After a bunch of hours of printing I was able to get most of it assembled.
550 M2x20mm countersunk screws later, the tracks were on. I also reworked the original hinges on the hatches to look more like the real tank. The fender straps were deleted as I will be adding more correct straps. They were also recontoured as I didn't like the full boxy fenders. Final drive housings need some fastener detail added.
I didn't print the side skirts as they will be left off. I still need to remove some material from the underside of the skirt to make them look right.
"Look at the size of that thing" - Luke Skywalker
The rear fenders were also cut down. They still need a lot of work to make them look right. Engine access hinges were reworked like the driver's/MG gunner hatches. Still needs a lot of clean up work.
Redid the storage boxes in the rear. The originals were completely square while most of them have an angle at the top so I modified them as shown. The lower tray walls were made thinner and the top lid was reworked thinner. Still need to add the support brace under the rear edge of the box that mounts to the fender.
Then I got busy with starting to install the electronics. This ESC will be running the turret traverse motor at 12V.
The geared 555 sized motors will be running off the 24V buss bar shown on the right of the electronics tray. I printed a riser to mount the voltage monitor and volume knob which is accessed through the hatches when the front glacis plate is installed. I will also be able to turn the tank on/off using the 40amp breaker through the front hatch. The whole system is limited to 40A because that's the draw limit of the battery pack. The battery is a 6S Li-Ion 21700 cell pack rated at 4.5AH. You can see it's 3D printed tray just to the left of the battery monitor riser.
Better shot of the 24V buss bar. It will feed the voltage buck in the upper right. The buck will convert the 24V to 12V for the TCB and the turret 12V ESC. The JS-2 sound card will be replaced with a Ford GAA one from Taigen. I figured the sound is close enough.
And finally the rough overall layout of the electronics. Still not done wiring them all up so a few additions will still be made. The TCB is in orange. Speaker is a leftover from an old small home theater in a box setup that I no longer needed. Gotta love repurposing things...
That's all for now...
What a fine project, and quite hefty! I will watch, be awed, and try to learn whatever I can. Thanks for posting about this build.
