Trumpeter Cougar AVGP

[NecronautDrummer]

Here's a walkthrough of my chosen War Wheels kit, the Cougar AVGP from Trumpeter.

I used to drive these things in my Army Reserve days in the 90's. I'll be building a 1994 era Cougar, before they did the turret refit.

A quick shot of the parts layout...



In a moment of stupidity, I installed the brake line guard plates (the boxes beside the shock absorbers) upside down. They were stuck before I figured that one out... I'll have to scratchbuild the mounts and rivets back onto them properly. I first cut off and sanded the ridges from the box. They're supposed to be the mount points to the hull.


With some square styrene strip, I remade the mount points inbetween the guard plate and the hull, where they're supposed to be. You can see that I'm still in the process of cleaning off the ridges from the rear guard.


Brake guard extenders were soon installed on the Cougars when the brake lines were being continually torn out from driving in the field. This kit doesn't have that, so I'm off into my very first time scratch-building a part from styrene. These are the fronts of those brake guard plate extensions.


...and here is the first finished guard extension. I added a styrene strip to the front because that's the way the guard wrapped around the exposed brake lines. Besides, it'd be a little flimsy without it. It needs to be sanded down flush and puttied up smooth still, but I'll let it cure completely before I do that.
I've also added the rivet detail back onto the brake guard with some cut-down styrene rod, sanded down a little after curing. Still need to install the rear wheel brake guard mod (but I want to check some reference pics first; it might be a square box on the rear wheel?)


Starting the work on the other side. The brake guard on the middle wheel is how it was supposed to be installed.

Like I've said in several other posts, I'm somewhat of a noob at this, having taken a 13+ year break from the hobby. Any and all feedback would be appreciated!


Happy modelling!

 

[panzerace007]

Nice save on the Boxes .... but after you put th Wheels on .. Are you gonna be able to see them ? Before you answer .. I know ... I know ... You'll know there not accurate..... I'm th same way ! ;D

Lookin good so far & Cheers to your 1st. Scratch Build !!! ;D

 

[spud]

looking good, and a good save on the bits

 

[Chris S]

Good start there fella , looks like a nice kit !

Chris.

 

[TRM]

Nice choice there, looks to be a great build!! Nice catch, seemed to be fairing well and making progress!! Looking forward to seeing some more!! ;D

 

[schweinhund227]

Nice touch !! they even replicated the welds on the hull plating... Awesome !

 

[NecronautDrummer]

Yes, they did, a pretty decent job with the weld marks. However, it brings up a problem. There is a DEEP mold seam line that runs from the front wheel well up to the edge of the lower hull. It'd be easy to sand and fill, if it weren't for the fact that it crosses a weld line. How could you preserve/replicate weld lines? I have no Tenax, BTW. Just Tamiya Extra Thin, and a tube of Testor's kicking around somewhere in the tool drawer.

 

[spud]

i beleve you can use thin strips of styren. go over it with the glue to soften it and use your blade to make the welds. best to set it on scap first.

Click me!!. check out that link it shows it there, its just below how to muddy your tank,

 

[NecronautDrummer]

Awesome, thanks!

 

[Army Vet]

Drummer..
This is cool .. great job on the scratch work .. What was it like in this thing .. I was in the ARMY INFANTRY 1AD we had Bradly's and they where tight you got to know everyone real well...
Awesome job on the pumpkin .
Lee

 

[NecronautDrummer]

The fuel tank & ammo rack took up half of the back area, but the other half was 'rumored' to be able to carry half of an infantry section, about 4-5 troops. In reality, it would have been a tight fit, even if they were just in battle dress with no rucks. I've never seen these things carry more than the operating crew of 3.
Trying to remember my Bradley build from a several years back...
The driver was in his own little world in the Cougar, sitting way up at the front. Commander & gunner in the turret got to know each other somewhat, but the breech for the main gun sat right in between them, at shoulder/head height. Even with the tiny turret (about the same as a Bradley), it wasn't ever too close for comfort. We did a little Simnet training on Abrams (not the computerized trailers, mind you, the monitors & computers set up on the tank itself aimed right into the periscopes), and I remember my somewhat large CC's knees grinding into my shoulders when I took the gunner's seat! Pretty cramped for those two.

Our IFV's were Grizzly's, of which Trumpeter has just release the kit for. Driver up front, CC right behind him with a cupola hatch, and a gunner in his own .50-cal mini-turret in the centre of the vehicle. It opened a little more room in the back for the infantry section, but not much! With no ammo racks taking up space in the back, I think it was configured so that you had bench seats mounted to the inner hull on both sides, and the gas tank was repositioned to the middle of the rear chassis so it could function as an infantry bench seat too. It's the same chassis as a Cougar, and it made a great vehicle for tactical driver training with the instructor right behind you.

The Cougars were retired from service a few years back, but I have a feeling that the Grizzly's are gonna stay in service as IFV's for Reserve motorized infantry units. Our Regular Force IFV's are Coyotes, same thing as LAV-III's. Not sure if they're even operating M113's anymore.

Hope that's enough of a picture for ya! If you want more war stories, just ask

 

[Beobachtungsbereich]

Nice job on a 94 Cougar. I drove those little POS for a while...88-94 to be exact and then again 96-98.

The brake boxes were only plates, not actual boxes and they only covered them from being hit by rocks and ice.

The rumble seat in the back was for 3 troops in an emergency only. We never carried anyone in the back at all, even in Oka.

