Thank you Ecam, Herman, Ad Lav and tankme.
Some more updates.
The engine rear plate is permanently glued to the hull. It allows the gap at the bottom joint with the plastic hull to be filled with putty and sanded smooth.
- 1/16 RC USMC M-60A1 US tank with ERA - Build
- IMG_1778.JPG (1.13 MiB) Viewed 1133 times
It also allows the mud guard sides to be permanently glued to the lower hull. A positioning rim on the side of the tail lights were removed.
- 1/16 RC USMC M-60A1 US tank with ERA - Build
- IMG_1780.JPG (1.11 MiB) Viewed 1133 times
In order for the turret to rotate 360 degrees, but mainly to allow the gun to sit on its travel lock located at 180 degrees, the annoying stop that is put on the rotation wheel was removed, the missing teeth were easily carved with a Dremel disk and then finetuned with a sharp knife. I am making sure anyway never to do multiple 360s.
- 1/16 RC USMC M-60A1 US tank with ERA - Build
- IMG_1794.JPG (1.56 MiB) Viewed 1133 times
While testing the electronics, i noticed that one of the metal track link was broken. Not sure when this happened. I know that before i could configure the control board to adjust the hull back recoil mouvement, it was somehow set to maximum and the few gun recoil tests gave the gearbox and hull a terrible jolt. I then removed the hull recoil completely because even the lowest setting was too strong and i was concerned it would damage the gearbox. At least the control board is configurable for the hull recoil with an off setting.
- 1/16 RC USMC M-60A1 US tank with ERA - Build
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Looking at that specific track link, we can see that even the two remaining connectors are not aligned. Something is terribly wrong with that link. It might be a molding issue, or the metal is simply weak, can easily break or distort, or the person assembling the track made an error and forced it. The replacement links are all ok, but only four are provided and i already used one without having run the model anywhere yet… I'll keep an eye on the tracks because i really do not like broken metal track links, which might be a symptom of some problem not yet identified.
- 1/16 RC USMC M-60A1 US tank with ERA - Build
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The electronics were installed without any ceremony, the inside is not the hightlight of this build. TONGDE provided a lot of quality electronics for the price of the model, including a smoker. A plasticard plate was calculated to fit between the sides and is loosely deposited at the bottom of the hull to create a good base, and to avoid anything touching the torsion bars. Its removable to access the suspension under.
- 1/16 RC USMC M-60A1 US tank with ERA - Build
- IMG_1810.JPG (1.83 MiB) Viewed 1133 times
The colored pipes for the smoker are from my son's Lego parts collection, and connects to two holes on the back plate. The smoker works fine.
- 1/16 RC USMC M-60A1 US tank with ERA - Build
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After installing the main electronics, it's always a pleasure to test everything and see that the various items that were created and tested months ago still work, such as the headlights or the gun recoil. After months of model manipulation during the construction, there could be issues. Loose wires can get pulled, something can get broken, drilled into or become loose or stiff for some reason.
- 1/16 RC USMC M-60A1 US tank with ERA - Build
- IMG_1813.JPG (1.27 MiB) Viewed 1133 times
The ability to put the gun in its travel lock position is very convenient, specially during transport or storage of the RC model, just like the real thing. The working DKLM gun travel lock is great.
- 1/16 RC USMC M-60A1 US tank with ERA - Build
- IMG_1816.JPG (1.22 MiB) Viewed 1133 times
- 1/16 RC USMC M-60A1 US tank with ERA - Build
- IMG_1817.JPG (903.79 KiB) Viewed 1133 times
Continuing on following post.
