1944 M4A3 105mm

User avatar
PainlessWolf
Lieutenant-Colonel
Posts: 7558
Joined: Sun Feb 26, 2012 9:09 pm
Location: Southern Colorado Rocky Mountains

Re: 1944 M4A3 105mm

Post by PainlessWolf »

54th Day: Cody, thank you for the kind words, Sir. The Mate tells me often that "if you don't quit fiddling with it you're going to break it (again) As an example, on the searchlight LED contacts, I have rubber cement coated the hot lead and then painted it and the ground and as an extra (and hopefully final) touch today, put a couple of drops of the Ultra Gel cement I use on the point where the wire is soldered to the LED contacts to stiffen them against breakage. Inside the turret, I ran a length of heat shrink tubing to protect the thin wires up to the LED from the turret and air gun gearing when the turret is being used. Hopefully that is enough protection for now. Later, I may replace the searchlight with an articulated one that will use the grain of rice LED. If I do so, I will make mounting points for the LED wiring and attach it to the inside of the turret, safely out of the way. Today, I got my rattle can trigger grip out of the garage and tested the Rustoleum plastic primer I had purchased. I hit the area on the lower hull where I had filled the switch opening with putty and saw that one pass resulted in one coat smoothly covering it. What that tells me is that this primer will be unsuitable for the rest of the tank. It seals as well as primes so it will run to fill depressions then level itself out while drying. A lot of detail would be lost and on complicated surfaces like the rear deck and turret and this feature would produce an uneven primer coat. I will go down to Hobbytown or Hobby Lobby this Saturday and get the right hobby grade flat primer for enamel. Pictures:
Attachments
I will have to get some flat model grade primer to use instead
I will have to get some flat model grade primer to use instead
One pass of the primer spray filled the puttied in Switch on the lower hull.
One pass of the primer spray filled the puttied in Switch on the lower hull.
RX-18 M.Q.Fire 5 pin port where the Searchlight's two pin plug goes (left side)
RX-18 M.Q.Fire 5 pin port where the Searchlight's two pin plug goes (left side)
RX-18 M.Q.Fire 5 pin port where the Searchlight's two pin plug goes (left side).JPG (99.81 KiB) Viewed 1979 times
...Here for the Dawn...
ALPHA
Major-General
Posts: 10960
Joined: Thu Oct 03, 2013 1:06 am

Re: 1944 M4A3 105mm

Post by ALPHA »

:haha: :haha: Wish you were here to help me last night Painless :haha: :haha: I would have probably not burned my mother board :crazy: ...such is life eh?... looking at your RX makes me giggle a little... because when I was hooking my elevation fire wires up.. and tested the unit... both fire and elevation made the gun go up and down...I can't tell you how many times I looked at that connection you have pictured :haha: ...luckily I had a second turret to work with ... and after some troubleshooting found I had the "three" pin plug on backwards :lolno:

Isn't working the electrics fun??? :haha:

Yeah I know...maybe afterwards... because during... it wasn't ...for me anyway ;)

By the way...Looking good man ! :thumbup:
Image

ALPHA
User avatar
PainlessWolf
Lieutenant-Colonel
Posts: 7558
Joined: Sun Feb 26, 2012 9:09 pm
Location: Southern Colorado Rocky Mountains

Re: 1944 M4A3 105mm

Post by PainlessWolf »

Alpha,
If you need to, PM me at any time. I am far from a knowledgeable sort when it comes to the electrics in these tanks but I am learning. ;o) I know, I am one thought away from yanking the existing LED and Searchlight housing and replacing it with a spare housing and lens that I have and ordering another grain of rice LED. That setup was so much cleaner than what I am using now and since I know where to plug it in, no more burnt LEDs. ;o) All I will have lost is the time I have spent trying to make it work to where I am satisfied with it. (and apparently, I am still not completely) Thanks, Alpha. Fun can and will be had. ;o)
warm regards,
Painless
...Here for the Dawn...
ALPHA
Major-General
Posts: 10960
Joined: Thu Oct 03, 2013 1:06 am

Re: 1944 M4A3 105mm

Post by ALPHA »

PainlessWolf wrote:Alpha,
If you need to, PM me at any time. I am far from a knowledgeable sort when it comes to the electrics in these tanks but I am learning. ;o) I know, I am one thought away from yanking the existing LED and Searchlight housing and replacing it with a spare housing and lens that I have and ordering another grain of rice LED. That setup was so much cleaner than what I am using now and since I know where to plug it in, no more burnt LEDs. ;o) All I will have lost is the time I have spent trying to make it work to where I am satisfied with it. (and apparently, I am still not completely) Thanks, Alpha. Fun can and will be had. ;o)
warm regards,
Painless
Hey thanks Painless... sometimes it's good to just talk things out ....I don't expect true expertise when it comes to electronics... as one thing I do know for sure is things can go wrong really fast..and end results are generally permanent :haha:
One thing for sure... it does take a lot to destroy the package that HENG LONG provides...... what happened to me was due to fatigue more than anything else...that and maybe the excitement that everything finally worked .... it was a really stupid mistake....and though I usually try to learn from things like that.. I will probably do it again lol

It is one of the benefits of the board though... I get to meet people who at least understand the problems. and a dialog can be struck...will go back and revisit the stuff I replaced to see if anything is recoverable... but that's of minor importance

Once again... thanks for the support and friendship :thumbup:

