M3 Grant (Lee?) scratchbuilt... or that's the plan anyway...

[Herr Dr. Professor]

Thank you for the very clear explanation, Rob. I have received parts with noticeable striations and some smooth as a silk stocking (whoo-whoo!), even from the same seller. Overall, 3D printing sure makes the hobby even more fun.

[Rob1970]

hat part are you talking about?

The turret

Capture2.JPG

Well spotted! On closer inspection the mantlet could/should indeed lean back a bit more (38 degrees on the model I found, 45 degrees IRL) and the commander's hatch could move back a tad. That hatch is a relatively easy fix (for me), the mantlet not so much. A bit beyond my skill in Tinkercad (for now), but I might look into it later. Or source a good 3D model somewhere else.

For now I will fix the hatch and worry about the mantlet later. Maybe find someone who can do a better job? Any volunteers?

[Rob1970]

Weird... if I squash the 3D model down from 47 to 36 mm, the angle is perfect and it doesn't look half bad...

[Rob1970]

Ooooooh...


look what I've found! Ain't it cute!? A 1/100 scale wargaming model...


...and the resolution is high enough to blow it up to 1/16 scale...


Yeah... this will do nicely. The shape looks right, all the angles seem to match, and after some cleaning up and whatnot it is going to work with the mantlet I already remodelled. Score! Well, I paid $5 for the STL file. Totally worth it tho!!


There's even a version with a rather frumpled commander if I want to...

TTFN,
Rob

[Rob1970]

Cleaned up and hollowed out, ready for a (test) print... The mantlet and gun shield is a mix of pieces from this and the other turret and some parts I redesigned myself with references from RL Grants and models...

[Rob1970]

So... a few test prints later...


Well, maybe more than a "few"...

I ended up with this...


Close to perfect, altho I might redo some parts with a resin printer...


The whole 3-piece cover/fenders combo is seven pieces in total. You could probably do it "as one" if you used a resin printer, but I kinda want to make the whole set accessible to people with lower-end printers. The way I laid out the pieces for printing makes for the best details even with an FDM printer, altho I did uses a 0.06mm setting on some of them. The bolts at the top I decided to do as seperate pieces knocked out of a sheet of styrene.


It fits pretty well, and I am going to include a few templates for cutting and drilling when I upload the 3D files. Also thinking about making a set for a Sherman as well since I have most of the work done. Don't get me wrong, don't want to steal anyone's income with their Shapeways versions. I just think it's nice to have options.


The inside of the sponson has changed a bit since the previous version. Made it a tad shorter so it can slide in from the back. Added a piece to attach the gunner's scope. Might still redesign the mantlet to accept a bracket for the BB unit.


As you can see, there is room for the BB unit (if you do a 17-pounder Firefly move and tilt is about 45 degrees...) and it can even still traverse, raise and lower for an acceptible amount. Loading the BBs... not that's a bit of a puzzle to solve. Also made the bullet-splashguards which came out very nice even with an FDM printer.

The new turret I bought the file for online worked out great when enlarged from 1/100 to 1/16 scale. After a test print at prototype-speed (0.3mm layers in about 6 hours) that came out quite good and satisfactory scale- and detailwise I decided to go for a production print at 0.08mm layers.


Cura said it was a 24 hour print. Started it around 8 in the evening and checked in every now and then. Went to bed. Got woken up around 7 the next morning by SWMBO that she had woken with the power off... a circuit-breaker had tripped! Found the cause of the trip (gawddamn xmas lights...) and managed to restart the print. Thank the Great Sherman In The Sky for 3D-printers with resume functionality....


After some sanding and some added cast texture with Milliput on several pieces it should look awesome under paint.

To Be Continued...

TTFN,
Rob

[Raminator]

Fantastic work on the conversion Rob, especially getting the traverse on the main gun. I look forward to seeing it dressed up and painted!

[Rob1970]

While I pondered what functionality I can squeeze out off a standard HL 6.0s or 6.1s controller I was thinking of -maybe- getting something else for the Grant. With the turret and sponson I kinda need another set of gun controls to get the full joy out of it. So... what are my (cheapest ) options? I have a FlySky remote and a couple of 10 channel receivers to start with. Any advice?

[Rob1970]

For those who want to suffer with me... https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5164156

[HERMAN BIX]

You're on your own for me mate !!, thats dark art that is