Static to FO KT

[billpe]

I'm in contact with Bob to leave feedback. Regardless of the holes being in the right place, it will still need more drilled in. My only issue with the design itself is there is no central part which could use any of the four holes already pre-cut in the middle or at least have a centre line mount as well. Also need Bob at ETO to tell me if G or Y in Cyrillic is positive or negative!

The back holes are about 1mm off to the outside of the pre-cut holes and the front holes have to be measure up. The positive is that the front holes are offset by 1mm compared to the back so the studs don't clip the strip that holes the torsion bars in.

It's odd actually because if the drilled the back holes i.e. the ones which look like they're meant to be lining up with the pre-drilled holes, the same distance in as the front ones, they'd line up pretty well.

[billpe]

Spoke to Bob who says the mounts should be in the box - will recheck! If so, will seat them tomorrow. The next question is do I need to beef up the front torsion bars? I guess I will find out.

[tomhugill]

The Tamiya torsion bars are quite stuff so you should be ok

[billpe]

The boxes are in, tracks are on for a test.

As you can see it's a very tight fit at the front (the gap between the hull and final drive is about 0.3mm and the weight causes a slight nose down attitude so I think at least one of those torsion bars, probably the first will need some strengthening. You can also see the slight machining error on one side with them where it's not a perfect square - this is the only machining fault I could find apart from the slightly off threaded holes which Bob says only affect a couple of sets (and isn't a big deal, to me anyway).

I've soldered in the wires and ran them up and they're remarkably quiet. I've had Impact, Taigan pot and black steel gears, HL pot and plastic gears, Tamiya standard boxes and the Tamiya leopard 2 box and these ETO boxes are by far the quietest. They sound pretty much like a very low revving multi tool. Need to take them back out and shave about 0.5mm to one way as the holes were not perfectly aligned.

So far pretty happy with these and at this stage definitely recommend them. A step up in strength from Tamiya and a step up in many ways from Impact or Taigan boxes.

[sassgrunt]

As long as you're using the Tamiya leafs for the torsion bars, you can twist the roadwheel arm pretty severely the opposite way, (easier to do if the wheel is removed), and put a bit of a reverse twist on the leaf. You can make the first one or two roadwheels have a little more spring to them than the others, which will help counter the weight of the gearboxes.

And, you can see this happen to the leafs on tanks that sit on the shelf for a long period. Over time, the roadwheels will sag a bit, which is why some people store their tanks with a block of wood under them. But, you can always reverse-twist the wheels to bring it back to the correct ride height.

[sevoblast]

I have, indeed, been in contact with Billpe about the mounts. After he informed me of the guide mount holes not lining up I checked every KT mount I have. 2 sets were not correct, the other 12 sets are spot on. We will be to machine shop tomorrow and this problem will be discussed. I have the original blueprints of the mounts and machine shop has a copy. I know their copy is correct because they sent me copies from their computer to verify that all was correct. The transmission is designed to be a virtual drop in replacement. Tiger 1 and KT do need two extra holes drilled but the original two holes outside the torsion bar stays should align perfectly with the ETO transmission holes. KV and Sherman drop right in, no additional holes needed.

The weight of my transmissions full up with standoffs is 675g. A pair of Tamiya transmissions stock from the box is 495g. A little judicious bending of the two front torsion bars should bring things back to level.

There is an easy way to measure for the needed two extra holes. Remove the mounts and, without standoffs, install them upside down on opposite sides of the transmission. You can then bolt them to the bottom of the hull on the outside with two bolts inserted from inside through the existing holes in the Tamiya hull. Making sure the unit is sitting absolutely straight, you can then use the two forward holes in the mounts to mark where the new holes go by using a sharp pencil in the holes. Remove the transmission and drill a 3 mm hole for each marked area. If a slight adjustment is needed you can ease the hole out to 3.5 mm.

Remove the mounts and install them in the correct position, attach the standoffs and install the transmission. DO NOT use any bolts but the provided ones to attach the mounting plates. A glance at the underside of the heads of the provided bolts will tell all, they are special and will not allow any change in the geometry of the mounts no matter what strain is put on the transmission assembly.

[billpe]

So I got them running properly yesterday. Lots of torque and performance is good. As they're a little longer than the Tamiya boxes, the battery needs to be side on. Might cut a hole in the speaker box so I can slide it back a little.

[billpe]

I counter sunk all the welds and did them again and it's ready for the PE to go on. Work is on hold temporarily though as I wanted to test out some paints on spare turret which I've used to test out how some of the finishing will look. I bought some of the new Mig Ammo range but the regulator in my compressor went while spraying Mig Ammo's version of Red Oxide. Nice paints and go on nicely but that's about it until a new regulator arrives.

[billpe]

Not much action going on right now, just taking some time over PE clasps. Used some Simonez primer on the main gun which worked really nicely and then did the turret using Plastikote. Word of warning, plastikote takes a few days to cure properly - I learnt the hard way and resprayed some areas I missed a day later and got the tell tale signs of moist paint being sprayed on which let to some cracking. Had to sand some off but this plastikote primer is tough!

I also tried some of the Ammo by Mig Jimenez paints. I will post some pictures later this week when I have some good light but these are really nice paints. They spray on nicely but it has to be done in layers however it goes a very long way. I think a 20% thinned single pot of each colour will cover a 1:16 tank with ease. The finish is very slightly plasticised but in turn looks like it will form a nice layer for oils and enamels without having to use a satin varnish in between. Not tried chipping with them yet but I really liked the colours. My only criticism, coming from Tamiya paints is they take ages to cure properly. Tamiya paints take minutes whereas these Ammo paints take hours.

[PainlessWolf]

Good Morning,
It is a slow Spring for a lot of us. Thanks for the heads up and important tips on the Primer and Paints. Looking forward to your next photo set. ;o)
regards,
Painless