1944 M4A3 105mm

[PainlessWolf]

Morning, Alpha,
As your Friend and fellow Squadron mate, your deal is my deal if I can be of any use in sorting it out. I do think that you have your finger on the issue. Something is shorting. I know you will get it figured out because that is what you do. ;o) Looking forward to more pictures of your sweet Sherman.
regards,
Painless

[doc larsson]

Hi painless

brilliant job !

love the idea of the sliders,genius !

question : what you gonna do with the springs on the hatches and how originally did they work please ?

again quality work i'm reminded how average i am compared to all you guys.

[PainlessWolf]

Morning, Doc,
'Average' is not a word that I would append to your work. I've seen it here on the Forums and 'brilliant' is more how I look at it. The rear engine hatches of this type were not counter balance\torsion bar assisted, ( that came along in late 45' or 46' I believe ) but there a welded rest on either side of the rear deck for them to fall against and keep them from opening all of the way. I will add that once I see how the tools lay. ;o) Thank you for the compliments, Sir.
regards,
Painless

[PainlessWolf]

52nd Day: Nothing in the post today but cookies from a dear Friend in Alsdorf. A tasty way to end 2013's Holiday Season ;o) Sherman-wise, All I did tonight was to strip my crappy heat shrink off of my searchlight LED and coat the hot lead with rubber cement. As a finishing touch, I repainted the inside of the searchlight body with silver. It had gotten scraped up where I was enlarging the light port. I'll let everything dry overnight then put it back together during tomorrow night's fun. Pictures:

[palepainter]

I'm getting sunburned just looking at it. Can you run these LED right off the power or do you have to test them through the power supplied by the board. Sorry if I missed the explanation earlier if it was provided.

Looking great!!!
Pale

[PainlessWolf]

Morning, Pale,
I blew my first Searchlight LED trying to run it right off of the power. I wasn't using a resistor tho' so maybe you could. This one, I am running off of the Board power using the left two pins in the 5 pin M.Q.Fire slot on the Taigen RX-18. The right two pins are for the airgun plug with one unused pin in the center now. Have a great day tanking! ;o)
regards,
Painless

[PainlessWolf]

53rd Day: Nothing in the Post today so I busied myself with a couple of minor things. I added a plastistruct 'L' brace to the 'welded' brackets that would hold the front storage plank in place. I don't want the plastic breaking the first time I accidentally run it into something. After that, I painted the wires and the contacts and bottom of the LED and let it dry. I put it back into place in the housing ( a much better fit now) and tested the light again. Everything worked fine. I think that with only a few small things left to do plastic wise, I can start prepping for primer and paint this weekend. Pictures:

[palepainter]

Man, that lights up nicely. You are having too much fun, Sir.

[PainlessWolf]

Pale,
I have had to finally learn a little bit about the electrics on these tanks. That is a good thing! ;o)
regards,
Painless

[CODY614]

53rd Day: Nothing in the Post today so I busied myself with a couple of minor things. I added a plastistruct 'L' brace to the 'welded' brackets that would hold the front storage plank in place.

There is nothing "Minor" on your build! The care and devotion to each piece you have made or have purchased is awesome!
I love this build.