Team Yankee - Building and prepping the Khurasan M113s

I ordered one Khurasan M113 to take a look at it when I ordered my mech infantry for Team Yankee (which reminds me that I need to get some stands for them). I was happy enough with that model to go ahead and order three more for my mech infantry platoon instead of using the ones from Battle Front.

I started to build the original M113 that I had received. If you remember I had some issues with this one off the bat that I was able to fix with the hot water trick. What I didn't notice at the time though was the seam along the side. I think this particular vehicle must have slipped in the mold somehow, however, all the other three M113s have it, just to a much, much lesser degree.

Rather than wait to try and get a replacement I decided to just fix it with Squadron Green. I completely covered both sides and part of the front glacis and then filed it down after it had dried. I don't think you will be able to tell the difference after a bit more filling and filing. I checked the other three out and they don't seem to have any issues, so it really is just a fluke that I received a bad one.

I compared these to the M106 from Battle Front. They are almost identical but the Battle Front versions stand taller. Noticeably so when they are next to each other. During a game I don't think anyone will notice.

M113s on parade well sort of. The Khurasan kit comes with a couple of options, like metal or resin tracks, along with three options for the vane in front.

I tried a partial application first

Then decided it would just be easier to do the whole side

The front, you can see the seam here. Again this is not a seam from the mold, just a casting that went wrong. Most of the front will be covered by the vane.

I added some of the components while the Squadron Green was drying. I went with the resin tracks, I liked the fit better. The hatches are pewter pieces. The front and sides have been sanded down. I just need to decide if they need another application of Squadron Green or not.

Still a little rough after using the file, but getting closer. I would follow this up with a quick rub down with a piece of fine steel wool. that really smoothed out the surfaces.

After I had finished this first M113 I went ahead and started work on the remaining three.

Here are the backs of the other three M113. The issue is the top piece where the ramp goes. The casting on the left is the best, the middle one isn't bad , but the one on the right is quite wavy. Don't panic! The resin here, at least on these three, is quite flexible and I was able to use the metal ramp casting to push everything into place. It its not flexible (i.e. doesn't move when you push it with your fnger) then you can use hot water to make the resin flexible and fix it into position after that.

I used my handy metal blocks to hold the tracks in place while the glue driec. You can see the fully finished first M113 in the upper right of the photo, this is after finally assembly and a rub down with fine steel wool.

Putting together the TCs hatch

All finished and ready to go.

I grabbed an M106 for a quick comparison. The Battle Front model is definitely taller, but is pretty close in all other respects.  If they are even a few inches apart on the table you are not likely to notice the difference in size.

The Khurasan M113 tracks are much easier to put on than the Battle Front versions. If you want the skirting use the resin tracks and if you want it without just use the metal tracks that also come with the kit.

I also spent some time finishing up the M1 Abrams models with some extra stowage both from the kit sprue and with the stowage metal stowage sprue from Khurasan. I'm still looking for some really good stowage for cold war vehicles at this scale but I'm not having much luck.

These are ready for primer now too! All of this may have paint by the end of the week, don't hold your breath on that.