1/6 1943 Stuart M5

[PainlessWolf]

Good morning!
As far as I have been able to determine, those hatches allow access to the air box to dump dirt and debris out. On the real tank, they are situated almost at the rear of the sponson under the air box. I mentioned that my placement of the parts is a little forward since I did not want to cut those braces out at the back of the sponson. The upper and turret and deck fittings are pretty hefty and those sponsons carry quite a bit of that weight when the tank is assembled. Since the actual hatches are far back, the drop of the track run there onto the idlers gives room to open them. Mine work and drop open when the brass bolt is screwed out but are just for detail, no opening in the sponson above them. The round cast cap with bolts is the cover for the fuel tank drain port. There is one of those on each side like the airbox hatches. I am finding out a lot of minutiae about this tank just from learning how to model it. ;o)
regards,
Painless

P.S. The metal looking stuff on the idler rims is Mr. Surfacer 500. I was going to model a rubber tire onto the idler but discovered with Mikes help that those were very rare and only on the latest vehicles built. So steel idler it is. ;o)

[PainlessWolf]

S.O.A.G,
I was surprised by how tough that stuff is. For an example, last night I had a drop of it on my fingertip and rubbed it off on the bare metal of the sink under a running hot water stream. I turned the water off a minute later and the spot of Mr. Surfacer was still there. It had dried under the running hot water and I had to chip it off to remove it from the sink. *laughs* I think it will give great adhesion on the idlers, road wheels and return rollers. )
regards,
Painless

[PainlessWolf]

I went into Walsenburg to the local hardware store today to look for replacement springs for the idler adjustment setup. Of course, all of their #12s were gone. I still have time so will check at Home Despot next week when in Pueblo. In the meantime, I found some cool C clamps and picked one up to try some compression on the existing springs to take out a little of their stiffness. Worth a try as the new clamp was inexpensive. Additional fun was had this evening making up some of the engine door details. Also, a few more weld beads were added. Pics: ( click to enlarge )

[PainlessWolf]

Finally new parts start to trickle in. Post brought the letters for cast pieces and I was able to locate some possible spring replacements for the Idler mounts. Here is the link for the online Modeling site: https://www.lots-of-models.com/ Pics: (Click to enlarge)

[PainlessWolf]

The last couple of days, I have been puttering around with parts and thinking over _some_ way to make the idler mounts look less toy like. I had already detailed with a resin kit and some metal bits and painted them but as Mike pointed out, without that correct second leg on the mount, they still just don't look right. The problem has always been that box with the external compression spring to give the arm some bounce. It is a funky design and unless you want to completely trash it and scratch new arms and mounts or find and buy a pricey resin set, you are stuck with it. Either of those options is fragile as well. The Stuart is a small tank in real life but it is sizeable enough in 1/6. I had spares of the idler mounts thank to Mike so I cut one up to see what might fit and then actually hit on something that will work and keep the original setups strength and stability. I am still working on the end of the second idler arm, the inside ones,
( figuring out how to mount them and make them move after being separated from the rest of the mount by that External Spring Box) I have an idea or two. Got the handles drilled and mounted today on the rear engine doors as well. The lower is really getting close to primer and paint and getting all of the running gear mounted. Pics: ( Click to enlarge )

[sassgrunt]

I think you've done a masterful job of modifying the kit parts and still retaining the functionality of them! For as many of these things as they sold, I have always been baffled that some garage company didn't bring out a better-looking (and yet, robust) replacement idler assembly. Yours is the best I've seen and you should be justifiably proud!

[PainlessWolf]

Mike!
Thank you, sir. I am not done yet. I have an idea to try and mount the end of the inner arm ( the part with the nut and bolt ) to the block that presses on the spring inside that box. If successful, when the wheel and arms rise and the spring is compressed by the block, the inner arms detail bit at the end will rise along with the block. I'll give it some more thought as to how to mount through the wall of the spring box. A cut out slot for a threaded rod or a slit at the bottom of the spring box that will let a flat piece of metal slide up and down that connects the bottom of the block and detail bit together. ) Crazy stuff but like you said, no one else bothered so it is up to the Hobbyist to come up with a workable solution.
regards,
Painless

[sassgrunt]

Although Rube Goldberg would be proud of your plans, I wonder if it wouldn't just be easier to mount the remnant ends of the arms to the outside of the box permanently. It's true that they wouldn't rise with the outside ones, but no one would know that. I mean, when it's sitting still, everything is at level height, and when it's running, nobody would be able to see the movement (or lack of it) anyway.
But regardless of what you eventually decide; it IS an admirable effort on your part!

[PainlessWolf]

Good afternoon!
Mike, I went and measured how much was going to be sticking out at the end at the spring box and there was enough to warrant making it move..._only if the spring box was a rectangle which it was not_. The box is a curve so any ideas of making the end of the inner arm move went out the window. I checked the slant required to have the end detail sit level and cut and made up a couple of them. They are curing overnight for attachment to the spring box cover tomorrow. One thing I considered was to have the pivot point for the idler arms be at the point where the arms exit the main body of the mount. It seems that the angle would then be kind of steep for the arms to 'bounce'. I decided to quit second guessing their engineering and settled for removing the overage that would normally sit and scrape against the lower hull on both mounts. This had the effect of making the mounts look much more realistic. They will probably function much better as well. I ended todays session by measuring and cutting a couple of smaller diameter springs for the box. They are stiff but have enough give at the end so that the idlers may actually function this time. Pics: ( Click to enlarge )

[sassgrunt]

It looks REALLY good. The detail parts from ECA certainly do compliment the effort you've put into modifying the other parts. And - you are almost at the finish line! (Well, with the running gear, anyway).