"What was it......?" Topic

The NM 116 !

What a superb job SirFjodin has done on this model! I am very pleased with it indeed! Especially the fine detail!

In 1972, the Norwegian Army decided to retain 54 of their 123 M24 light tanks as reconnaissance vehicles after they were substantially rebuilt under the designation NM-116. It was calculated that the NM-116 rebuilding program cost only about a third as much as contemporary light tanks.
This program was managed by the firm Thune-Eureka. The American firm NAPCO developed an improved power-pack based around the 6V53T diesel engine used in the M113 armoured personnel carrier mated to an Allison MT-653 transmission. The original 75 mm Gun M6 L/39 was replaced with a French D-925 90 mm low pressure gun, with a co-axial 0.50-inch (12.7 mm) M2 heavy machine gun. The bow gunner position was eliminated in favor of ammunition stowage. A new fire-control system was installed, complete with a Simrad LV3 laser rangefinder. Norwegian firms also converted eight M24 light tanks into light armoured recovery vehicles to support the NM-116. The NM-116 were retired from service in 1993. (wiki qoutes :))

This is one of the models for my Cold War Norwegian range, which will also include the NM 135 APC, NM142 AT and the Leopard 1A5N0. I am still working on the funding of this, with a high possibility it will be a Kickstarter for each nation. They will be kept small with vehicles and infantry. Hopefully any success will fund the next one and it also gives me the flexibility of doing what Nation/vehicles people want. More importantly it will help fund it. To be fair, I have 'ZERO' idea on how well this period is wanted :)

I can just see this taking on the Soviet forces in the winter hills!

thanks

Keith

armiesarmy.com

With added 0.50 cal Browning HMG

It that a M47 … Made popular in Movie "Patton"?

Like it says – it's a heavily modernised M24 Chaffee.

Very heavily modernised.
New gun, laser rangefinder, bow mg removed (to place more ammunition), welded hatch for bow mg gunner, coax 0.50 cal hmg (in addition to roof one), smoke launchers, new engine from m113 (details on engine top are a bit different than on original M24), new tracks, 2 stowage boxes on left and right mudguard, 2 stowage boxes on a hull behind the turret. Some additional details on mudguards. ooof :)

Probably ought to ask you to do this next, well, apart from the whole being on the wrong side of the world thing…. ;-)

PS – What cold war stuff I have is in 20mm. My only snowy terrain is in 25mm. I've also promised myself "no new armies in 2015." So I'm really quite disappointed with myself that I'm seriously thinking about 15mm Norwegians now….

As an afterthought, would an earlier Leopard model be better than the 1A5NO? As far as I can see, they only *started* upgrading to 1A5NO in 1989, so it's probably a bit late?

Dom

Ive been looking for upgrade information on that and I couldn't tell when the upgrade took place and what was before it!

A Leo is planned for sure

Is that, that Brazilian light tank?

I suspect the Leopard 1A1NO is what you want. And yep, that's the Brazilian M5 Stuart. ;-)

It looks as much as a stuart as my ford kuga!

Minor refurbishment, nothing more…. ;-)

PS – Next time I have an hour free I'll see what I can turn up on the Norwegian Leopards – predictable confusion over designations and just when different batches were upgraded, but they seem to have been at least moderately well photographed, particularly on exercises, which should mean appearances can be tied reliably to dates.

some report its the 1A1A2 and some the 1A1A3

looking at older pics the turret looks like the older 1A1A2

I think the A3 had a new turret

2 Dom Skelton

Oh my! Is it heavily "mutated" Franken-Stuart? ;) i mean the only tracks are original and the rest are new parts. Awesome vehicle!

Yeah, looks like a 1A1A2, although I can't figure out the right designation – some sites say it was the 1A1NO by then, and others that it was still just called a 1NO, while the 1A1NO was the designation for the non-upgraded vehicles bought from Germany in the late 89s /early 90s.

I'm so excited. And I just can't hide it. I'm about to lose control and buy Norwegians…

A mate of mine has the three-volume epic on the Leopard 1, one volume of which is devoted to foreign variants and includes scale plans for all of them. Definitely worth getting! It certainly includes plenty on the Norwegian variants, so I'll ask to borrow it (I did buy it for him, after all).