If you really want to get into the weeds on this AFV, I can give you first hand info as most guys driving back then were very capable of rebuilding brakes, doing 5000hr overhauls with the maintainers on engins and doing complete turret pulls.

Another detail is no crew would ever go to the field without floor boards inserted in the back or behind the driver. This was for keeping kit dry and these things would leak like a SOB. All they were was a length of plywood cut to length and width to fit in the back. Behind the driver was another length cut to go behind the driver's seat and around the hull battery box and the heater. This one was raised by using pallent blocks to raise it off the floor. Most were painted OD green.

There was also seperation screens Jerry rigged to separate the area at the fuel tank to the ready rack from the rumble seat. Most were made of chicken wire or bungee cords/ rope. It was used to keep kit neat and tidy as going cross country would throw kit all over the place in the back.

I still have my old one in the shed. If you'd like a picture I can post it for you.

Regards

 

[Beobachtungsbereich]

The Cougars were retired from service a few years back, but I have a feeling that the Grizzly's are gonna stay in service as IFV's for Reserve motorized infantry units. Our Regular Force IFV's are Coyotes, same thing as LAV-III's. Not sure if they're even operating M113's anymore.

110 Grizzleys were being given to the African Union for use in Darfur/ Sudan for peacekeeping. No one is suing them anymore to my knowledge.

As for M113s, they've been converted to TLAV variants, most with Grizzly 1m turrets put on them and an improved engine/ transmission/ track. No more tiller bars it's now a steering bow. They now motor along at a comfy 50km/h instead of 25-30 km/h.

Regards

 

[schweinhund227]

in the SAND BOX .... with all the other Toys we have there....

 

[Elm City Hobbies]

And that is just the regular hulled M113, and not the stretched hull, which I would love to have in a kit!!

 

[Beobachtungsbereich]

Found a Cougar not on a pedestal! If you want photos of any component let me know and I'll get them on here for you.

Regards

 

[NecronautDrummer]

Thanks for the offer! So far, I've been referencing ldshrecceboy's Photobucket album, about 20 pages of detail photos on cougars (both before & after the turret refit), and it's helped a lot. I don't foresee needing any more reference than that album (it's pretty complete already!). But if I need anything, I'll let you know.

Finished scratching the brake guards, and building the front suspension. Next step is to fix the mold line above the front wheel housing, the one with the weld in it. I have a soldering iron at the rehearsal studio that I use for repairing XLR and instrument cables. I think that I should be able to just hold an old X-Acto blade on the hot tip with some twisted wire. As well, my last visit to a hobby shop yielded some gaps in scratchbuild materials. Need more sizes of brass wire and thinner sheet styrene. Maybe some styrene strip and rod, too?

Still waiting on some photoetch from EBay before I start the upper hull and turret assemblies. I'll post some pics on Sunday or Monday night.

 

[NecronautDrummer]

Lotsa goodies!! Got many sizes of brass rod, styrene rod, strip, sheet, and even some u-channel. I had a thought about the tie-downs around the vehicle, and it seems to me that while some of them are the bent-rod type, others along the side of the hull are bent steel strip. The channel, cut into tiny bits, and sanded off on the corners, should mimic that look.

Got a drill index with sizes 61-80 bits, which I'll need for drilling the holes for the non-existent engine grille latches and handles., and making drain plug holes on the bottom of the hull.

Also picked up a saw and miter box set, which should come in handy for sawing rod and stuff!

And I had a thought. Florists use a thin green wire for tying together bits for floral arrangements. I think it should scale down nicely to replicate the size and look of para cord, which we would often loop through the tie-downs on the sides of the hull to hold down bits of bush and tree for camo. Maybe a B-string from a guitar too?

Micro-Mark sells a wire bending die made just for bending handles and rails for trains, etc. Anyone have one? Is it worth the purchase? I've never used brass rod or music wire for scratchbuilding, and I'm a little intimidated by the thought of trying to replicate bends using just some needle-nose pliers.

I was looking for some rod that was around 0.026" in diameter for scratch-building handles and stuff, but the only stuff the hobby store had in that size was 'music wire'. It's greasy, but easily cleaned off. Why does everyone use brass? Is there a disadvantage to using music wire for scratch-building? And is .026" even the right size for 1/35?

And finally, whip antennae. I've done this before by melting and stretching sprue. It works great because you get this tapered shape, which is what our antennae were shaped like. My question is how do you replicate the ball/cone shaped fitting on the end? Or the antenna tie-downs and clips?

Once again, thanks for helping me out here! And hopefully I've lent the odd tip in this post too!

 

[TRM]

Sounds like an awesome haul the ND!! For small gauge rod you can go to copper wire maybe too. Stranded up to the solid, covers most of what will ever be needed. Sometime looking no further than the basement and/or attic....old lamp cords, computer innards have some great tiny gauge stuff...etc. I think that the music wire can be a bit fiddly when trying to bend it...but if it works out for you...Awesome!! Check with Scott over at Elmcity about the antenna mounts, pretty sure the are several flavors fo9r short money. Could also look into crafting bead, like for jewelry making. Most craft stores carry them and they usually have holes in them already!

Good luck!!

 

[spud]

check out http://www.rbmodel.com/index.php?action=products&cat=c_bm&sub=35A i duno if they will have the airerl mount but they have other Awsome stuff there. and they are cheap.

also look at teh back of the styrene pack it should say what is 1/35 scale the big pack has it listed