Packs hung on sides of tanks?

I've been wondering about that for years too. Add to that all the stuff you see on the backs of WWII German soldiers. you never see a strap or any kind of attachment...

Craig

On the M113, there are dozens of tie-downs welded to the roof, and packs must have straps reaching up over the edge of the roof to be secured. Gear tends to be attached to the sides of vehicles only in open country (like the Iraqi desert). In forested terrain, there is too much chance of it being snagged and rippped away by underbrush and branches. Shermans didn't have tie downs on the hull or turret sides when delivered, but these were sometimes added by field units. There were tie downs on the deck for securing tools and other gear. On a tank, everything must be secured, including stuff stacked on the engine deck, or it willl slide or bounce off the vehicle. And stowed gear must not block air vents or the engine will overheat. Gear is generally not stowed in such a way as to prevent the turret from rotating (though tanks in the North Africa campaign sometimes broke this rule to stow water and fuel cans at the rear of the engine deck). Kit manufacturers would have trouble molding thin canvas straps on the various packs and duffel bags, so the modeler must add these from thin plastic, paper, or metal foil. As for German infantry, all personal gear is clipped or strapped to the belt and y-straps. GPO

The new Tamiy M113A2 more closely represents an M113A3 cosmetically. Tamiya took some shortcuts and did not make a "true" A3 and the external fuel cells weren't used on the US variant of the M113A2 (except for on the M981 and M1064 variants).

Real M113A3s have a series of tiedowns going along the side of the hull. Not hooks per se, but the type that is formed by a short piece of steel rod with each end welded down, forming a slot.

Here is a photo of one of my A3s. You can barely make out the row of tie downs above the Velcro strips (used to hold the MILES sensors on and not to stick rucksacks to).

May have to cut and paste the entire link to get it to fit.

Rob Gronovius Modern US armor at

Thanks, i figured there wer elittle slots like that, just not on the kit. I'll add those on when i build my M113. Andrew Nelles