ALPHA
User avatar
PainlessWolf
Lieutenant-Colonel
Posts: 7558
Joined: Sun Feb 26, 2012 9:09 pm
Location: Southern Colorado Rocky Mountains

Re: 1944 M4A3 105mm

Post by PainlessWolf »

55th Day: The optical fiber I had ordered from Germany arrived today and I used the Tamiya brand section to test the bow .30 cal. I followed Tamiya's instructions and sanded the shaft lightly until it was dull in appearance leaving both ends glossy. It looked great, very bright from all angles but the HL LED must be slightly larger than the one that Tamiya uses because I ended up taking a very tiny slice off one end using a #11 exacto to leave just a small portion of the optical fiber showing. Next I took up the tools. I was planning on using heat shrink to define the molded on mounts and use a bent staple for the buckle, similar to what Phil had done on his excellent Sherman build. Looking the tools over, I was once again struck by their similarity to the Tamiya tools and in the end, since the night was getting late, decided to just do a detailed paint job and see how they looked on the tank after it was painted. I could always revisit them and add heat shrink strapping and metal buckles if they were needed. I used Olive Drab and Steel and Flat Black for the metal portions and used a mix of Wood and Flat Brown to make a realistic looking set of handles. Pictures:
Attachments
After Tool Set
After Tool Set
Before Tool Set
Before Tool Set
MG fire can easily be seen from an angle now
MG fire can easily be seen from an angle now
Much better length attained
Much better length attained
A little too long at the muzzle
A little too long at the muzzle
Tank Modelbau and Tamiya brand optical fibers
Tank Modelbau and Tamiya brand optical fibers
A delivery from Germany
A delivery from Germany
A delivery from Germany.JPG (88.02 KiB) Viewed 1948 times
...Here for the Dawn...
cupoftea
Corporal
Posts: 261
Joined: Sat Nov 06, 2010 2:36 pm
Location: South Wales

Re: 1944 M4A3 105mm

Post by cupoftea »

Very nice work Painless. You are putting my humble build to shame.
User avatar
PainlessWolf
Lieutenant-Colonel
Posts: 7558
Joined: Sun Feb 26, 2012 9:09 pm
Location: Southern Colorado Rocky Mountains

Re: 1944 M4A3 105mm

Post by PainlessWolf »

Good morning, Cupoftea,
I do not think that your build is humble at all. Your Sherman stands on it's own merits as a great build of a great Tank. *bows* Please continue with the pictures of your Sherman as I have learned a lot from your hard work.
Regards,
Painless
...Here for the Dawn...
User avatar
palepainter
Sergeant
Posts: 564
Joined: Sun Nov 03, 2013 4:04 am
Location: Lafayette, CO

Re: 1944 M4A3 105mm

Post by palepainter »

Hey Painless,
Loving it!! The tools came out great!

Pale
doc larsson
Staff Sergeant
Posts: 829
Joined: Sat Sep 29, 2012 5:05 pm

Re: 1944 M4A3 105mm

Post by doc larsson »

very nice work painless ! 30 cal looks so much better ¬
User avatar
PainlessWolf
Lieutenant-Colonel
Posts: 7558
Joined: Sun Feb 26, 2012 9:09 pm
Location: Southern Colorado Rocky Mountains

Re: 1944 M4A3 105mm

Post by PainlessWolf »

56th Day: Pale, thank you, Sir. I was pretty tired at 3-ish when I finished the last piece. I looked them over again today after the paint had cured and yeah, I'm satisfied. HL did a good job with the accessories on this Sherman. They are worth putting some time and effort into. Doc, Thank you as well, Sir. I really like the Tamiya hybrid .30 cal bow MG. For a little bit of scratch and a little modding, I got a much better bow MG out of it. Tonight, I started the painting process for real. I picked up some of the excellent Tamiya Surface Primer and a new spray can trigger ( my old one was worn to the point that Off or Full Spray were it's only operating parameters ) I sprayed the Primer in my kitchen with the exhaust fan running and was pleasantly surprised by it's low odor. The same was true for the Model Master Olive Drab I sprayed the Sprockets and Idlers with. In fact, the most odor-iffic part of the evening was using a cherry stain pen to stain the front stowage board. Lastly, I tested using a tiny paint stick to red dab the grease zerks on a couple of the road wheels ( including the spare I made up and painted ) They turned out well so all of the rest of the set will get the same touch up. Pictures:
Attachments
Red painted grease zerks.
Red painted grease zerks.
A quick hairy stick paint job with Olive Drab on the spare roadwheel I made up
A quick hairy stick paint job with Olive Drab on the spare roadwheel I made up
Nothing says scale model like real wood
Nothing says scale model like real wood
Cherry stain pen for the stowage board
Cherry stain pen for the stowage board
Two light coats of Model Master Olive Drab complete the Sprockets and the Idlers
Two light coats of Model Master Olive Drab complete the Sprockets and the Idlers
Primered HL Idlers
Primered HL Idlers
Primered HL Idlers.JPG (82.26 KiB) Viewed 1925 times
Couple of light primer coats on the sprockets
Couple of light primer coats on the sprockets
Couple of light primer coats on the sprockets.JPG (86.55 KiB) Viewed 1925 times
Tamiya Primer is the best I have ever used bar none.
Tamiya Primer is the best I have ever used bar none.
...Here for the Dawn...
Post Reply

Return to “Sherman”