DIY Hull Stiffening Aluminum Brace (HSAB)

[TigerMouse1]

It looks like some of you have fabricated your own support brace for the lower chassis with aluminum or styrene sheets. This is for my Heng Long M1A2 Abrams. I want to get a feel of how you go about doing it. Do you make a paper pattern, lay it on the metal sheet, and then cut it out with shears? What is thickness (gauge?) Do I get the aluminum sheet at Home Depot or a hobby store like Hobby Lobby? If there's a dedicated post or thread, please let me know. Thanks in advance.

P.S. I have a small budget so I cannot afford the one sold by RCTANKLEGION. With shipping to the US, it would cost me $110 for the Abrams (but they are out of stock anyway).

[tankme]

You can pick up aluminum flat bar or angle extrusions at any big box hardware store (Lowes or Home Depot) or local hardware stores. A cardboard template works for most things. Typically Ebay is cheaper for styrene sheet in bulk or ABS sheet which is typically thicker (2mm and up). The materials I've used for braces are too thick to be cut with shears and if they are thin enough for that they probably wouldn't be great for supports. Plastic sheets can be cut with any kind of wood working tools and metal bar with a hacksaw or Dremel. You can "glue" styrene or ABS sheets together to get thicker sheets using Acetone or Tamiya Thin Cement. Not sure if thin cement will work on ABS though...don't think so.

[Meter rat]

I used aluminium from B&Q, here in the UK. In the Challenger I used 25mm x 25mm x 3mm. I used CAD (Cardboard Aided Design) to shape the profile first. A good quality junior hacksaw, file, and drills will cut, and shape the metal. Took approximately 1.5 hours work.

[Herr Dr. Professor]

"CAD (Cardboard Aided Design)" Ah, and all this time I thought all that CAD and CADCAM (Cardboard Aided Mess) was computerized. I should have known there is a better way.

[Son of a gun-ner]

If you can't afford CAD, there is always PAD.... (Paper Aided Design) quite literally on a Pad....