1/16 RC M5A1 Stuart Light tank - build
Re: 1/16 RC M5A1 Stuart Light tank
Thank you everyone for your interest and encouragements!
I think that what will decide the fate of this build is the suspension. It is both intricate and delicate, especially the rear idler that seems to hold by threads. That's why it is next on the agenda to see the situation and how it can be made stronger, replacing plastic shafts with metal tubing where appropriate. Contrary to the Leopard C2 build, 'll have to do some weight management on this build. I'm not sure how much pressure the suspension will be able to take so the plan for now is to see how the light plastic tracks and suspension behave, and keep the model upgradable whenever new options seem possible, or necessary. I gave it a slow gearbox to help reduce the pressure on the suspension and tracks but i already added a lot of weight. I'll see today.
Louis
I think that what will decide the fate of this build is the suspension. It is both intricate and delicate, especially the rear idler that seems to hold by threads. That's why it is next on the agenda to see the situation and how it can be made stronger, replacing plastic shafts with metal tubing where appropriate. Contrary to the Leopard C2 build, 'll have to do some weight management on this build. I'm not sure how much pressure the suspension will be able to take so the plan for now is to see how the light plastic tracks and suspension behave, and keep the model upgradable whenever new options seem possible, or necessary. I gave it a slow gearbox to help reduce the pressure on the suspension and tracks but i already added a lot of weight. I'll see today.
Louis
Re: 1/16 RC M5A1 Stuart Light tank - Build
The Stuart has 4 intricate suspension units, 2 on each sides.
The kit provide a plastic shaft for these that connects to the hull at the square section.
The shaft does not go far into the hull and is inadequate for RC. The whole thing should be replaced by a metal one.
No need for a lot of engineering. The plan is simply to do something like the real tank and replace by metal ones.
After drilling the shaft housing end to end, a 3mm brass rod is put in place for a solid shaft.
It was easy to drill through the shaft housing end to end. An inner brass tube is inserted for the connection to the external plate on the bogie.
A 3mm inner diameter thin brass tube is inserted into the suspension unit base for a tight connection for the module to swivel.
The Bogie has 4 swinging arms. They are held with small pin connectors that are easily broken and inadequate for RC. I decided to replace all pin connectors by brass rods.
Then every attachment point joint is redone in brass rods and tubes. It is important to have a good reserve of brass of all sizes. The selection of the material takes some time.
The shaft for the road wheel and for the moving spring unit above are also replaced by brass.
Continuing on following post
The kit provide a plastic shaft for these that connects to the hull at the square section.
The shaft does not go far into the hull and is inadequate for RC. The whole thing should be replaced by a metal one.
No need for a lot of engineering. The plan is simply to do something like the real tank and replace by metal ones.
After drilling the shaft housing end to end, a 3mm brass rod is put in place for a solid shaft.
It was easy to drill through the shaft housing end to end. An inner brass tube is inserted for the connection to the external plate on the bogie.
A 3mm inner diameter thin brass tube is inserted into the suspension unit base for a tight connection for the module to swivel.
The Bogie has 4 swinging arms. They are held with small pin connectors that are easily broken and inadequate for RC. I decided to replace all pin connectors by brass rods.
Then every attachment point joint is redone in brass rods and tubes. It is important to have a good reserve of brass of all sizes. The selection of the material takes some time.
The shaft for the road wheel and for the moving spring unit above are also replaced by brass.
Continuing on following post
Last edited by lmcq11 on Mon Sep 21, 2020 3:40 am, edited 2 times in total.
Re: 1/16 RC M5A1 Stuart Light tank
The first unit is ready and attached to the hull. It is complicated.
Then the external plate is installed and the unit is thoroughly tested for performance and for any weakness. It is surprisingly quite solid, well, after a lot of modifications that is. It is partially operating like the real one. Someone wanting to push it further by splitting the arms for the roadwheels and adding a real spring would probably have a hard time but it is technically doable. I personally prefer to move on.
