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Posted

Alrighty amigos, haven’t built anything large scale in a while, but have wanted to a large scale ACAV kit for some time. My father drove one with 2nd Squadron, First Cavalry Regiment in Vietnam and while I’ve built countless 1/35 versions, this is kit is the holy grail.

 

His troop arrived in August 1967 and he lasted till November and the Battle of Dak To. He broke his back when the track rolled - at least it got him out of there 

 

Here’s the box.

FEHCMCi.jpeg
 

It’s massive. Here’s the standard 12” elementary school ruler for scale perspective…

LdEPcbN.jpeg

 

Construction thus far has been per the instructions. Nothing remarkable thus far. Of note are the ejection marks. Took a few seconds of sanding to remove any trace.

RPAmxiH.jpeg


The detail is exquisite. Each tie down is its own part… which is super fun. Check out the old school 90 degree flashlight!

wXGS7JD.jpeg
 

MTjdTcU.jpeg

 

Lord only knows if his track had a white or green interior. From his pics, I think it was green, but tough to tell. I went with green. Not sure I’m happy with this color  - Tamiya XF-71. Might mix a bit of white into it.

puszMSQ.jpeg


WMsbKk1.jpeg

 

so there we are. A fun build thus far, will update as I plug along!

-Peter

Posted
3 hours ago, Paulpk said:

Nice start. Did you make the tie downs or were they supplied in the kit?

They come in the kit. There’s a bazillion. Which is good as I’ve broken a few. Kind of like separating Meng nuts from that sheet…

Posted

Nice start.    At one point in an earlier lifetime, I drove these things (A3's).  A huge improvement over the earlier versions but nothing compared to the M2.    I typically don't critique someone else's build, but your interior color is way too dark.    The color used was Seafoam Green, I'd suggest cutting the color you used with 50% white.  

Posted
4 hours ago, John1 said:

Nice start.    At one point in an earlier lifetime, I drove these things (A3's).  A huge improvement over the earlier versions but nothing compared to the M2.    I typically don't critique someone else's build, but your interior color is way too dark.    The color used was Seafoam Green, I'd suggest cutting the color you used with 50% white.  

Concur wholeheartedly!

Here’s what the XF-71 should look like according to the cap…not even close.
xigBSby.jpg


Braved the -20F to hit the local hobby shop and get some Tamiya XF-2. Mixed it closer to 60/40 white/green. Probably could have gone lighter still.

3Tji2HW.jpg

 

so have sprayed the interior components and need to do some odds and ends. Then some interior placards to get her close enough to start assembling. Have to decide how I’ll do the floors as they were usually lined with sandbags or ammo cans. 
-Peter

Posted (edited)

Moving along. Final day of vacation, so construction will slow down soon…

 

Have jumped around in the instructions just so I could paint the interior bits and some decals done before adding gear to the crew compartment. Kind of fun working in this scale… placards are easier than stencils for sure! Also cried uncle on adding each knob selection on each radio. Won’t see much once everything is buttoned up and a bunch of gear thrown on top.

SdzLhWd.jpeg

 

Also, my painting isn’t the best, but you can’t see anything with the roof on. And again with gear and weathering, it’ll be fine.

6AKDtHZ.jpeg
 

One of the things that will get added are C Ration boxes. Have had this photocopy of an old Verlinden sheet forever. I’ll scan it and scale it up to 1/16th and print off a bunch. That will help fill up the interior for sure :) 

cEybRBa.jpeg

 

-Peter

Edited by easixpedro
  • easixpedro changed the title to 1/16 M113 ACAV 2-1 Cavalry (21 Jan - interior decals)
Posted
1 hour ago, LSP_Mike said:

Nice progress. Will this get any "noseart", so to say?

For sure! I’ll share some details here in the coming days, plus the few pics I have.

-Peter

Posted
9 hours ago, easixpedro said:

Moving along. Final day of vacation, so construction will slow down soon…

 

Have jumped around in the instructions just so I could paint the interior bits and some decals done before adding gear to the crew compartment. Kind of fun working in this scale… placards are easier than stencils for sure! Also cried uncle on adding each knob selection on each radio. Won’t see much once everything is buttoned up and a bunch of gear thrown on top.

SdzLhWd.jpeg

 

Also, my painting isn’t the best, but you can’t see anything with the roof on. And again with gear and weathering, it’ll be fine.

6AKDtHZ.jpeg
 

One of the things that will get added are C Ration boxes. Have had this photocopy of an old Verlinden sheet forever. I’ll scan it and scale it up to 1/16th and print off a bunch. That will help fill up the interior for sure :) 

cEybRBa.jpeg

 

-Peter

FYI: Real Model has 1/16th Nam C ration boxes.

  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

Small update. For the most part, the ejector pin marks are well hidden. Cool part is that the benches can be made in the stowed position, but that means the ejector pin marks are visible.

23tDE8j.jpeg

The floor looks great. Lots of detail, but it’ll get covered by sandbags and detritus.

W899Zjp.jpeg
 

And here’s the beginning stages of sandbags on the floor. It’s a LOT of Apoxie Sculpt. Most pics I’ve found show about 3 sandbags wide seems to be the ‘standard.’ So that’s what I did.

wQ0SaF6.jpeg

 

LKlfksv.jpeg
 

These sandbags will get covered with ammo cans and C Ration boxes n’ such.

 

Kind of a slog right now - there’ a ton of parts. The ramp and back section of the track had somewhere around 60 plus parts (can’t count that high as I don’t have that many fingers and toes!)

 

More soon!

-Peter

Posted
On 1/19/2025 at 5:50 AM, panzerrob said:

Hi Peter,

 

This build has some nice tips:

 

With regards,

Rob

Seriously, many, many thanks for sharing this link.
Was WAY overthinking the suspension and this video helped clean up the misfiring synapses!🧐

 

Back to building!

-Peter

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