Re the model: I'm not sure about the M41-style 'drainpipe' muzzle brake. I know it was shown in those model plans I posted up recently, but all the NM116s I've seen had the 'square' muzzle brake normally seen on French 90mm guns, such as on the AML-90.

Here's one:

link

Jemima

Tricky call, Ive seen some many variants on the muzzle, its hard to know what was 'standard'. Probably depends on the upgrade programme.

and to be honest……the drainpipe looks easier to cast…

Keith

RMD – Yep, volume 3 of that series is "foreign" Leopards – the lion's share of the Norwegian photos are of the 1A5NO though – not sure about plans, but certainly worth checking.

Ooo, might it also be worth making a drop-in RBS-70 SAM cupola for the M113 to turn them into NM195s…?

Keith,

Fair enoughski! :) Yeah, I've just found one with the drainpipe, so that's good enough for me…

Cheers Dom. Ah, that's a shame. I of course had a good read of it before handing it over to him, but that was some years ago. IIRC, the 1A5NO is somewhat post-Cold War?

Yep – probably still worth checking though.

Since we talking M41 Chaffees how about a Danish M41 DK1?

I suspect the answer to that is "one ridiculously commercially unviable army at a time"…. ;-)

2 Jemima Fawr

I used these photo while modeling NM116 muzzle break

A bit not sure about turret HMG position, since some photos shows it at rear of the turret like on Chaffee, and others on front. Perhaps there were some NM-116 modifications during 70s and 80's

Ha! Exactly Dom!

I'll see how it go's :)

2 dragon 6
Danish walker bulldog with edged turret looks awesome :)

2 Jemima Fawr

Could you please share some photos of NM195, because I cant find them :(

I think you're right on the AAMG – most photos show it in the aft position, with further forward being much rarer – if I had to guess, I'd tentatively say it was moved forward towards the end of their service life. As an aside, found a great eye candy page here – plenty of infantry shots too:

link

PS – Have we had a "what was the actual composition of a 1980s Norwegian infantry company" thread yet…?

Just throwing this one out there…. ;-)

Stumped on the NM195, unless it's a case of "yes, that's really all they did"….

This was the one I was thinking of, though the weapon mount is somewhat different and is in a totally different position to the one linked by Dom. The reason I suggest it is that you could simply make the weapon/cupola/commander to drop into another basic M113 model:

Re MGs – I've also seen them with MG3s, so there was certainly some modification going on through the era.

Re the M41 DK1, there was a recent thread on it: TMP link

The basic M113 has been completed :)

The magician known as SirFjodin is working on that. The M113 A2 will have a number of 'drop in' turrets. Im quite suprised by the numer of M113 shots compared against the NM135.

A Norwegian collegue did some Norwegian google searches and that was on of the sites Dom. Also some good facebook pictures :)

Skis….are on the 'wish list'…maybe ponies :)

The one thing I love more then most..is the Carl Gustav shots! Looking at OOB, just about everyone had them!

I'll be wanting at least a platoon of these, and one of the M41DK1s as well, in addition to proper mech infantry to go with them, in support.

Skies, snowshoes, ponies, and prone CG gunners would be superb as well.

Pack ponies are also good for West German Gebirgsjaeger. Probably other people too…

Re M113 options – the NM142 is also good for the Canadian M113 TUA.

It's also occurred to me that if you take the NM135, remove the 20mm turret and replace it with a cupola mounting a MILAN, you end up with the Belgian M113A1-B-MILAN. This is the only photo I can find at the moment (you can just about see the two parallel cupolas – the nearest, with the .50, is the commander's cupola and the MILAN cupola is alongside it, on the other side of the vehicle):

It all helps to expand the sales! :)

Jemima, that pic shows a m113 with the RBS-56 BILL ATGM, probably a bofors demonstrator.
Any RBS-70 made would be useful for the swedes as well. A different head and your set. (Depending on how different the uniform is in 15mm..)

Cheers Krieger, I did wonder if it was correct.

As the RBS-70 seems to be just perched on top, that seems to be an easy conversion if you have the basic SAM launcher model. :)