Completed Adjusting Track Tension, Vietnam 1967

[Jungle James O'Leary]

A few years ago I built the AFV Club M113 kit and backdated it to a gasoline powered track belonging to C Company, 2d Battalion, 47th Infantry (Mechanized), 9th Infantry Division as C-13 "Harassment " appeared in December 1967 during Operation Santa Fe. Since I was entering the model as an armor entry at several shows, with some having rules restricting the number of figures that could be included before being categorized as a diorama, I only included one figure on guard behind the .50. Recently I decided to add more figures and use the model in a diorama. I will be adding at least three or four additional figures. The first one is of the driver adjusting track tension with a grease gun. For those unfamiliar with the M113, this is done by injecting grease into a torsion bar that goes to the idler wheel. I sculpted the figure of the driver doing this well over a year ago, but just recently painted him.

More to follow in the next several days.

Thanks for looking.
Cheers,
James

 

[Chris Oldfield]

Fantastic work, James. I do enjoy seeing your Vietnam vignettes & dioramas, & the ammo box just inside the vehicle ramp is a humourous touch!

 

[Nap]

Hi James

That is one heck of a piece of modelling even without the planned additional figures

Great weathering , love the sweat stains

Look forward to seeing more

Happy benchtime

Nap

 

[Babelfish]

That's a masterclass in weathering there, spot on for the location depicted.

I'm not normally a fan of heavy weathering and I think that's down to the "Spanish School" which seems to have become de rigeur over the past decade or so: So many guys are doing it now including certain "Masters" in the hobby but to my eye it often ends up just looking totally OTT with the vehicles resembling patchwork quilts. It's even found its way into aircraft modelling, where it looks even worse.

Your technique is more "traditional" ... but so what?! I think you've nailed it, and the scratches are a really nice touch, and of course the red dust typical of the Central Highlands. Effects like that tend to get ignored a lot now, these days it seems to be all about adding as many streaks and "rain marks" and as much rust as possible.

- Steve

 

[Viking Bob]

Excellent work on the weathering and on the figures.

 

[Steve Ski]

I know you more than likely already have a set of figs for the dio, Ruck On, I say!

 

[Jungle James O'Leary]

Thanks for the feedback, Gents. I am glad to see that there are others out there that appreciate the older weathering techniques. I find many of the models I see at shows way over weathered, especially the more modern vehicles. Sure our vehicles got dirty and scratched, but we still took care of them when we could and we surely would not allow our vehicles to get into the shape I see some modelers place them in.

Ski, I don't have the additional figures done already, but do have their poses planned.

Cheers,
James

 

[Steve Ski]

Ski, I don't have the additional figures done already, but do have their poses planned. Cheers, James

Yep, I knew you already had it mentally planned out. Looking forward to more.

Cheers, Ski.

 

[Ned Ricks]

Well done, James.
Many folks confuse a nice paint job with the operational capability of a piece of equipment such as the M113 you modeled. First hand, I testify that busting brush and being on the go for weeks (and months) on end takes a toll on the exterior of these buggies.
If they can still "move, shoot, and communicate," press on.
Congrats on an excellent depiction.
Ned

 

[Jungle James O'Leary]

Well done, James.
Many folks confuse a nice paint job with the operational capability of a piece of equipment such as the M113 you modeled. First hand, I testify that busting brush and being on the go for weeks (and months) on end takes a toll on the exterior of these buggies.
If they can still "move, shoot, and communicate," press on.
Congrats on an excellent depiction.
Ned

Thanks, Ned. I am glad that you like it.

Most of my career was spent in Reconnaissance and Light Infantry units except for a short period where I was assigned to an Armor Battalion, so I never had any personal experience busting brush in a track. When I started my project of depicting the Vietnam service of 2d Battalion, 47th Infantry (Mechanized), 9th Infantry Division I spoke with several Veterans of the battalion to gain better insight on daily operations, load plans, etc. in order to get the details correct.

With this particular track, the trim vane had been damaged several times while busting brush so eventually the crew quit replacing them during standdowns.

