Armor concepts 1/16 m1 Abrams alloy lower.

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tomhugill
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Armor concepts 1/16 m1 Abrams alloy lower.

Post by tomhugill »

Hey folks,

Not sure if this build will get past getting this past a working chassis, we shall see!

I bought this from a boot sale act without much info, a bit of a punt but I'm very pleased with what I ended up with.

Starting with the hull its self. It's made up of 4mm alloy plates, all joined by multiple small Allen bolts. It's a real beast, weighs a ton and rock solid! Everything is machined, nothing cast and no pot metal (with a notable exception). There's no tension adjuster, I will have to see if this is acceptable, if not use of a henntec shouldn't be too difficult.

Suspension arms are machined, run through bushes into the hull. Suspension comes from internal springs, the design is such the ride height can be adjusted. It looks a little heath Robinson, but it's rock solid with zero slop and seems to work well.

Wheels are machined alloy with rubber tyres. It looks like the intention is to use the plastic hubs from the donor vehicle. There are some really decent bearings (see video of the free wheeling).

Tracks are metal with correct shape rubber pads. I believe these are Kenny kong and seem very well made

Lastly are the gearboxes. They are interesting to say the least. Like the hull they're machined from thick alloy (for the frames) and bolt to the sides of the hull. More heavy duty bearings on each shafts. This is where things get a bit strange. The gearboxes are 4 shaft with the first 3 after the final drive being HL pot metal (properly shimmed) (including the final drive) with the one closest to the motor being machined steel and brass. I can only surmise that the potmetal gears were the only thing avalible back then and were used to keep costs down. On the upside we now steel and black steel gears readily available at low prices. I intend to use steel gears to replace the old pot metal ones. The motors are 540 high torque and have been rewound for even more torque. Will be very interesting to see how all this performs after I upgrade them


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HERMAN BIX
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Re: Armor concepts 1/16 m1 Abrams alloy lower.

Post by HERMAN BIX »

Jeez there’s some work gone into that mate !
So you were “vulture ‘n” around a dodgey car boot sale and stole this work of engineering off its disadvantaged owner !!!!
Have you no shame :haha:

Be interesting to see how it is size wise to an upper hull assembly.
HL JAGDPANTHER,HL TIGER 1,HL PzIII MUNITIONSCHLEPPER, HL KT OCTOPUS,HL PANTHER ZU-FUSS,HL STuG III,HL T34/85 BEDSPRING,
HL PZIV MALTA,MATORRO JAGDTIGER,HL F05 TIGER,TAMIYA KT,HL PANTHERDOZER,HL EARLY PANTHER G,TAIGEN/RAMINATOR T34/76,
HL AN-BRI-RAM SU-85
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Son of a gun-ner
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Re: Armor concepts 1/16 m1 Abrams alloy lower.

Post by Son of a gun-ner »

Oh wow, what a lucky find :thumbup:

I love boot fairs, can pick up some real bargains :D
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tomhugill
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Re: Armor concepts 1/16 m1 Abrams alloy lower.

Post by tomhugill »

HERMAN BIX wrote:Jeez there’s some work gone into that mate !
So you were “vulture ‘n” around a dodgey car boot sale and stole this work of engineering off its disadvantaged owner !!!!
Have you no shame :haha:

Be interesting to see how it is size wise to an upper hull assembly.
Well off gumtree..I didn't even haggle!! As to my shame.....no comment ;)

I believe these date back to the early noighties and were made in small numbers

It's designed for the hobby engine Abrams (probably 12 years before we got the hl, even more the tamiya!!)

Heres it with the top on, a nice fit! Also found a bag with the wheel hubs, look pretty good with them on!

Noticed the turret rings been upgraded with metal gear wheel as well.

No idea how (in) accurate the HE Abrams is but overall dimensions seem close to what wiki tells me.

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HERMAN BIX
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Re: Armor concepts 1/16 m1 Abrams alloy lower.

Post by HERMAN BIX »

I thought that kind of behaviour got you in trouble with the Sheriff of Nottingham !!!!

Great pick up
HL JAGDPANTHER,HL TIGER 1,HL PzIII MUNITIONSCHLEPPER, HL KT OCTOPUS,HL PANTHER ZU-FUSS,HL STuG III,HL T34/85 BEDSPRING,
HL PZIV MALTA,MATORRO JAGDTIGER,HL F05 TIGER,TAMIYA KT,HL PANTHERDOZER,HL EARLY PANTHER G,TAIGEN/RAMINATOR T34/76,
HL AN-BRI-RAM SU-85
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