Kodiak AEV 3 Armoured Excavation Vehicle

[mcevoyi]

Wow ...spare parts ..i am sure so much of that could be used for sifi modellers ...lol

[wibblywobbly]

The spare speakers arrived yesterday, so I set about fitting one. There is no room at all in the lower hull so I had to cut into the top from underneath. This was pretty awkward as I was cutting through several layers of styrene and had to maintin a square cutout, and avoiding wrecking all of my work.

It was at this point that my trusty multitool that I bought from B&Q about a million years ago decided to cry surrender. There is a torsion spring between the motor shaft and the output/chuck shaft, and this decided to shear off. I have found a spares supplier in Southampton and I am hoping that they carry the spare spring, if not I will have to make something. I then had to use my Dremel, which is not good for styrene as even on the lowest speed setting it is way too fast for sanding, and at that speed it has no torque. The B&Q one was perfect.

Having cut away styrene, I printed a speaker box, mounted it up in the hull, and then printed a cover to allow the sound out.

[PainlessWolf]

Good Morning!
Now that you have almost finished mine, isn't it time that you got started on one of your own? *chuckles* Seriously tho', if a company wanted to manufacture these for sale, W.W., they would need to look no further than this amazing example.
regards,
painless

[wibblywobbly]

Hi Painless

Only one company makes one, and it is not cheap, around $7000, without electrics and a 4 month wait time??, and even that is only a conversion from a 2A6 like this one was... ...and it uses arm propulsion that stops them adding the detail eg the shaped covers on the rams.

http://www.cg-modellbau.de/AEV3-Kodiak- ... Electronic

I must have saved myself a good $7500 doing my own.

Rob

[wibblywobbly]

Got a bit carried away today.

The inside of the Kodiak was looking a bit of a dog's breakfast, and it really needs two batteries, one for the IBU2 and one for the RX18. The problem was how to mount it all nice and neatly so that I could remove the batteries and boards if I needed to.

I hot glued a flat styrene sheet into the lower hull after cutting out the battery box.

I then created two battery clips. The batteries simply drop into these.
Then I created a platform that clips between the two batteries.
The IBU2 receiver fits in the gap between the batteries.
I have one custom tray for the IBU2 that allows airflow all around it, no glue the board simply clips in, and has access to the SD card. So no grubby fingers need to touch the board at all.
I have a similar double tray for the RX18 and receiver.

So, it all clips together, and can be pulled apart anytime anywhere.

I have removed the two hatches on the rear panel and will mount two on/off switches under these if I can figure out a neat way to get access to them.

[PainlessWolf]

W.W.,
Those mounts are things of beauty! Copies of them will be for sale some day I hope?
regards,
Painless

[wibblywobbly]

Thanks, they took a bit of figuring out, eg minimalism is always my objective. As for parts being available, alas I do not have trader status on here so I can't advertise.

[wibblywobbly]

Reworked two of the hatches now that I am getting confident with my Openscad abilities, the open one will have a Bundeswehr commander in it, with two switches for the electrics mounted underneath him. The original ones that I had on there were a guesstimate, and it was only because I came across a 1/35 scratch build that I discovered what they really look like. I have to say that the build I found was pretty mind blowing in detail??

http://leopardclub.ca/ReadersModels/Osc ... a_Vasquez/

It wouldn't last 5 minutes in an RC environment, but hats off to the guy. He is a modelling God.

I don't know what other people's views are, but I tend to think that if there is one thing that makes a tank look 'scale' it is a figure or two sat in a hatch.

[PainlessWolf]

Good Morning,
I agree on all counts. A Modeling God! and yes, I would be afraid to sneeze near that Beauty of a Build. Also, like you, I spend extra time and dough to get appropriate figures for my tanks. It really does help with the scale and to bring them to life. ;o)
regards,
Painless

[wibblywobbly]

I am most fortunate in having a tame figure painter nearby, I have had numerous attempts at doing them but without someone to show me 'exactly' how it is done, I gave up after all mine ended up looking like Doris Day after night out with the lads.