I am sure you are more than familiar with what I am about to explain, but I am doing so for those who may not be. In the interior, one will see the wooden bench seats that were made by the crew replacing the normal seats to adhere to the battalion's load plan SOP. Since a short crew may receive help in the form of members from other squads being loaned to the track for a mission or two, the load plan was the same for each track in terms of where and how ammo, grenades, claymores, pyro, and spare radio gear was stored. In the case of the scene being depicted here, C-13 isn't to far away from the FSB where the rest of the company is located. Their platoon is pulling security for some Rome Plows that are clearing the sides of the road and only part of the squad is with the track. The rest of the squad was back at the FSB securing the perimeter in the small bunkers that were dug to the left of each track.

Most of my work depicts actual Soldiers and vehicles when those are included. I try my best to get the details right. Being able to get guidance throughout the building process from those being depicted is better reference material than most formal reference books can provide.

Cheers,
James

 

[Ned Ricks]

Hi, James
Again for background for those who might enjoy such details...My cavalry unit in 1971 used the M113A1 (diesel engine version) configured as ACAV (Armored Cavalry Assault Vehicle). This included a wrap around tub for the .50 cal gunner/TC and two extra M-60 7.62 machine guns on either side above the cargo hatch. The interior floor of these was wall-to-wall machine gun ammo cans. No one wanted to run out in the middle of a fire fight. Sadly, this extra weight was fatiguing on the suspension systems and caused more maintenance time.
The crew mostly rode on the top deck. This gave some (minimal) advantage in case of land mines and, if shot at by RPG (rocket propelled grenades), one did not want to be inside as the RPG pierced the aluminum armor easily and made the insides a dangerous place to be.
Keep on painting. I enjoy your results.
N

 

[Jungle James O'Leary]

Hi, James
Again for background for those who might enjoy such details...My cavalry unit in 1971 used the M113A1 (diesel engine version) configured as ACAV (Armored Cavalry Assault Vehicle). This included a wrap around tub for the .50 cal gunner/TC and two extra M-60 7.62 machine guns on either side above the cargo hatch. The interior floor of these was wall-to-wall machine gun ammo cans. No one wanted to run out in the middle of a fire fight. Sadly, this extra weight was fatiguing on the suspension systems and caused more maintenance time.
The crew mostly rode on the top deck. This gave some (minimal) advantage in case of land mines and, if shot at by RPG (rocket propelled grenades), one did not want to be inside as the RPG pierced the aluminum armor easily and made the insides a dangerous place to be.
Keep on painting. I enjoy your results.
N

Thanks, Ned. I will be posting more over time.

When my friends in 2/47 Inf (Mech) arrived in Vietnam in 1967, they still had the old gasoline powered M113s and the battalion did not fully change over to the M113A1 until June or July of 1968. If a track got hit and was beyond repair, then they would get replaced with a M113A1 prior to when the entire battalion refitted with them. The Scout Platoon received the ACAV kits for their tracks, but the rest of the battalion scrounged and used whatever they could get. It was like that until the unit returned to the States in 1970 after Cambodia. One of my friends was on the track that carried the recoilless rifle (C-14 which I made a diorama of back when I was recoving from surgeries after coming back from my last tour in Afghanistan). They had the ACAV tub, but not the shield, for the .50 as the shield interfered with traversing right due to the position of the RR. They had a M60 shield on the left side. C-13 which is depicted here only had the shield for the .50 and a shield on the right side for the M60. The original headlight guards were torn off busting brush so the maintenance section fabricated those that are shown on the model. When I get the other figures completed and take photos of the entire diorama, I will post better all around photos of the track. C-14 was one of the heavier tracks in the company with the RR and also the platoon demo. During Operation Santa Fe, there was one day where it rained really heavily in the middle of the dry season. The platoon had just crossed a river that was becoming more and more swollen as it rained and runoff from elsewhere was building up. The LT had to return to the company area for a meeting and wanted to take C-14 back to attend that meeting. Bill told the LT that the track was the heaviest in the company, the bilge pumps were not working, and that it would sink if it was attempted. The LT in his infinite wisdom and experience (or rather lack of) insisted on taking C-14 because he was of the firm belief that the track could swim as he saw a demo of it during OCS. The rest of the squad got off and were split up among the other tracks. When C-14 made it halfway through before it got engulfed in water and sank to the top of the hull. They had to get pulled out and Bill had to take everything out, replace the fuel bladder, go through the entire engine, and a bunch of other stuff over the next couple of days. Needless to say, the LT was not one of his favorite people.

