M1A1HA, 9/18/23 update. Delay of Game, two week penalty!

[BarryC]

Barry,

Absolutely brilliant! I really am in awe of your engineering skills. That will be one appropriately heavy beast!

Cheers, Tom

Thanks Tom, It is very sturdy and the weight is beginning to add up!

Barry

[BarryC]

Today's planned activities went very well.

Lead sheet and styrene floor drilled up and installed. I also added a piece of lead forward to counter the weight of the motors and gearboxes, going for some balance.











TAFN,
Barry

[toniolillo]

You got me impressed with the work you are doing, waiting for more progress, good work

[BarryC]

You got me impressed with the work you are doing, waiting for more progress, good work

Thank you sir!

I am having a blast with the exception of the occasional X-Acto knife or drill bit puncture wound!

Next up is mounting the angles for the vertical attachment of the bulkheads to the hull sides. Then counter sinking the screws into the outer hull surface and gluing into place the hull / suspension arm tower reinforcements. Once all that is complete and dry the hull should be extremely sturdy!

After that comes the buildup on the Belly Armor and by then my ElMod Control Board should be in hand and I can start figuring all that out.

I set a small cardboard box containing all the removed running gear onto the hull and it has got to weigh at least 15 lbs maybe closer to 20. I wish I had a scale handy that I could verify weight. I may take it to the Post Office this weekend and ask them to weigh it for me.

Thanks again,
Barry

[HERMAN BIX]

Sure is a project Mr 'C'
I guess the crystal ball is a bit foggy on this but with the weight increase, what sort of battery duration are you projecting ?

Outstanding use of ballast mate, i'm watchin in all the time

[BarryC]

Sure is a project Mr 'C'
I guess the crystal ball is a bit foggy on this but with the weight increase, what sort of battery duration are you projecting ?

Outstanding use of ballast mate, i'm watchin in all the time

Frankly, I have no idea what to expect as to run duration. My goal is a detailed model with as near prototypical operation as possible. So when I run the tank it will really be for my own personal satisfaction or to "show off" to others. If I get 45min to and hour it will OK, at least for now.

I appreciate your kind words!

Thanks,
Barry

[BarryC]

Short update, made the decision on reinforcing the screw towers; It's a GO!

TAFN,
Barry

[BarryC]

Hi All,

Made some good progress this weekend. I have just about finished up the reinforcements to the hull as can be seen in the photos. I have countersunk the screws through the hull and bolted up the aluminum bulkheads. I think I will add another screw to each angle on the aft bulkhead at the lower end. With all the screws in the hull is extremely rigid with very little flexing of the center box.








Right hand side with all the "tower" reinforcements in place. The left side is just about the same except for the cutout for the servo tray.



I finally got back to the frame work for the Belly Armor with the "rafters" glued into place. Next comes the "ridge pole" (center beam) then I can now move forward with the decking and end pieces.









Thanks for looking in!
Barry

[atcttge]

Great progress.

Any plans to make a mounting plate for the gearbox? Just so make things at that area even more durable? It'll also add weight if you're making it out of aluminium or steel. I'd like to put a mounting plate for the gearbox, but couldn't find one.

[Uncarina]

Barry,

Very precise work! This is outstanding.

Cheers, Tom