Painting Progress - Cold War Chain of Command

Finally, I got around to working on my IrishSerb M113s. They have been assembled and undercoated so far. I managed to get one of them painted up. I had a nice template that I found on-line detailing MERDC camo patterns. Take a look, they are rather useful. My wife and son helped me pick some craft paints to use for this. To my poor eyes they look ok.

Now it still needs some work. I want to use some washes on it and do some more work on the tracks. I was just happy to get something done.

Finally something accomplished

I was able to get started last night for the first time this year. I broke out the superglue and an exacto knife and began work assembling my Irish Serb made M113s that I bought at the end of last year. These are great kits. They are resin and come in seven parts. The bow machine gun is very fidly but I was able to find some pointers on Irish Serb's blog. He recommended assembling the MG and mount prior to attaching it to the hull. Even my fat fingers managed the task. So the net result of my first bit of hobby work for the year.... one assembled M113.

I have three more to go. What I did find to help me once I start painting was a painting template for the M113 in MERDEC camo. I already have the paints I need and I am looking forward to giving it a shot. I am also exceedingly glad I only have 4 of these to do.

Now I need some recommendations. What would be good support elements for my Mechanized Platoon? It seems that an M150 (an M113 with a TOW launcher) is a good idea. Maybe a couple of jeeps as well with either TOW, recoilless Rifle or MG mounted. Would an M113 ACAV be worthwhile? Lastly, what armor to look at? For the 1982 timeframe in Germany, would an M60A2 be out of place?