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1/16 Australian M113A1 & AS4


GMK

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Did manage to complete the lower hull & ramp, ready for printing. 
 

This is what the .stl file of the lower hull looks like. 
 

yfcPNH2.jpg

 

Saga46L.jpg

 

AhKvjkl.jpg

 

Lower hull & ramp put into the slicer, sliced & ready for export to the printer…

 

9hbGFCI.jpg

 

Only 399 hours! Ah well, at least I can’t blame anyone else for errors & omissions. 

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On 5/21/2022 at 11:36 PM, GMK said:

Thanks Mark. I’m using 1:1 dimensions from a vehicle in storage & the AFV Club 1:35 kit. 
 

Pending verification of the depth of the rear lights & the Jerry can holders, the rear hull plate & ramp are done. 
The addition of the front tow points has more or less completed the lower glacis plate on the front. 
Work has commenced on the cargo hatch with air filter box & the voids in the underside for the M8 mounting bolts. 
I’m travelling this week, which will hamper progress. 
 

Thanks for looking in. 

Iv'e often thought the best way to do one of these scratch builds is to buy a sacrificial kit and scale it up, essentially using it as a form of drawing.

 

Sorry is this has been asked before but what CAD and 3d Printer are you using?

 

Fantastic work - Ryan.

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17 hours ago, Ryan said:

Iv'e often thought the best way to do one of these scratch builds is to buy a sacrificial kit and scale it up, essentially using it as a form of drawing.

 

Sorry is this has been asked before but what CAD and 3d Printer are you using?

 

Fantastic work - Ryan.

Thanks, Ryan. 
 

I agree - a model kit is very handy to clarify how the parts interact. Two dimensional pics are great, but they are a bit limited. 
 

I’m using Fusion360 for the CAD, which generates a .stl file, Luban as a slicer to generate the gcode for the printer, with the printer being a large formfactor filament one. 

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While the hull & ramp print away, I’ve got an opportunity to draw up the roadwheels, idlers, & drive sprocket. 
 

With CAD, the cross section of the wheel is the important bit. Thanks to some help from the brain’s trust, a section of the roadwheel emerged. 
 

azPHCvD.jpg

 

Good enough to use as a canvas & scale to 1:16. Then the line drawing is used as a basis to sketch. 
 

ZlcBFK7.jpg
 

Click on the Revolve function, choose the axis & boom: one roadwheel.
 

Here’s a snapshot of two attempts: one without the section (left), one with (right).

 

vI9i5ou.jpg  
 

There’s been some detailing around the hub, & the rivets around the outside of the wheel, but they’re pretty simple to add. 
 

I stole the idlers from work I did on the AS4 last year. 
 

IPsyuzK.jpg
 

OZoPwm7.jpg


Thanks for looking in. 

Edited by GMK
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10 hours ago, Daywalker said:

Very impressive project, I will be watching for more on this one!

Thanks Daywalker, I appreciate the feedback. 
 

The last pieces of the running gear before the track are the sprocket ring & sprocket wheel. “My” vehicle ran German Diehl 513 dual pin track. 513’s track pitch is different from the single pin T130 & T130E1 normally seen on M113A1s & A2s, necessitating a different sprocket ring. 


Here’s the sprocket rings for the Diehl track. Ignore the floating! I’m not 100% on their width, but good on everything else. 
 

FFvIUL4.jpg
 

A wider view:

 

vXWx1E8.jpg

 

And a lower one that makes the lack of a sprocket wheel less obvious. 
 

w5mE4BZ.jpg

 

This is a pic of a 1:1 sprocket wheel that I’ve been describing. 
 

uSHQBeM.jpg

 

Thanks for looking in. 

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Managed to sort out the geometry of the sprocket wheel, including the mud relief holes. It was a little tricky. 
 

After creating the outer sprocket wheel, I mirrored it to create the inner. 
 

jP2OgzF.jpg
 

The inner wheel is offset by 36 degrees.

 

FwNK8Xp.jpg

 

Another view. 
 

dTdNazZ.jpg

 

Started on the Diehl track. I’ve got two 1:1 dimensions: a width of 341mm & a track pitch of 157mm. Imagine my relief when my 1:16 model conformed to those dimensions!


fDmGENr.jpg

Thanks for looking in. 

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On 6/7/2022 at 3:43 PM, LSP_Matt said:

Looking great mate

 

Plenty of good references.

 

Matty

Thanks, mate. 
 

Great thing about an ancient vehicle is that references are relatively plentiful. Also helps that I did a comprehensive photo walk around of my vehicle in East Timor in 1999!

 

From my most recent reference trip:

 

Z5IFxYL.jpg


As the largest user of M113s, for some reason my unit ran ballistic shrouds on their vehicles. In the Australian Army, most units removed theirs. Must’ve been a mech inf thing ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

 

R5fi2Ix.jpg

 

Changes the look & hides a lot of the detail in the running gear. 
 

tx1kGkJ.jpg


Not quite done with them, but very close. 
 

In order to aid indexation of the ballistic shrouds onto the hull, I extruded a lip that’s perpendicular to the hull sides, parallel to the sponsons, & gapped to accept the sponson armour. 
 

tG8cQdz.jpg

Thanks for looking in. 

Edited by GMK
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The bareness of the glacis was starting to bug me, so I figured I’d rough out the engine access hatch cover & the prop shaft access plate*. 

Z9Nil1p.jpg


The hatch cover doesn’t sit flush with the glacis plate itself, & is surrounded by a ballistic shield to prevent fragments getting to the engine via the gap between the two.

 

IY11ysm.jpg

 

Also tweaked the rear panel of the ballistic shrouds/side skirts, getting them ever nearer to being done. 
 

lH8RukP.jpg

 

My mid-week field trip to collect references verified the overall width of the drive sprockets at 235mm on the 1:1, or 14.6875mm at 1:16. 
 

TRzvloQ.jpg

 

From the centreline of the track, mine were each  .784mm too wide, for an overall error of  1.568mm. For context, that’s almost 10% too wide!
 

So, I took the opportunity provided by the error to redraw the components to a higher standard. 
 

Hoping to finish the roof & tracks this week, all going well.


Thanks for looking in. 

 

*specific component names may be unique to Australia &/or incorrect 

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Work continues on the hull roof & engine deck details. 
 

The 1:1 footman loops:

yxftzuX.jpg

 

And in 1:16:

 

YfRwUtg.jpg

 

The loops are a single piece replicated & indexed to holes indented into the hull roof. 
 

OQQlIC9.jpg

 

Overnight, the lower hull & ramp print finished after 369-odd hours. 


n9Q2NwQ.jpg

 

After a little bit of cleanup & compared to the Thingiverse 6% scale “M1113.”

 

QtdKAaT.jpg

 

Pretty happy with mine from both a scale & fidelity perspective. 
 

lZWhVN2.jpg

 

After some cleanup. 
 

l53CUNo.jpg

 

Thanks for looking in. 

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Design work continues. I’m hoping to get the hull roof & glacis plate on the printer ASAP, so they’re the priority for the design. 
 

The most work was the cargo hatch (not quite done) & the driver’s hatch (not quite done - will be a separate print).
 

XxwVGIG.jpg
 

QTHdKd6.jpg

 

The last three items for the roof will be the fuel filler cap, antenna brush guards, & the bilge drain. 
 

Thanks for looking in. 

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