Hi, I'm Wayne

[YYCADM]

Hello everyone...Wayne here, from Western Canada.

I'm retired, after 4 decades in aviation. Started in RC tanks in the late 1990's, building my first, a Tamiya Pershing. After spending a year or more customizing the tank, I moved on to building another, a King Tiger, then a Sherman, and finally a Leopard 2A6.

A variety of life issues kept me from adding to the collection for a long time, and just enjoying the ones I had on occasion. My interest was piqued again with the introduction of HL's Merkava, and I just picked up a Professional version that I'm finalizing.

I'm pleasantly surprised at the detail and quality of the tank, and it's renewed my interest in someday moving into a larger build. Although there's much to be said about RTR machines, I enjoy the building process, and would love to dive into an Armortek at some point.

I'm fairly well set up for creative mods; My shop contains a small CNC mill, a couple of lathes, CNC router and a laser. I also mess around with a couple of 3D printers. and have a high resolution 3D scanner I've used for recreating small parts, fixtures, etc on the 3D printer.

I've got the equipment & tools, I'm lacking in the vision to take certain things in a worthwhile direction.

Looking forward to conversing with you all, and developing some fresh ideas!

[MrChef]

Hi Wayne. Welcome to the motley group. I'm hailing from New York USA, but Not the city. Glad you're back into the action. From what I gather You definitely lucked out and got a well done Heng Long model in the Merkava.

Enjoy, Anton

[Meter rat]

Hi, and welcome from Argyll and Bute, on the west coast of Scotland. Sounds like you have a well equipped workshop..

[Jimster]

Welcome aboard from Illinois.

[BarryC]

Welcome Wayne

Our history and interest are quite alike.

45 years in Aviation, I enjoy the building aspect and challenging myself to build outside my comfort zone.

Barry

[ColemanCollector]

Welcome from Eastern Canada!
3D printing is peaking my interest more and more. So many possibilities. Armortek kits look very interesting and your shop would get a good workout!
Mike.

[Herr Dr. Professor]

Holy Moley, Wayne: you are well set up to do some great custom work and modifications to RC AFVs. I, too, went for a Merkava in the "Professional" version. It is a remarkable offering for a "fresh from the box" stock mass-produced AFV. I would be interested in any photos you want to put up and any information about what you are doing with the Merkava and your other AFVs.

[Paddyslot]

Hi and welcome

[YYCADM]

Thanks for the warm welcome! I've already started pulling things apart, to (laughingly) try to improve things. I'm quite underwhelmed with the smoke generator; it's already melted out the top of the chamber. No one seems to stock any parts in Canada for them, so I'll have to find something worth the hassle of ordering from overseas.

I have two projects in development right now. The first will be 3D printed; I'm working on a bracket to hold a rare earth magnet, that can be mounted in both the upper and lower hulls, and eliminate the irritating little screws.

I also want to stiffen the lower hull. I've stripped out the components to scan the side plates of the hull. Once I have the file generated. my "plan" is to mill out some "shadow" plates in 3mm aluminum sheet to match the internal dimensions, then lighten them with milled slots.

I'm wondering if it's worthwhile to add a 1cm wide, top plate, perpendicular to the sides of the hull, where I could mount magnets and positioning pins to mount the upper hull easily and hold it in position with aligning pins.

I did something similar, but on a smaller scale with my Tamiya Pershing. Running metal tracks, I split the hull beside the drive sprocket by torque flexing the plastic too much. It really stiffened up the hull a great deal, and the tracks aren't destroying the hull anymore, so I'm hoping for a more rigid result on the Merkava as well.

[jarndice]

Wayne Hi, Welcome to the Forum I hope you enjoy this place and find it to be helpful,
You appear to be well on the way to showing us how to do it although just maybe we can make joining the hull to the body of your Merkava a little easier,
You talk of using Neodymion (Rare Earth)Magnets to secure the 2 halfs which is pretty much what a lot of us do BUT have you thought of using COUNTERSUNK Magnets, Simply screw them into the upper and lower mounting posts of hull and body and job done although in actual fact you will need to slightly trim the tops off to compensate for the depth of the magnets, I get my magnets from--
www.first4magnets.com
A UK company that sells worldwide and are very helpful,
I wonder if you have tried --
www.forgebeartanks.com
Again a UK company who sells around the World, If Dave has not got it he will tell you who has and many of our North American members say his speed of delivery outdoes American dealers,
Obviously I have no commercial interests in these company's I am just a very satisfied customer.