I intend to try using this interior for my Tamiya M577. I found it on ebay and decided to dive in and see what happens.
I have the exact same Verlinden set that I am using in my M113A2 it has an updated drivers overhead panel which you have to remove the old molded on periscopes to add this part. And it wasn’t hard to do it either use a razor saw to remove the periscopes on the kit part sand it then open the hatch opening on the replacement panel match that opening up with the original opening glue down and your all set.
Thanks , I have to finish a model of the Titanic before I get to the M577. It’s been 49 years since I was in ours so I will have a lot to remember to do the interior. I appreciate your input.
I’ll try to get a picture up sometime in the next few days to show how the parts I did look on it.
here are the pics I promised of the interior the only part not glued down is the floor so that I can get it out to do other assembly cleaning and painting as well as get to the hull pan so I can do some filling of the openings on the right side of the hull with Putty.
I also suggest getting Archers M113 Instruments and placards set #AR35356 that has the instrument dials for the drivers IP which also includes a very nice selection of interior stencils.
Thanks Mikeym-us, I would appreciate that. Did you do the interior for the M577?
Mike, Thanks for the photos. Did you have any problems installing the interior?
Thanks again,
Earl
no that is one M113 variant I haven’t built yet or even own.
As of right now I am not done with the interior. But I didn’t have any problems installing the left side sponson and wall but I had to trim the tab on the right side sponson to fit the right side wall and you will have to sand the top of the right wall till it is even with the groove the top sits on so that it will sit lower and you have to remove a portion of thick area in the top that lies between the troop bay and the drivers compartment since the slot in the resin left wall sits higher than the one on the hull pan . With the top attached I can’t even tell tat I removed any plastic it is hiding that very well. When adding the front glacis you will need to thin down the mounting tab on the left side in order for the tab to fit into the slot in the front since the resin makes that opening a bit narrower.
I did an M577A2 a while ago. I converted an Academy interior for it.
Here it is in-progress: cs.finescale.com/…/102527.aspx
Complete: cs.finescale.com/…/103022.aspx
Mike, I have to raise the walls of the M113 interior kit to meet the extra height of the M577 interior.
Regards,
Earl
Gino, where did you find the Academy interior? Is it any better than the Verlinden M113 interior ? I will be starting my M577 shortly, but it will be as the original from the Vietnam era. Your build is awesome!!
Thanks for the info and pictures.
Earl
The interior should be about the same as the Tamiya interior. The Verlinden interior is more up to date to A2 standards and it shouldn’t be hard to add to the walls though I don’t really know what the parts layout for the M577 is. Also I have the engine compartment dryfitted on my A2 and will need to make some alterations to the top panel to get it to fit.
Academy’s M113s all come with a complete interior. It is more accurate for an A2 though. It is also more complete and better detailed than the Tamiya interior.
I did find this set for the M577 on Ebay
That set is for a German M577A2, not a US M577A1. The interior layout is totally different.
Gino, thanks for that input. I was never in an A2 so I would not have known that until I had purchased the Tamiya interior. When was the M577A2 put into service and was there ever a model kit made for it?
Thanks,
Earl
The M113A2 was fielded in the late '70s to early '80s. Some improvements included a new engine and tranny with new locations of the fan and radiator to improve cooling, higher-strength torsion bars and a relocated rear idler wheel (raised) to increase ground clearance, and shock absorbers to reduce the effects of ground strikes. With the new engine, a new internal rear engine access panel was added that was in two pieces as opposed to the one-piece A1 panel. Threaded holes and footman loops were added along the hull sides to allow attaching ERA panels as well.
Tamiya has a new"ish" M113A2 kit (35265), which is not totally accurate since they just added sprues to their earlier M113 and M113A1 kits. There is no interior in the kit. The biggest issue is the rear idler wheel is too low on the hull. On the A2, it was raised for better travel of the track. Further, the box top shows an M113A3 and one of the options and parts are provided for an M113A3 with the external fuel tanks (only on US A3s), but doesn’t really have any other M113A3 parts. So it is confused at best.
Academy’s M113A2 (1354) kit is pretty good and has a pretty accurate A2 interior as well. It also includes figures, weapons, and gear to fill it up. It also comes with the external fuel tanks as well. The rear idler wheel is is still too low on it though.
Academy has also done an M113A3 (13211) that is pretty good. It too comes with a full interior with the addition of spall liners on the inside as an A3 has. It still has the laterals of earlier models though. A3s have steering yokes like an aircraft and other modern armored vehicles. It is pretty accurate, but still needs some work to be correct. The rear idler is still too low on it too.
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Academy also does a very nice Vietnam M113A1 (1389). It has the correct parts(inside and out) for an A1. The low idler wheel is corret on this one. It also comes with a full interior which has the correct part for an A1 as well (one piece rere engine cover door). It also comes with crewmen, a couple infantrymen, a Vietnamese woman, extra weapons, and gear.
I prefer the Academy ones. They all also contain both vinyl and indi-link plastic tracks. I would use the M577-specific parts from the Tamiya kit and add them to the Academy kit, using the interior from it as well. You will end up with a much better model. Then you can build the Tamiya one as a straight M113A1 using the left over academy parts.
Good luck.
one thing I am confused about the Academy M113A1 is the two boxes on the front on both sides of the improved trim vane what purpose did they serve and why are they there. Because I’ve never seen anything like those on any other kit. I did order that particular Academy kit (M113A1) mostly because I had a crazy idea of using some of the boxes and the trim vane cover on a M106A1 kit I have in the stash.
Hello!
Those boxes are styrofoam floats, they were suppose to help the track with swimming as it got heavier and had problems in the water, but they got damaged easily and most crews dumped them, as I heard. You can leave them off, if your reference photos support it. Hope it helps, have a nice day
Paweł