GHQ Models Forums

I like this model ... but have not been able to find any actual information about this configuration ... is this a real vehicle? I've seen M113A3 but not with the extra side armor and the ACAV style commander's station.

tanitatt wrote:I like this model ... but have not been able to find any actual information about this configuration ... is this a real vehicle? I've seen M113A3 but not with the extra side armor and the ACAV style commander's station.

It is a real configuration. My unit fell in on some in this setup in Iraq in '06. Some months later, we took them to the corps maintenance guys and they switched out the appliqué armor for an RPG cage, and the turret was switched out for a more heavily armored one that had the .50 cal gun shield, as well as other updates. They did not upgrade the ramp system to handle the weight, which was problematic.

thanks for the info ... I really like the look of it and was wanting to build one based off of a spare tamiya m113a2 I have ... but was trying to figure out how to do the side armor and was looking for any online references ...

most only had the ~1 inch thick steel reinforcement armor on them. Also, I need to correct myself. After going back and looking at pictures, it seems some of our m113a3's received the gunner's shield with pope glass, and some had it removed. There was an issue with fitting a gunner in the turret with the newer fifty cal mounts, as they mount the gun further back. My unit was manning an ecp, and the 113's were a mobile bunker and immediate reaction force vehicle for the checkpoint. When we couldn't fit in the turret (and we were skinny guys), I walked to a decommissioned tower, removed the older fifty cal mount, and installed it in the m113.

I'm sure a reasonable facsimile of an up armored m113a3 can be made with the addition of plastic card to the sides to emulate the reinforcement armor used circa '06. Alternatively, you could use the stryker rpg cages like m113's from '06 onward.

thanks again for the input, I did actually find a couple pictures using info from your replies ..

http://russian-tanks.com/armored-carrier-m113a3.php