sponges challenger 2 build

[spongehoobtank82]

Replacing track pads is a pain!

To be fair I cheated a little though, these are actually the tracks from my out of commission leopard 2a6 which in 4 years of running had only lost about 15 pads out of 300ish, moral of the story is use 2 part epoxy to attach them not super glue or you end up with this

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As you can see after 3 years of running pad retention was not high
So all you need to do is cut out the old pad or what's left of it then take a small dremmel bit and remove the old glue, mix some epoxy and glue some fresh pads on

Then drive it so they don't stick out like a pair of new shoes
Top tip use new pads not the ones that were coming off, they never stick properly again!
As you can guess the really bad track I took off the chally and put on the leo will be done when am really really really bored

[Black Knight]

Where did you get the tracks from mate Can you get replacement pads easy enough I have the DKLM tracks which came with a couple of spare links - hopefully if the time comes I'll be able to get spare pads (or more spare links) from Carson

[spongehoobtank82]

Where did you get the tracks from mate Can you get replacement pads easy enough I have the DKLM tracks which came with a couple of spare links - hopefully if the time comes I'll be able to get spare pads (or more spare links) from Carson

I think I got mine from rctank.de but it was a long time ago! I may of got them from dklm when I ordered my suspension and road wheels from him but am pretty sure there exactly the same and are in fact mato ones as there exactly the same as my leopard 2 ones. You can still get the pads, links and metal grousers from rctank.de, think it's like 6quid for 25 rubber pads.
Although dklm are doing stainless steel tracks for challenger /leo now, but there like 300quid to rich for my blood!

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[spongehoobtank82]

Where did you get the tracks from mate Can you get replacement pads easy enough I have the DKLM tracks which came with a couple of spare links - hopefully if the time comes I'll be able to get spare pads (or more spare links) from Carson

I think I got mine from rctank.de but it was a long time ago! I may of got them from dklm when I ordered my suspension and road wheels from him but am pretty sure there exactly the same and are in fact mato ones as there exactly the same as my leopard 2 ones. You can still get the pads, links and metal grousers from rctank.de, think it's like 6quid for 25 rubber pads.
Although dklm are doing stainless steel tracks for challenger /leo now, but there like 300quid to rich for my blood!

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They are in fact mato tracks I just scrolled back through my build it was 3 years ago I fitted them forgive my old memory but am still pretty sure that's what the cheaper dklm ones are someone tell me if am wrong

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[spongehoobtank82]

Busy morning installing magnets! Going to mount the upper Hull on magnets but will post pictures when they arrive, had some small ones lying about to mount the fuel drum cover over the power switch, just recessed the original hole one side and epoxied magnets in, then mounted screw in other side to stick too, jobs a gun'un

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[Black Knight]

Busy morning installing magnets! Going to mount the upper Hull on magnets but will post pictures when they arrive, had some small ones lying about to mount the fuel drum cover over the power switch, just recessed the original hole one side and epoxied magnets in, then mounted screw in other side to stick too, jobs a gun'un

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I did something very similar with mine initailly mate - nice convenient place for the switch. I put the on/off switch in one barrel and the battery power meter in the other Then I moved all the electronics except for the battery up into the turret and, since I couldn't work out how to keep both the rear bar armour from the megatron kit and the barells in place and still be able to access the lower hull I removed removed the barrels and placed the switches in the turret as well

[spongehoobtank82]

Yeah saw you build BK I did have a charging port in the other barrel but never used it and now am securing the up Hull with magnets for convenience I may move the power switch back inside the Hull, I imagine in the turret is very handy But its handy there for now, just need my Tarr smoker to turn up but got a few other bits to do and am experimenting with elevation stablization

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[spongehoobtank82]

So it's been a busy few days of re arranging the chally, I have drill out and glued 7mm magnets into the lower screw holes and while I was doing this I thought ' there is no point me having the power switch in the fuel drum if I can open the Hull easily now and I have that nice power swith that won't fit in the drum, I can mount it in the hull' so after all that work to put magnets in the fuel drum I would not need access to it
Now just waiting for magnets for the upper Hull, let's hope they arrive soon!
OFF


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ON

[spongehoobtank82]

So whole waiting for royal 'delivery when we can be bothered' mail to bing my magnets I thought I would get on with a few other bit, my Tarr smoker arrived, the original heng long smoker was mounted on the underside of the upper Hull but I thought it would be easier to mount the Tarr in the lower Hull between the gear boxes and make use of the fuel drum and put the fill tube in it, fuel drum=fuel for the smoker

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[spongehoobtank82]

Still no bloody magnets! So made myself useful, I had ordered some flashing leds for the indicators and a y connection to switch them on and off, only doing the front as the rear light clusters are glued on, may do them one day when I can be bothered to remove and drill them again!
So first off was to pull the from indicator mounts and grind of the moulded in bulb/cage then drill them 4mm so there was room for the 3mm led's 4mm base and wiring to pass through


Its a pain to get the hole 4mm as the mount is only about 5mm in diameter, I cracked the plastic drilling them so had to repair/touch up with some milliput


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I made the cages from some staples cut to size and bent to shape, heated them a little to push into the plastic a little bit just to hold them and then a little bit of super glue to hold them firmly, then a blast of olive drab



The bulbs I had ordered were not that orange so mixed up some orange and gave them a going over and drilled the hull mounting hole out to 4mm



Then mounted them in the hull, think they look OK, be better when I can wire them in