RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

BarryC wrote:I know I'm jumping ahead but am keenly interested in your plan for narrowing the tracks.

Oh well, I got Plan A and Plan B. I really and really hope Plan A is going to work out because I guess you have an idea of what Plan B could be... You're going to have to wait and see.

BarryC wrote:I know I'm jumping ahead but am keenly interested in your plan for narrowing the tracks.

Oh well, I got Plan A and Plan B. I really and really hope Plan A is going to work out because I guess you have an idea of what Plan B could be... You're going to have to wait and see.

Hi,

Here is the modified suspension and roadwheels.

The Heng Long M41A3 suspension is fully handled by the shock absorbers on each road wheel instead of torsion bars or springs integrated with the suspension arms, which complicates things a bit. As shown below, the real M41 does not have a shock absorber on roadwheel 3 and 4. So, Heng Long did cut some corners that must be rectified for an accurate M41 model.
First, as my model will have more accurate 32mm wide tracks instead of the 40mm provided, road wheels and rollers need to be brought closer to the hull by a total of 4mm. There is a 2mm ring that can be removed from each suspension holders. 4mm can be removed strait away from the roller holders. The support 1,2 and 5 for the shock absorbers can be reduced by 3mm to keep them in line, number 3 and 4 can be deleted. The idlers and sprockets will be dealt with later.
A 2mm ring can be removed from the inside of each road wheels, for the required total of 4mm per road wheel.
Since the main screw is getting deeper in the hull than before, a couple of mm at the tip of the suspension holders must be made 4mm wide.
Road wheel 1, 2 and 5 can then be easily put back. But because the HL road wheels are too wide (these are in fact M26 road wheels...), the inside rim of the road wheels has been removed so that they stay clear of the shock absorbers and roll freely. It does not show from the outside. The hub cap will be glued later.
Because I removed 2mm in length from the road wheel center hole, the road wheel now need to be supported from the outside which has a hole perfect to insert a 12mm wide, 5mm center and 4mm thick ball bearing. The road wheels are now very stable and more strait than even before the modifications.
Road wheel 1, 2 and 5 are put in place, which is important to determine the position of road wheel 3 and 4 which require a new suspension arrangement. The shock absorbers cannot be simply removed to let the wheels hang loose, leaving the only remaining roadwheel 5 with suspension to support the whole gearbox weight at the back. A new suspension system for number 3 and 4 need to be designed.
My solution is to move the shock absorbers 3 and 4 inside the hull, just on the other side of the chassis. So, a 4mm brass shaft is made that will connect the outside suspension arm (with shock absorber holder removed) to a similar one inside (that has the road wheel hole removed) and connected to the shock absorber only. A extra set of M41 suspension arms was purchased from MatoMart for a few dollars for this purpose. Below are the parts required for the new arrangement.
Because the bottom of the inside suspension arm need room to operate, a hole is required to be made at the bottom of the hull for these, it does not show from the outside. Then a 4mm hole is made to go all the way in and even a few mm inside the battery box to provide extra support for the 4mm brass shaft.
A 1.6mm brass bolt is used to connect the plastic suspension arm to the shaft on both sides
Continuing on next post.

Louis

Continuing with the suspension,

Detail showing how the bolt is holding the suspension arm with the brass shaft.
Here are the new suspension for road wheel 3 and 4 on both sides. It is important to position the tip anchor (home made) of the shock absorbers at the right location in order to align with the other road wheels and support the model correctly. It is working perfectly. It took around 2 hours to design and make the first set, but I was able to finish the other 3 in 20 minutes each. there is nothing fancy and work wells. I will reinforce the anchors after running trials.
This is how the model currently looks with the more accurate suspension. I am happy with the results. It was an interesting challenge.
Here is a short YouTube video showing the working of the modified suspension.

https://youtu.be/Sn7T_uWNpTE

Regards, Louis

Brilliant Louis. I am watching this latest masterpiece very closely. I've never seen someone attempt this model before with such accuracy. I would expect nothing less from you

c.rainford73 wrote:Brilliant Louis. I am watching this latest masterpiece very closely. I've never seen someone attempt this model before with such accuracy. I would expect nothing less from you

Carl, I could not agree more and it's only been 6 days from the start; WOW!!!

Barry

Thank you Carl, Barry and Son of a gunner.[quote="Son of a gun-ner !

Son of a gun-ner wrote:Mind you, seems an awful lot of effort to a piece of armour with no interior. . . . Or, will there be

Ah no, no interior on this one. But I am planning to add an ARVN tank crew with some infantry riders, which creates a good challenge in 1/16 scale.

regards, Louis

Louis I'm sure it will be a pleasant surprise to all of us once this build progresses. Like a class in tank scratch building 101.....

Its amazing to see the much maligned and overlooked Bulldog get a shot at the title.
Fantastic work.

Hi, thank you everyone for your interest. This is a pleasant build.

Here are the driver's hatch and periscopes.

For an accurate model, modellers should not install the driver's periscopes as per instructions. This is a fantasy mounting as if tank periscopes could be mounted fully outside the armor and looking at the sky for bird watching instead of the ground facing the enemy. Periscope must be looking horizontally. Another modification required is the raised hatch that need to be removed and replacement made flat and lowered flush with the deck when closed.
The good thing though is that the periscope parts provided can be reused and positioned correctly with a few hours of efforts with basic tools and some reference. I recommend the Squadron Signal book "M41 Walker Bulldog walk around". The real periscope have a different shape and the original Heng Long parts (on the right) can be sanded with a nail file and reshaped (left) with a result that is close enough with a plasticard strip on top (seen later). The trimming is what also allows them to be inserted in the slots created, otherwise they are too thick to fit correctly. Also notice the light casting effect on the hatch enclosure that need repro.
The driver's hatch was cleaned up of unwanted portions as shown in a way that allows for a new opening hatch to be created, and for the periscope to be installed from below. Cleaning up the plastic was done very slowly first with a Dremel and then with a knife in order to cut exactly the right amount of plastic and avoid mistakes. Positioning the periscope correctly requires lots of trials and perseverance.
Inside view
New rim and movable hatch is created from 1.5mm plasticard.
Periscopes are installed from below as shown.
Overall view of the new driver's hatch. The light casting effect was reproduced with thin layer of superglue applied directly on the plastic.
An angled plasticard strip was added to the top of each periscope to repro the angle seen on reference picture.
Periscopes are looking strait ahead as they should.
More pictures on following post.

Louis