 

[Ned Ricks]

I am surprised that any of us survived being lieutenants. When I was in Armor school, all the instruction was oriented toward Europe and WWIII. Any Vietnam type training we had was of the light infantry sort -- Ranger School and Jungle Warfare School, none that was particularly useful in SE Asia.
BUT - a mentor was able to open my eyes early on to listening to my NCOs. He was a veteran many times over and knew what he was talking about, and I was fortunate to have him to teach me.
By the time I arrived in Vietnam, I was a captain with mainly European training and experience. Some things were universal (mission, take care of the troops, etc) and some things took relearning.

Ignorance can be cured... stupid, hardly ever.
N

 

[marios1]

Hi James congratulations for this fine dio and, in particular for the fantastic paintink way on the m113...great!!!!

I hope to see soon your figures to add on dio, eventually in same step by step pictures !!!!

Ciao ciao

Mario from Italy.

 

[Henk]

Ahh, the subject of armour weathering...
Weathering, and "wear and tear", are very much dependent on context, location, and period.
A tank in Russia in Spring or Autumn can quite legitimately be completely covered in thick heavy mud, a tank in NW Europe less so.
Summer in Russia is hot and dry, which means bleached out paint and dust, but no mud. NW Europe, summers are a mix, dry, rain, dust, culminating in the typical filthy streaked look of Olive Drab Allied armour, which was rarely washed. Germans used a Dark Yellow base coat (from 1943) and repainted or touched up their Brown and Green camo colours regularly, so much less mud and dust streaking.

Chipping. the modern school of chipping implies that armoured vehicles are overnight visited by a gang of dwarves, armed with ball peen hammers. It may be correct for some vehicles, especially if they have been over painted in a hurry, but in general, chipping should only show on very high stress points, edges of cupola, hatches, metal fittings.

 

[Jungle James O'Leary]

I just completed the next figure being added to this diorama. He will be positioned to the right of the guy adjusting track tension and will be leaning against the back corner of the track. He is probably supervising.

The figure is from Bravo 6 with a Hornet head. It was painted with acrylics and the slight dirtiness of his uniform is from pigments.

At least two more figures to go.





Thanks for looking.
Cheers,
James

 

[KenBoyle]

Truly amazing work James!

Cheers,
Ken

 

[Jungle James O'Leary]

Thanks, Ken.

 

[marios1]

Hi James as usually a fantastic figure painted in suberb way.......... !!!!!
You have used one horhet head of his last realization kit.........fine indeed!!!!

The other figure which poses they ll have ??? They will be all of BRAVO6 brand???

Congratulations.

Mario from Italy.

 

[Jungle James O'Leary]

Hi James as usually a fantastic figure painted in suberb way.......... !!!!!
You have used one horhet head of his last realization kit.........fine indeed!!!!

The other figure which poses they ll have ??? They will be all of BRAVO6 brand???

Congratulations.

Mario from Italy.

Well, Mario, here is the figure that will be positioned to the left of the guy adjusting track tension. The base figure is from the same Bravo 6 figure set which is B6-35308 US Tank Crew. I used a Hornet head, added a holster from Hobby Fan, and made the cigarette out of wire. This figure was a bit challenging to paint because he is bent at the waist and his arms block some areas of the uniform. In hindsight, I probably should have painted the body first then add the arms, but I think he turned out OK. He looks a bit rough close up, but at audience viewing distance he looks pretty decent.



In the next day or two I plan on gluing the guy adjusting track tension and the two onlookers to the base. I need to check with one of the crew members to find out if there were four or five of them that went out that day. That will determine if I add another figure or not.

Thanks for looking.
Cheers,
James