An-Bri-RC SU-85

[General Jumbo01]

Well, that's one way of making a collection! I was thinking more in the way of paying for the making of some 3mm stub axle Taigen compatible printed wheels, 10 x SU100 style and 6 x T34-76 43mod centre 3 axle types. I have the tyres. I'll use the Taigen metal wheels l have for the first and last axles on the '76 and these will offer some impact and load protection for your printed centre sets.

Thinking beyond wheels, l wonder if there is a market for printed barrel/ gun mounts for the Trumpeter kits that include servo recoil, servo elevate and pan movement. As we know, space on both types we are building is at a premium but a custom design part could make the RC conversion much more available to modellers without elaborate machines to hand. Depends on whether you want your hobby to become a small business l guess?

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[HERMAN BIX]

I hope Mr Ram doesn't get the feeling that all us starving Gannets want stuff for free

There is an old saying

- "Gas, grass, or Ass..............no one rides for free"

Im happy to buy bits AND facilitate the purchase of a fine piece of modelling work

[General Jumbo01]

Just need to look after each other

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[Raminator]

The new design was a success, first print came out well and is a good fit for the Taigen axles, bearings and tyres:

I managed to get close enough to the Taigen design that my outer wheel fits neatly with the Taigen inner:

I might try making a dummy dish to cover the spokes and fill the holes on the inner wheel. It'd need some filler and finishing, but since it would be up against the hull you wouldn't see too much of it. Weathering on the wheels would disguise it too.

Thinking beyond wheels, l wonder if there is a market for printed barrel/ gun mounts for the Trumpeter kits that include servo recoil, servo elevate and pan movement. As we know, space on both types we are building is at a premium but a custom design part could make the RC conversion much more available to modellers without elaborate machines to hand. Depends on whether you want your hobby to become a small business l guess?

Hard to know if it'd be better to have Trumpeter-specific setups or more generic ones that can be adapted easily enough. The issue with the stock Heng Long and Asiatam setups is how big they are, since they're using normal motors and gearboxes instead of micro servos. I'm not sure that I'm up to making and selling conversion kits, I don't think I could commit to that kind of time investment.

[General Jumbo01]

Fair nuf, it's easy to get distracted from why you enjoy your hobby. The hobby does need a super compact generic module that provides all those functions but it doesn't need to be you who provides it!

The wheel looks good and the better results with the resins is good news too. Is it worth the expense of using Taigens rather expensive metal wheels and bearings for the inner half? I've used plastic road wheels on metal tracked tanks without problem providing the sprockets and tension wheels are metal - just a thought. Tankme's flanged bearing solution to kit wheels provides lots of load bearing structural strength (his posts with diagrams appear in the early posts) as the flanges not only guarantee correct alignment but the flange itself adds a load bearing ring if countersunk into the wheel. BUT!!!Don't let me distract you

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[HERMAN BIX]

Glad you had success with the outer fitting in the metal inner.
Gives us the easy option to retrofit existing tanks with the spoked metal wheels with correct looking running gear without the need to find a trumpeter kit, or entirely waste the metal wheels already to hand. Plus it would cut down by half , the number of items you need to make for the same visual result.

Now, Saukopf StuG mantlet!!!!!

[Raminator]

Fair nuf, it's easy to get distracted from why you enjoy your hobby. The hobby does need a super compact generic module that provides all those functions but it doesn't need to be you who provides it!

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to! I enjoy the engineering challenges of making things R/C more than the traditional painting and weathering modelling stuff. If I didn't have a mortgage that necessitated full-time work, I'd definitely be doing something like that.

Some more experience would help, I haven't been terribly efficient so far:

There's probably $30-40 worth of resin in this pile of failures.

Is it worth the expense of using Taigens rather expensive metal wheels and bearings for the inner half?

No, but it's an option for those who already have the metal Taigen wheels and don't want to sacrifice the weight and durability they already have. I'm planning to run printed roadwheels with metal tracks, sprockets and idlers on my T-34/76 when I get it up and running (one day).

Now, Saukopf StuG mantlet!!!!!

If you can send me a regular H/L bolted mantlet, I could probably do up a cast saukopf replacement. You'd need to give it the cast texture with putty or something, but I think it the shape and fittings should be fairly straightforward.

[General Jumbo01]

You do a full time job too! Respect! How do you fit it all in?

Complete Taigen metal wheels have good aftermarket resale value so that needn't he an issue. Unsprung weight, even in models, is not a good thing but strength is but, as F1 is demonstrating, printed resin parts can be used for critical load bearing parts. Your resin road wheels should be at least as strong as Heng Longs plastic ones and they work fine.

Resin costs so far? Just do what l do. Hobbies are necessary for our sanity. If l played golf l'd be spending far more!

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[General Jumbo01]

Not weathered yet but the conversion work on the styrene kit wheels is now complete with 3x10x4mm flanged bearings fitted (Tankme style). Fitting the mod 43 turret with the full Taigen recoil and elevation 'brick' is proving more complex!

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[Raminator]

Nice! I think having the cast wheels in the middle gives the tank a really unique look. Best of luck getting the Asiatam elevation/recoil unit into that tiny turret, I couldn't get it working. Do you think you'll have to trim the unit itself?

You do a full time job too! Respect! How do you fit it all in?

By going v e r y slowly.

I'm still having trouble with the clear resin(s) pooling between supports and semi-curing in places it shouldn't. Test prints or prints attached directly to the bed come out perfectly, but anything remotely complex (or useful) needs to be supported and that's where I start to get problems. I am running out of ideas for how to do this and I can't find much useful information online since it seems like 99% of people using resin printers are doing things like tabletop miniatures or figurines, not functional parts. What I'm producing now isn't good enough, the wheels would need a prohibitive amount of work to clean them up and make them useful. I'll keep butting my head against the wall until something gives.