. 

Burned hull floor and surrounding terrain. 

Burned left-hand side. 

Painted rust onto torsion bar 

Finished model — well, almost, it still needs a figure to give a sense of scale and fill the empty corner. 

Added rust to ammo cans in the burned area