I've finally finished the side storage racks for my OIF M113A3. This was my first scratchbuild project, so I was a bit unsure if I was up to it. I used Evergreen .06" "L" angle, .015"x.06" strip, and .04"x.06" strip. The mesh I got from a Tamiya kit (left over from the M60A1 with ERA).

The first rack I built is designed slightly differently from the second (it has thicker vertical posts and a different bottom configuration). I adjusted the design for the second rack to make it easier to build. Neither rack is quite "square," and some bits are a tad short or long, but it's the best I could do with my current skills.

Here is a link to a thread I posted earlier detailing my progress on the first rack.

Here are a couple of pics of the two racks. Comments welcome!

Looks good to me. I welcome you to the "Dark Side". I like the use of speaker grille for the 'floor' and I use it some myself.

Good job Lucas!

Cuhail

Lucas,
They look fine. And they mean more cause you built them instead of paying for them. The little things attempted, makes you beter & better.
keep up the GREAT work.

Could have fooled me that they were scratchbuilt

Thanks for the encouragement, guys. This forum was invaluable in helping me jump into scratching. Now that I have a taste for it, I'll be looking for other opportunities to add on to or modify kits.

Very nice indeed.

Glad to see these worked out well. Can't wait for the final product.

Jeff

Those racks look the part. Do not sweat the racks being differant, unsquare, or the bars being too long or short. The original racks were built in a workshop in Kuwait, not from a factory in the USA. Now, lets see 'em on the M113A3.

John

Lookin good! I'm going to try my hand at making some and will probably use your pix as a guide. Keep up the great work!

Thomas--If you want I can give you a short description of what I did (and maybe draw a crude diagram).

Those look great Lucas, their going to look even better once installed. Now that you found the taste for scratchbuilding you’ll be doing it more often, soon you’ll be using less resin and PE during your build. What’s next, anything caught your eye!

Joe

Lucas, those look great! EVen better then the PE ones I have seen! Good job!

Gary