M113 A1 Armoured Personnel Carrier

My final scale model build from Italeri's Operation Silver Bayonet multi kit, and the last of my Vietnam series, is the M113 A1 ACAV armoured personnel carrier. This model, first released by Italeri in 2003, was included in this multi kit together with two other models from the early 2000s, the M48 Patton tank and UH-1 Huey helicopters.  I do wonder whether this was a lean period in Italeri's scale model production, for the quality of their earlier 1990s H-1 Souix and later 2010 UH-1 Huey are far better. The cynic in me could also assume that Italeri have lowered the quality of these re-released models just to keep the cost of their multi kits down. I guess I'm just going to have to try out a few more of these themed kits to find out! 

The nice key features of this kit were the range of alternative gun mountings, the option to have doors and hatches opened and the solid tracks, which I much prefer over the rubber band version. The decals were also the most spectacular I have seen on any but the most flamboyant military model. So much so, that when all 3 were applied to the sides, I had visions of Lydia The Tattooed Lady! As such, I removed the most garish and added one to the front, an area I have frequently seen decorated with motifs, even grimacing sharks teeth! As with all Italeri models, there were no crew or combat figures, but with around 50 US troops included as part of the multi-kit, I had plenty of options to play with! I, therefore, placed the M113 straight into the thick of the battle, with .50-caliber machine gun firing and troops spilling from its bowels into action! 

The M113 armored personnel carrier, second only to the UH-1 Huey helicopter in battlefield importance, entered production in April 1960. Developed by FMC, the fully tracked, aluminium-hulled M113 was configured for a two-man crew of a commander/gunner and driver, and could carry an additional 11 soldiers. It included a hydraulically operated rear ramp for rapid exit, as seen on my model in the down position. The ramp also had a hatch for access when it was up.

M113 engages the enemy with it's .50 machine gun while troops exit  

Enhancements included protective steel plates welded to the commander’s cupola or the .50-caliber M2 machine gun mount; which is the configuration you'll see adopted on my model. Additionally, many units mounted one or two M60 machine guns next to the roof cargo hatch, an enhancement I left off as it looked just too busy!  Over time, the improvised armour protecting the machine gunners evolved into rotating gun shields providing all-around protection; another enhancement I left off as they were a later 1970s addition  and my M113 is playing a role from 1965. 

Example of protective steel plates welded to the .50-caliber machine gun mount

The M113's combat specialism was breaking through heavy thickets in the midst of the jungle to attack and overrun enemy positions. Danger Close, the 2019 film about the Battle of Long Tan, as recommended to me by a good friend when learning of my little project, not only educated me of the Australian involvement in Vietnam but also showed some great scenes of the M113 used in just such a way. Although the M113 gets a small 'roll-on' part at the end of Platoon, in Danger Close it gets a rare staring role. 

Hydraulically operated rear ramp lowered for rapid exit

While Australia and New Zealand felt the need to support the US in this futile war, may be because this perceived Far Eastern Communist threat was seen to be too close for comfort, I’m proud to say that Britain’s special relationship with the US failed to sway the then Labour PM, Harold Wilson, to follow suit. Unlike future pretenders, Wilson fought against immense US pressure to follow them into the abyss! I read two interesting quotes in Max Hastings’ book Vietnam: An Epic History of a Divisive War 1945-1975, of McNamara, US Secretary of Defense, saying that he would pay a billion dollars for a British brigade, to which Wilson deflected the request saying that 'the Queen’s soldiers had their hands full in Asia addressing Indonesian aggression towards Borneo and Malaysia' (the subject of a couple of earlier lockdown builds); and Dean Rusk, the then US Secretary of State, is reported to have said, with considerable bitterness, ‘When the Russians invade Sussex, don’t expect us to come and help you’! There was obviously definitely no love lost within our special relationship at the time!

Next week .. The Falklands, a war that could so easily have been mine.

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The model

Brand: Italeri

Title: M113 A1 ACAV

Number: 7011

Scale: 1:72

Released: 2005