The loose pieces on the roof and in the tweezers are for the driver’s hatch latch and bumper. Most of the time was frustratingly (lol) spent on the hatch latch - four pieces and threading wire through the holes.
I have to figure out how the generator bottom/pan fit as Legend’s instructions don’t cover that. Once that’s in and the hatch latch parts are installed, I need to finish the generator cage bits and put in the little bolt heads, etc. Then it looks like the engine deck and front wall are done. After that I think I’ll work on the front (lights and miscellaneous brackets). Lot’s of resin there.
I just now looked at that set (well after my time in service) and there are a lot of similarities in parts. The resin castings for the 577 set are really nice. The PE is…PE, can be a PITA for sure. The instructions are fair but totally missed the driver’s hatch spring mount at the back…make sure you remove ALL of the kit’s mounting points for the kit hatch…trying to do that after some of the other stuff is installed makes it difficult.
If I run into any other missed notes for the instructions or anything of note, I’ll be sure to post that.
I have a feeling that the lights and their guards are going to be difficult. The second light from the right has one of SKP Model’s headlights in temporarily. What an incredible difference they make!!
And because I’m procrastinating about the front lights, I started on the rear. I had to remove the ramp door because I initially glued it too low - the ramp hinges didn’t properly fit. Something to pay attention to @Arch-Stanton
I will get started on my build for this campaign in the new year. I am going with the academy IDF command and control M113. This is a 2in1 kit, so I am not building what is on the front of the box.
I did a Google search for the IDF C&C M113…It looks similar to the regular M113 but with some additions? Bigger antenna and additional stowage?
I’d be curious to how this pans out.
I only have ONE IDF vehicle :Legend’s IDF APC Achzarit. I was going to enter the IDF campaign but I don’t think I’d have the time to finish it. Anyway, I’ll be watching your build.
I am planning to build it OOB, but with extra stowage. The kit has a number of antennas and comm gear added to the outside of the M113. Also it does not use the passive mesh armor on the sides as the APC version does.
I am still doing my own research - so far only one clear picture. Below you can see the M113 build in the alternative Academy version.
I got a bit more done on the rear this morning (Happy New Year to all!).
I replaced the “hooch’s” four side support poles with some styrene round. The kit parts mimic the poles being stored in the collapsed position…we always left them extended as that saved a lot of time during set-up.
The roof supports sit a bit too proud of the roof, so I may replace them with some styrene/brass/aluminum tube if I have an appropriate diameter.
I dug around in my decal box and found my Archer Weld Bead decals so I’ll be able to “hide” that seam along the sides and rear. Next up though are the three hand/foot supports for the rear sides and then the tow cable mount/fixtures.
I spent some time in the shop today. 9 month old Boxer/Catahoula certainly raised my blood pressure some along with PE parts sticking to my tweezers. Ugh.
One of the first things I did was drill out the canvas extension poles (couldn’t find any tubing the right size, so…). The real ones are made out of an aluminum alloy tube, and because their ends will be seen, they needed to be hollowed out some.
I added a couple of latch pieces to the roof (PE + tweezers + CA glue = ). I also added the three grab/step points to the rear. Another BP raiser was the bottom extension leg in the Legend bracket managed to get glued in place. Taking it out of course broke off the outer part requiring freehand gluing back. More Ugh.
Drilling out the pole ends give it a nice real touch. Many a time I’ve spent putting up the penthouse extension on the back of our SHQ Sultan… Lovely work
Mike, all of your scratch and PE work on this old dog is really paying off. Your detailing is outstanding. It really looks fantastic and your accuracy is 100%. I hear you about PE anxiety - many a time I’ve been holding my own hand which is holding the tweezers which is holding the PE part, slowly lowering it into place, holding my breath at the last second…
Fantastic work Mike!
I was contemplating adding the Archer Weld lines to the sides of the hull and realized that when I glued the M577 hull top to the M113 hull, I was a little careless in the alignment. Solution? Putty! Both sides.
While that was drying I started work on the road wheels. Right now they’re all primed but I wanted to see how well my Shadow Hobby Circle Cutter would do. Ha! Invaluable! Once I measured the necessary diameter on the road wheel (inner and outer) and after trial and error in adjusting (the cutter has a gauge, but it’s accuracy is suspect) the diameter, I test shot one. Looks great and so much cleaner than hand painting. (From my understanding, the newer Shadow Hobby Circle Cutter has an engraved measuring gauge)
More roadwheel paint. Flip a few over, spray 'em, clean 'em, and build 'em.
Generally one of the few things about “armor” vehicles I don’t enjoy - painting roadwheels (usually by hand). Now, soooo much quicker and less frustrating.
Nine were painted with Mission Models Worn Black Gray Tires and one painted with Mig Ammo Satin Black (new roadwheels installed). (hint: bottom row, second from right - I think the lighting kind of drowned the color some)
I was able to smooth out both sides of the hull enough for the Archer weld beads. I kind of cleaned up those areas with lacquer thinner. It dried very fast (the reason I used it) so hopefully it won’t affect the putty or plastic.
One of the biggest issues I’ve had with military kits, especially US vehicles, are all the teeny tiny tie-down points that are made from PE. Manually bending each one is time consuming and they never match each other. I’ve tried the resin ones but they seem to break easier than cutting them off with a razor saw.
Anyhow, today I came up with another method (I’m slow to think of things that make my modeling life easier it seems).
This method may be specific to Legend PE due to the way they etched them in “strips” of ten. I slid a scrap piece of PE fret under the tie-down strip and secured the one edge under the clamp of my Hold-N-Fold. I then used the rounded edge of my tweezers to force the tie-downs flat against the scrap fret and finally ran the tweezers along the outside edge of the tie-downs several times to flatten them.
I held them up in the tweezers and from the end view they’re slightly rounded but not so much to notice, especially after primer. Considering this being the first run, I can expect the rest to come out the same or a tad better. Finally, for me, a way that I’ll actually try to put all 40+ of these little buggers on and have them look fairly “correct.” (ha, the reason I stopped building my Italeri M109 Howitzer…I just didn’t want to screw around with them)
I’m sure a bunch of you smart guys and gals have already figured this out, but for those that don’t think fast like me - here ya go!
Mike
p.s. If someone’s a bit more curious about that method, drop me a line and I can attempt a simple photographic SBS.
p.s.s. I had forgotten to remove the little round piece that was supposed to replicate (terribly so) the plug by the hatch for the slave cables. I was able to get a small chisel blade in there to remove it and put Legend’s (far, far superior) piece in. Happy.
Magic Model’s antenna mounts - base, spring assembly, antenna (entirely too thin and worthless), and PE rings. The whip antenna is literally hair-thin and can’t be used. I’m sure I’ve got a wire the right gauge that’ll work out. Regardless, they are pretty darn nice.
Legend’s set called for the front, driver’s side antenna bracket to be a different shape than the other five. I do not recall one looking like that on any of the M577’s I’ve driven or TC’d so I chose to make them all the same.
). I also added the three grab/step points to the rear. Another BP raiser was the bottom extension leg in the Legend bracket managed to get glued in place. Taking it out of course broke off the outer part requiring freehand gluing back. More Ugh.
