PMMS
Firestorm
M113 Belly Armour
Vietnam

1:35th Update Set No. FST066
Review by Terry Ashley

In an effort to counteract the land mine problem in Vietnam a belly armour kit was developed for the M113.
This consisted of an additional armour plate fitted to the belly of the vehicle that also extended slightly up the front plate, this being about the only visable sign that the kit was fitted.

The update set consists of just three cleanly cast parts in a grey/green resin but provides the parts needed to add the belly armour to your M113. Instead of the full length under hull plate you just get the forward and rear sections of armour plate which is probably all you will see any way as well as the bolted front hull plate. The edges of the resin plates have very nice flame cut metal texture and the bolt heads on the front plate are well defined. Removal of the casting blocks is the only cleanup needed before assembly.

Designed for Academy M113 kit No.1389 preferably or kit No.1354 (Academy are after all the best M113 kits available at this time) the front hull resin parts fit snugly between the final drive housings without any modification. On the underside of the rear hull you must remove the locating points for the rear door hinges before fitting the real armour plate, this being the only modification needed to fit the set. The door hinges then fit into the cutouts in the resin plate without any problems.

The set will also fit the Tamiya M113 kits but additional work will be needed on the rear door hinges points under the hull as they are spaced differently than on the Academy kits with the left hinge needing to be repositioned. The front armour plates also fit snugly without modification.

If you have the Italeri M113 kit (you have my condolences) more work is required as the spacing of the final drives is less than that of both the Academy and Tamiya kits (which are identically in this area) as well as under the rear hull and you will have to modify the resin parts to fit. This is a pity as you will have to cut off the nice weld seam detail on the sides of the bolted front armour plate and personally I wouldn’t waste time using the Italeri kit as a basis for this update set.

One thing to note is that when the belly armour kit was fitted a front floatation panel was usually carried on the front trim vane to help offset the additional weight of the armour kit. You don’t get this floatation panel in the update set as it is already included in the Academy kits but is not in either the Tamiya or Italeri kits, another reason to use the Academy kits as a basic for this update set. There are though photos of M113s fitted with the belly armour kit but without the floatation panel so this is not a fixed rule, another case of check your references for the vehicle you are modelling.

In all a simple and easy to fit update set that will add that final touch to your Vietnam M113 kit.

The resin bits
Firestorm
Reference pic showing the armour plate on the front hull
Firestorm

This and other detail & accessory sets are available direct from

Thanks to David from for the review sample.



Page created 6 April 2003

Click Browsers BACK button to return to list
Home / Reviews / Vehicle Reviews / Firestorm