1/6 1943 Stuart M5

[PainlessWolf]

Gentlemen,
Thank you both very much! Mate is ill with a head cold so I am taking care of marital duties. Not much done but I am ready to begin again this weekend with completing the return rollers and getting them installed. After that, it is the idlers and final lower detailing and perhaps some paint. By then, I may have good news from Clark *crosses fingers*
regards,
Painless

P.S. 'Bottoms' indeed. I am either in the Military or back in Grade School again *chuckles* ;o)

[PainlessWolf]

All is well on the Health front again so this evening I returned to work on the return rollers ( pardon the unintentional pun ;o) I cut the shaft off of the intended spacer pieces with a Tamiya thin plastic saw while they were mounted in a mini vise for stability. Filing followed to take the very little required material off for fit. The last step was dremeling out the center ring to enable it to slide up to mate against the roller half. Some of the LocTite Ultragel secured all three sections together. I used some Vallejo putty to fill the slight joins and set them aside to cure. Tomorrow, I can clean them up with sanding and then drill and mount the bushings. Once the bushings are cured into place, I will measure them up in distance from the hull sides using an original RC roller and screw them into place. If needed, I will add a bottom axle shield for appearance' sake using salvaged plastic shafts from making up the rollers. Pics: ( click to enlarge )

[PainlessWolf]

There was time today to work up the mounts for the return rollers and start getting them installed. I used the two sent by Mike first as they already had a bushing installed in them and that made mounting them much easier. The other four scratched ones required inletting with the Dremel and a router bit to have the steel spacer lay flat and be internally mounted. I added a larger, external steel washer as another spacer to get the distance right from the lower hull wall. I should be able to finish up those four tomorrow and get them installed. Idlers next...Pics: ( click to enlarge )

[sassgrunt]

It never ceases to amaze me at the amount of pain (despite your moniker) you are will to go through for a build. The rest of us mere mortals can only watch; collective mouths agape....

[PainlessWolf]

Mike!
I am a Tyro compared to true Masters of the Craft. Thank you, my Friend. ;o) I dust your Tiger on a regular basis and keep the battery charged. See you soon! ( Ware those erupting volcanoes out there. )
regards always,
Painless

[PainlessWolf]

After the End of Shift whistle ( I should get one of those ;o) I mounted the other four return rollers. A little adjustment was needed to keep them a safe distance ( no rubbing of plastic and metal ) away from the axle shields I had installed. The pics will show that my rough hewn measuring efforts yesterday paid off. I had gone to bed last night wondering if I would have to file material off of the spacers since the guide horns on the track are so long but happily, that step was not required. Pics: ( click to enlarge )

[c.rainford73]

Really coming along nicely Mr Wolf. I can see the rough draft with the tracks fitted, really puts it into perspective keep up the great work

[PainlessWolf]

Carl!
Thank you for the look in! ;o) This build takes all of my spare time ( but I kind of figured that it would going in what with the level of detail possible at this scale ) I'm glad that you are following along. It gets nutty at times.
regards,
Painless

[PainlessWolf]

S.O.A.G,
A lot of the credit needs to go to Sassgrunt\Mike. He has provided worked up hull components and metal parts from his High Speed Tractor build that have been an incredible assist towards making this into a Hobby grade RC tank. Make no mistake, it is pretty much a Toy ( capital 'T' ) in its Retail configuration. Very, very nice back in the day but needing a lot of work to be shown next to the vehicles that Field of Armor or EastCoastArmor produces. ;o)
regards,
Painless

[sassgrunt]

And as for Mike, yes, he's done you an invaluable service, I'm guessing, it's because he knows you'll use it wisely

Unfortunately, no; nothing as laudable as that. It's because I can watch Painless go through all the tribulations and creative solutions he does with working out the bugs on his, before I ever start working on my own.