1:35 M113 ACAV w/106mm Recoilless Rifle

The M113 in cavalry trim: shields and a recoilless rifle

The aluminum M113 carrier entered service at the beginning of the 1960s and quickly became the most widely used tracked vehicle in the Western world. It was light, it could swim, it could be flown in and a whole squad fitted inside. In Southeast Asia, however, it turned out that the commander at the machine gun stood in the hatch without any protection at all, and the armored cavalry units pressed for the modification known as ACAV: an armor shield around the main weapon and a pair of side machine guns, each of them behind a shield of its own as well.

Some of the vehicles were additionally given a 106 mm recoilless rifle on the roof. A weapon with minimal recoil could be mounted on the light hull without rebuilding the chassis and gave the crew a forceful answer against bunkers, trenches and lightly armored targets. A vehicle like that stopped being a means of transport and became the mobile firing picket of a convoy.

1:35 scale is ideal for this subject. The open hull with its equipment, ammunition boxes, rolled tarpaulins and sandbags on the front of the vehicle make the model a rewarding scene even without anything built around it, and anyone who adds a crew gets a finished picture from one particular day.

Paints, glue and figures are not included in the package. The green finish of the real vehicle positively asks for shades to be layered, because a single flat area looks dull on a large model. The difference between the faded metal of the roof and the shadowed sides is the first thing the eye notices on a finished vehicle.