Cold War Dutch, part 3: AMX-13/105

Another 3d printed model from Butlers Printed Models, this time a AMX-13/105 for my Cold War Dutch troops.

The AMX-13 is a French light tank designed in the 1950’s and is probably my favourite tank ever because of its quirky design. Firstly, to raise or lower the gun you don’t elevate the gun but the whole turret. And secondly, the gun is fitted with an autoloader, which means that you can engage targets quickly and don’t need room for a human loader. You’d better find some cover once your magazine is empty, however, because you can only refill it from the outside!

AMX is an abbreviation of the manufacturer Atelier de Construction d'Issy-les-Moulineaux (catchy, I know) and 13 refers to its initial weight of 13 tonnes. The original tank had a 75mm gun, which was later replaced by a 90mm version. Some countries, like the Netherlands, wanted something heavier still and bought a version with a massive 105mm gun. The bridge rating on the tank I photographed at the Nationaal Militair Museum at Soest suggests that this version weighed closer to 16 tonnes (number in yellow circle on the left fender in the picture below). The marking 103 CV, by the way, identifies it as belonging to 103 Cavalerie Verkenningseskadron (103 Reconnaissance Squadron). The light tank AMX-13/105 was in Dutch service from 1963 to 1985, alongside the Chieftain and Leopard I main battle tanks.

The print lines on this model are a bit more noticeable than on my other two 3d printed vehicles. Like on my BMP-1, I solved the problem of the tracks not being modeled with individual track links by gluing on some used coffee grounds to represent mud. One thing I could not fix or hide was the droop of the cannon, which makes it look as if the little tank is sad for some reason. It may be a little rough around the edges, but on the gaming table it looks pretty good. And I really enjoyed painting the licence plates and markings (which, looking at it now, I could’ve made a little smaller).

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Little Tanks & Tiny People

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