Will Alcott, OKB Grigorov, Tracks for M113 T130E1

The T130E1 center-guide, single-pin, steel track with detachable rubber pad was the standard track fitted to the M113 series in US service from the 1960s into the early 21st century. In US service it was eventually superseded by the T150 double-pin track, while Canada and other users adopted German-made Diehl tracks and eventually Canadian-made Soucy rubber band tracks. The set provides 6 finely detailed lengths of track, each with 42 links, for a total of 252 links, and two complete sets of drive sprockets. A real M113 takes 63 links on the left side and 64 on the right side for a total of 127 links, so in theory the set is 2 links short of providing enough track links for two complete vehicles (see comments on track pitch below). The track is moulded in a dark grey resin, and has excellent detail on the inner and outer faces, right down to the bolt head that holds the replaceable rubber pad in place. The links measure out to 5.12 mm in width and 2.17 mm in pitch, which scales out to 369 mm width and 156 mm pitch. Full sized dimension of the real track are 381 mm width and 152 mm pitch, so the track links are about 3% underscale in width and 3% overscale in pitch. Given that we are looking at fractions of mm in scale, I think this is quite acceptable. Because the tracks are slightly overscale in pitch, you might get away with only using 62 links, which would mean the set does provide enough for two vehicles (with no spares).
I also compared the OKB tracks to the tracks provided in the Trumpeter, ESCI/Italeri and S Models M113 kits. Dimensions are summarized in the table below :
	The underscale pitch of the Trumpeter and ESCI/Italeri tracks is reflected on the greater number of links required to complete the track. ESCI/Italeri did however come closest to the width of the real track.
Detail wise, the OKB tracks do the best job of capturing the shape of the rubber pad, which Trumpeter and ESCI/Italeri represented as a rectangle. The quick build tracks from S Model are not really usable, with no distinct track pad or holes for the sprocket teeth. On the inner surface, both OKB and Trumpeter actually depict the track teeth and bolthole for the track pad, though Trumpeter shows the joints between links as a simple straight line. ESCI/Italeri provided no detail on the inside face of the tracks, aside from ejector pin marks! S-Model at least represents the track teeth, though these are overly wide.

The OKB set also provides a set of replacement sprockets. Again, compared to the kit parts, these have better and finer detail, and they avoid the sink marks in the hub present in the ESCI/Italeri and Trumpeter parts. For rivet counters, note that on the real sprockets, the five spokes should each align with a sprocket tooth. This is correctly depicted on the OKB, Trumpeter and ESCI/Italeri parts, however on the S Model sprockets, the spokes are aligned with the gaps between the sprocket teeth.
I didn’t try test fitting the OKB track to the various sprockets. One note on using the track on the ESCI/Italeri kit – because this kit depicts each pair of roadwheels as a single part, the wheels would interfere with the track teeth. Fortunately, OKB also provide an enhancement set with new roadwheels.
Conclusion I would recommend this set as a big improvement to anyone building the Trumpeter, ESCI/Italeri or S Models M113or variants in 1/72 scale. References [1] AFVdb Preview sample purchased by the author. This model can be purchased from

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Article Last Updated: 23 December 2016