Hi All!
Continuing the adaption of the Tamiya chassis to HL Upper and after market electronics.
WOW! trying to stuff 120 cubic inches in changes into 90 cubic inches of space. Needing to mount everything above the torsion bars reduced the space by at least 20 to 30 cubic inches over the HL Lower.
I had to reduce the height of the speaker box by .5”, lay the battery on its side and modify the battery box and add a retainer bar. Also had to rotate the turret traversing servo 90 degrees inboard and lower its mount height by .080”. this pushed the servo into the available floor space for the TK60G2 board. I had to mount the board between the servo and the speaker box, and it just barely fits. After all that the receiver was a bit of a problem but by removing some material from the Clark mounting tray it fit, Yay!!
All in all, it took quite a bit of effort, but I have got it all fitted into the available space and it is tight as you can see by the pictures.
Next came added details to the hull sides below the sponson. There are armor build ups protecting the crew compartment. Though most of this will not be readily visible I felt the need to model it. I had to compromise at the front around the Idler Wheels to insure clearance.
I have also temp installed one of East Coast Armory’s “Clear Wheel Hub Covers”. They are designed to fit the HL wheel, so a bit of modification needed for the Tamiya wheel. They are on all US Abrams and it allows for visible verification of hub grease level.
Next, I will be working on the scale/actual Belly Armor attach points and skirt supports the supports will be largely invisible unless viewed form certain angles. The challenge is plotting a way to put the supports in and still be able to remove the upper without destroying the supports.
TTFN,
Barry