LVT (A) 1 Alligator

[littletankman]

Hi Nic , Spot on mate an excelent job . Like the u tube clip . Have you a picture showing your final suspension .

Thanks Andy

[GreenAmphibian]

Hello Nick! Great Job on the LVT! I'm glad to see it in the water and working on the beach defenses. You have a great model there.
Herman

[mt 1]

nice build,excellent job what a great model

[nickmow]

DIgging through my stuff and I found the source of my obsession with LVT's. An old Nitto kit I built when I was about 14 years old (only 30 years ago !!). Well I had this idea around that time of how wonderful it would be if 1/35th models could be radio controlled......few years on and the LVT (A)1 of this thread came about. Found a few spare bits and saw a video on youtube of a chap who made the Nitto kit RC so, well I had a pop...... this is the original 30 year old model with new tracks on it. Serving as a prototype for an unbuilt kit I have of the same. IT ONLY BLOODY WORKS and of course it floats


Tamiya Twin Gear box kit (very usefull bit of gear that) Heng Long RC gear, and a 4.8 NIMH, Rx battery which works pretty well.
what do you think !

Andy I promise I will do phots of the suspension on the big one this weekend ! Honest mate

[littletankman]

Hi Nic that looks great mate , Im in no rush for suspension picts mate , but please post . Thanks.

Andy

[nickmow]

Andy I tried to get some piccies of the suspension but they are not to clear so Ive tried to colour code them.
Basically the Brass plates mounted on the hull have a series of L shaped brass strips soldered to them to form a "U" shape. Each wheel has a slightly narrower Brass "U" cradle to hold it. This cradle has a Brass tube soldered to the top of it. The whole Wheel/Tube arrangement is then anchored to the Hull mount with a Brass rod through the L shaped bracket, through the tube and into the Hull. It was beyond me to make a suitable sprung suspension like Herman's as he did such a great job of his. So having tried I simply fixed the whole assemble in place again with solder. It works but in retrospect I think the brass isnt thick enough gauge and isnt resiliant to rough terrain and some of it is now deforming. Im thinking about doing an LVT 4 Buffalo but will work out a better suspension before I do it. Hope this helps mate

[littletankman]

Hi Nick thats excelent mate thanks I will probbaly go the same route as you.

Thanks Andy

[GreenAmphibian]

Hello Nick! actually my suspension is not that much different from yours. I made the springs and soldered small spring holders on the U shaped wheel holders to keep them in place. Tracks have to be fairly tight, though they do work great in the water. In dirt/sand I have to be a bit more understanding when turning. On hard surfaces I can make it slide in a power turn!

[nickmow]

Hey Herman, good to hear from you mate !. I think Im going to give the LVT 4 a go along the same line as yours. I've had an idea to beef up the suspension with a sort of torsion bar arrangement. Ive found my current setup is a little delicate. Couple other aims....
1. Working ramp ! (obviously waterproofing issues) and a deployable Jeep :0). We shall see.
Got to finish the mini LVT (A) 4 first !

[GreenAmphibian]

I was also thinking on how to make a working ramp. I have some rough ideas lurking in the recesses of my gourd, but have not gotten to the point to share anything that works yet. I will let you know what I come up with once I get it all figured out. I'm still working on the LVTH6. I have the tracks and gearboxes figured out and am working on the turret and the suspension now.