Cartel PTS-M Amphibian.

chrisonord · March 29, 2017, 10:25:08 AM

This project came about originally because I wanted a PTS-M amphibian in 1/72nd scale, but could not justify the near £50 price tag for a resin kit. Oh, and I don't like resin kits, especially those with resin tracks. So I had a good look at some pictures and thought, I can build one of those, either using a Higgins boat as the hull and scratch/ kit bodge the tracks and cab etc. Looking at the size of the the Higgins boat and comparing it to the size of the PTS, I thought nah, going to be too small for purpose as I want it to carry trucks etc. The Higgins boat conversion will happen though but as a much smaller troop/supply vehicle.In the stash I had 2 Revell T-80's that cost 3 quid each, and they got roped in to the build along with styrene card and bits from the spares boxes.
So, for the back story....
Because of the amount of rivers to cross and especially during the rainy season, the vast expanses of water that would stop ordinary vehicles in their tracks, The Cartel Generals needed an amphibious vehicle that could carry other vehicles, and or troops/supplies to where ever they were needed. The resources department happened upon some pictures of the Russian PTS-m, of which over the years had been made in many different versions but all with a very similar shape and load capacity. Next task was to find some of these as they are quite rare, and still in current use by Russia and it allies. Any vehicles in civilian use were few and far between and their owners were not for giving them up. Plan c was put into place, and surplus parts and scrap yards were scoured for enough parts to build up at least 4 of the vehicles. This was a very long and drawn out task that almost made the project too expensive to pursue. Any how, several hulls were found and running gear engines tracks etc that were said to be compatible were found, from Siberia down as far as Iraq. All these parts were sold as compatible and able to build several PTS Amphibians. The parts were put on boats, in no particular order, Ferried to Nicaragua, via El Salvador. in trucks. On their journey one of the trucks was lost due to a land slide on a mountain road and everything aboard was lost. This didn't go down well, one bit as it caused no end of problems at the construction end. Two vehicles were built, using some of the spares and hulls, as some of what they had was no use. The rest of the work needed to finish these two PTS, amphibians was done with Scavenging parts from vehicles they already had and making them fit and making new parts from scratch. Thus making the vehicles a very expensive investment. The two vehicles that were eventually put into service had parts from no less than 4 different versions of the PTS, making them a bit of a Frankensteins floaty monster.
Pictures to follow.

RAFF-35 · March 29, 2017, 10:47:10 AM

What a brilliant idea

Well done, should be a good one to watch

Weaver · March 29, 2017, 11:49:33 AM

Are you sure the Higgins Boat's no use Chris? They seem pretty similar in size:

PTS-M:

Length:      11.52 m (37 ft 10 in)
Width:      3.32 m (10 ft 11 in)
Height:      2.65 m (8 ft 8 in)
Curb weight:    17,700 kg (39,000 lb)

LCVP:

Displacement:    18,000 lb (8,200 kg) light
Length:      36 ft 3 in (11.05 m)
Beam:      10 ft 10 in (3.30 m)
Draft:      3 ft (0.91 m) aft, 2 ft 2 in (0.66 m) forward

chrisonord · March 29, 2017, 12:20:43 PM

Quote from: Weaver on March 29, 2017, 11:49:33 AM
Are you sure the Higgins Boat's no use Chris? They seem pretty similar in size:

PTS-M:

Length:      11.52 m (37 ft 10 in)
Width:      3.32 m (10 ft 11 in)
Height:      2.65 m (8 ft 8 in)
Curb weight:    17,700 kg (39,000 lb)

LCVP:

Displacement:    18,000 lb (8,200 kg) light
Length:      36 ft 3 in (11.05 m)
Beam:      10 ft 10 in (3.30 m)
Draft:      3 ft (0.91 m) aft, 2 ft 2 in (0.66 m) forward

They are too narrow H, and not quite long enough for what I need either. Here is some progress pics.

As you can see with the Ural truck, it is going to be a big piece of kit.
Chris.

chrisonord · March 29, 2017, 12:24:09 PM

Some more progress pics

Chris.

chrisonord · March 29, 2017, 01:05:01 PM

Go on then, here's some more for you.

No more pics as I need to do some more work to this, namely some stiffening strips on the sides, a spot light a gun and some small details for the lowering system on the rear ramp. In case anyone was wondering, the rear ramp can not be lowered until the rudders are turned completely to the port side and thus out of the way of the ramp when lowering.
Chris

sandiego89 · March 29, 2017, 05:41:19 PM

Nice use of the Evergreen sheet! Looking great.

Rick Lowe · March 29, 2017, 06:48:18 PM

Did wonder whether there was a rear ramp, and if so, about the rudders...

That's impressive work - ok it's all slab, but even so. Extra points for not just getting something resin, or cutting up a kit for it.

It's very satisfying to make something yourself from sheet.

zenrat · March 30, 2017, 12:15:02 AM

Fantastic. Can't wait to see more.

chrisonord · March 30, 2017, 05:05:28 AM

Cheers, I did some more to this last night, found a gun for it, made a spot light, and made the propeller guards smaller as they limited the ground clearance as they were. There are a few different versions of these things, one has the props built in to the hull, with the rudders attached to the hull, another version has the props on a framework that moves up and down with the ramp. The triangular part at the back all moves up and down as the ramp.I built a dozer type blade for the ramp to drop down on to like one of the versions, as it has also one of these fitted. If you want to see these in the flesh, look up PTS- M amphibian on Google, there is plenty of pics of these impressive beasts.
Chris.

chrisonord · April 03, 2017, 04:02:44 AM

I was hoping to have some more pics up of this in paint, but the paint dried like it were wood grained

:banghead:Thanks to it being square shaped, the paint scraped off quite easily. Plus I realised I had omitted something from the underside of the hull.
Chris

chrisonord · April 04, 2017, 03:29:33 PM

Done a bit more to this, hopefully will have some camo on it and lots of weathering too. First picture is of it next to the Airfix Higgins boat hull I have, in 1/76th scale the Higgins boat was too small to make one of these beasts from, but it will get turned in to something similar eventually.

Cheers Chris.

chrisonord · April 04, 2017, 03:46:07 PM

Photo bucket for some reason has moved or deleted a load of my pictures, can anyone tell me how I can sort this please

Wrong place I know, but my build pics for this GB are there also
Chris

loupgarou · April 05, 2017, 11:41:22 AM

1) You're a fast worker, congratulations! I'd still be thinking of the way to cut the first plastic part.

2) Disappearing photos is one of photobucket's lovely tricks.

Are you still able to see them accessing pb?
I hope you haven't deleted the "original" photos from your computer, after uploading.

chrisonord · April 05, 2017, 02:26:11 PM

Quote from: loupgarou on April 05, 2017, 11:41:22 AM
1) You're a fast worker, congratulations! I'd still be thinking of the way to cut the first plastic part.
2) Disappearing photos is one of photobucket's lovely tricks.
Are you still able to see them accessing pb?
I hope you haven't deleted the "original" photos from your computer, after uploading.

I fortunately still have them on my camera, as I don't like deleting stuff if I don't have to. I will put them on a hard drive at some point.
The hardest bit about this build really was scrapping together enough left over Russian vehicle bits that I could use on it, without plundering another kit for something. I need to sort photo bucket though as I can do without that happening again.
Cheers,
Chris