After the first prototype is made in about 3 hour of analysis, design and buildup, an assembly chain is created for the 3 other bogies and all is done in about 3 more hours.
The suspension bogies are all installed and working well. I am satisfied with the results. The kit shafts and connectors were weak but the main plastic parts are well designed, quite solid and well detailed. Once held in place with brass rods and tubes, its RC ready.
Next step is to look into the idler situation and see what can be done.
Regards, Louis
Then the external plate is installed and the unit is thoroughly tested for performance and for any weakness. It is surprisingly quite solid, well, after a lot of modifications that is. It is partially operating like the real one. Someone wanting to push it further by splitting the arms for the roadwheels and adding a real spring would probably have a hard time but it is technically doable. I personally prefer to move on.
After the first prototype is made in about 3 hour of analysis, design and buildup, an assembly chain is created for the 3 other bogies and all is done in about 3 more hours.
The suspension bogies are all installed and working well. I am satisfied with the results. The kit shafts and connectors were weak but the main plastic parts are well designed, quite solid and well detailed. Once held in place with brass rods and tubes, its RC ready.
Next step is to look into the idler situation and see what can be done.
Regards, Louis
Re: 1/16 RC M5A1 Stuart Light tank - build
Hey that’s some nice articulation. Looks great.
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Re: 1/16 RC M5A1 Stuart Light tank - build
Wonderful work again Louis. How will you keep track tension without springs?
Re: 1/16 RC M5A1 Stuart Light tank - build
I am learning about the M5 suspension as i go. The weight of the gearbox should keep the suspension down and flat at the front. Its the big wheel at the back that is both a roadwheel and idler/tensioner that will need a spring allowing the arm to swivel up and down. That will be the tricky one.Estnische wrote:How will you keep track tension without springs?
Re: 1/16 RC M5A1 Stuart Light tank - build
Another build thats problem solving as it goes, lots of tips again.
Re: 1/16 RC M5A1 Stuart Light tank - build
Hi Herman, i wanted to reply to you. I had 30 minutes available after work and i built a section of Stuart tracks to see the situation. See below.HERMAN BIX wrote:Call me anything you like, but is there any way a set of Sherman tracks that look the same, could be narrowed, and made to work ?
The set on Mr Hugills Firefly loom the same visually, but are wider. Could they be re-engineered to work ?
Ive not considered pitch etc, but the Stuart ones look the same but narrower.
The Classy Hobby Stuart kit comes with late type T36E6 articulated individual track links in plastic. Each links has 5 parts needing to be carefully glued while ensuring the connectors remain loose.
Well molded but they have a design feature that i dislike very much, its the separately molded side tooth pins that need to be glued on each connector. This is a bizarre fragile design even for a static kit. On an RC track, this is a potential show stopper. Once the teeth are glued on place, i will take the step of applying extra glue on the outside joint to try to keep them in place as best they can.
They compare well to a graph found on the web.
For the guys who were thinking of resizing Sherman tracks to fit the Stuart, you can forget about it. It was my hope that the kit plastic pads could be mounted on the Mato connectors and then cut the extra pin length. But there is no way. See the difference in size below between the M5 tracks and a set of Mato Sherman.
Everything is smaller on the Stuart tracks.
The spacing between the links is also shorter.
So, you have the answer Herman to your question above, its not doable.
The kit tracks are well articulated but need to be well assembled by the builder for any hope of supporting some table top RC movement in a happy path scenario. These will have to do until a company like R-Model comes out with a better set of metal tracks, like they did recently for the Takom Panzer 1.
Regards, Louis
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Re: 1/16 RC M5A1 Stuart Light tank - build
What a shame............well at least now you know and anyone else with the kit knows not to waste time looking too .
Like you say, for a careful table-top runner, they will do until an option comes around.
Like you say, for a careful table-top runner, they will do until an option comes around.
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Re: 1/16 RC M5A1 Stuart Light tank - build
Let's hope metal tracks will appear on the market, as was the case with the Panzer 38 (t)