Im starting to gather some kits and conversion sets so i can build some modern australian armour. Ive thinking of it for a couple of years and i figured what the hel, lets do it!
My first problem is that the Leopard 1 kits all have those terrible rubber band tracks…can someone please point me in the direction of aftermarket tracks for a Leopard…thanks
Kits on the list so far are;
AFV club RAAC centurion mk 5/1
AFV Club M113 MRV
Various versions of the M113 including the AS4 if i can get some decent pics of the new turet
Various versions of the ASLAV25
ANy help would eb appreciated, i have not taken on armor seriously and i need all the help i can get - cheers!
Leo AS1 tracks:- our tanks use links made by the German company Diehl, so check out Maple Leaf Models. They do a set of tracks suitable for the Canadian C1 which I think is the same as ours.
M113:- for everything except the M577 ACV, use the Academy kit (I don’t think Academy do the command version); unfortunately no-one does the AS4, as it’s a version built specifically for the ADF by Tenix Industries in Adelaide - so you’ll need to buy 2 113A1 kits & chop them up & THEN wait for the resin replacement turret - which is on its way. For pics of the AS4, google Tenix.
ASLAV:- go with the Trumpeter kit, & then get a hold of the Cutting Edge conv kit (the Australian company not the US one) which incl all the bits particular to our LAV’s - well worth the $$$
Firestorm Models have done a pile of stuff for the Cent, not the least of which is a proper mantlet cover - an absolute MUST.
HTH
Shaun
EDIT The AFV Club M113 FSV is really an MRV used during the late 80’s/early 90’s, in AusCam. It has the UK Scorpion turret. We did have a couple of FSV’s in 'Nam, modelled by Tamiya, which used the UK’s Saladdin turret. It was found wanting. Sentinel’s website has a walkaround of one of these vehicles at Bandiana Museum.
With the ASLAV kit, don’t get the cutting Edge kit. I bought it, and know i have wasted my money with it. Check out the review on the perth military models website, and then get the mouse house conversion. you will allso need the Maple Leaf Models wheel set.
Unfortunately, i’ll be going with the tamiya kit for the M113’s. I knew the academy kits were better, but i score half a dozen of the tamiya kits of a bloke who was downsizing his “collection” from nearly a thousand to 200 - 300
The MRV looks completely useless as a fighting vehicle, but it still looks cool. Once ove finished mving house ill get a start and post some pics back
The cutting Edge kit is obviously a good idea, but was a bad execution of casting and moulding. I don’t think there is anything useful in the kit, appart from the CD-ROM.
That conversion set looks bloody awful! With the cost of add ons and then the Maple Leaf tyres, im thinking of scratchbuilding the rest, for the sake of cost though ill have to look into this a bit better.
With the Fitter and Recovery variants of the M113, do they both have the same winch or is it limited to the fitter? I have some photoes that have conflicting information as to which variant is which
Also, M113 mortar carrier kits - are there any in production?
Yes, Tamiya recently reissued their M106A1 Mortar Carrier. It has an M30 107mm, (a.k.a. a “4-Duece”, 4.2 inch tube) mortar in it and is a pretty nice kit. If you are looking for an M125 81mm Mortar Carrier, Italeri makes a USMC LAV-M with an 81mm that can me mounted in the M113 Carrier pretty easily. AFV Design also does an 81mm conversion for the Tamiya kit.
You might want to ask about the Aust AFV at either http://www.aussiemodeller.com/ or http://missing-lynx.com/index.htm . There are a number of ex-RAAC members on the Aussiemodeller discussion board as well as knowledgeable exArmy members on the Missing Lynx site.
There are a few reference photos you might be interested in at the following link at AussieModeller:
