1944 M36 B1 Tank Destroyer

[c.rainford73]

Mr Painless absolutely lovely work in every way possible. Your details are exceptionally done as usual

[HERMAN BIX]

Bravo Mr Wolf......................extraordinary

[PainlessWolf]

Gentlemen, Thank you very much. The praise of ones peers is about as good as it gets, accolades - wise, in the Hobby. It has always been enough for me.
Carl! Tonight sees it done. I have the battery I bought for it charging and will get some decent pics for a Show Off thread tomorrow when the sun is up. A small video too if the Mate will assist *chuckles*
Herman! I'm glad you like it, my Friend. It took longer than I anticipated but it's definitely worth it. Mato makes some of the most metal-listic ones out there, weight-wise and detail-wise that I have seen.
Pics:

[Dr Phibes]

Beautifully put together as usual Painless. I have myself just been working on these same Schumo upper hull details and love, in particular, what they done with the blower vent cover and MG cover retaining ring thing (?). These really add significant detail over the stock Mato finish - a worthwhile investment indeed.
One thing I was wondering and meant to ask you (and trying to figure out myself) is with the tow cable arrangement (i.e. retained across the glacis plate, under the stowage plank/platform, and clamped to the lower gearbox cover) how do you go about removing the upper hull for routine maintenance and battery charging/replacement, etc?

[PainlessWolf]

Doc Phibes! Good morning!
I learned a valuable trick here on the Board back when I was trying to figure out the stowage on 'Maxene'. I was told to use clear, removable 3M double-sided tape to make single blocks of stowage out of all the disparate pieces. ( as many as was manageable ) I still use that trick and in the case of the front stowage on the M36B1, the block I made of all the pieces is attached to the stowage plank with the same tape. So, to remove the upper, you have only two additional steps added.

1. Pull the stowage plank straight out from it's mounts. This will remove all the front stowage as well ( excluding the spare road wheel and small pack which are fixed to the upper )
2. Open the Schumo snap friction clasp holding the tow cable to the front mount and move the cable out of the way. This will allow you to remove the upper normally. ( open the rear grills and remove the screw there )

The chain on the front and the rope on the rear rack is all for appearance sake. The hidden tape mounts are what holds everything stowage related in a secure mount on the tank. I'm looking forward to relaxing and watching what you and the rest of the guys who have these vehicles do with them. ;o)
regards,
Painless

[Dr Phibes]

Hi Painless, thanks for that, I figured you had built in some kind of removal strategy (as I will need to) just intrigued to know how you went about it - I'll likely take the same approach.
Only thing I'm not too clear on is the Schumo friction clasp you refer to. I have the same Schumo tow cable kit but the clasps (front and rear) are a rigid, cast, design with one of their (Schumo's) cast threaded shafts, with molded wingnut, which fixes rigidly into the bottom half of the bracket (if that makes sense at all?). The shaft doesn't swing away either, like with some of the German clasps that use a shaft with an eye in one end, so once in place I can't see how it can be (easily) detached.
I must be missing something really obvious - if so I do apologize for the daft question.

[PainlessWolf]

Good afternoon, Doc,
No, I understand what you are saying, you are not daft. There is a notch in the top cover of the Schumo clasp and if you attach the threaded wingnut to the base so that it stand straight up, that notch will fit right over the shaft with a friction fit. Mine is really tight, so much so that I have to use a toothpick to lever it up and release the cable. So, when set up correctly, the shaft is attached rigidly to the base and only the cover, attached with the provided hinge pin wire, moves to secure\release the cable. Ask any questions required, my Friend. I will answer as best I can.
regards and salutations!
Painless

[Dr Phibes]

Thank you Painless, that's a lot clearer. I haven't got around to putting the front clasp together yet but when I do I'll make sure the shaft is not too tight against the upper clasp and not far down in the base (which is where I think I i have gone a little wrong on the rear one - I'm not too bothered about this though as I never intended the rear clasp to be opened/closed regularly).

'll post some progress pics up on my thread when I figure out how to (since the photobucket problem). I keep looking at the recent pics you posted, stunning, just hope mine comes together even nearly as well.

[PainlessWolf]

Doc Phibes!
Somehow I know that yours will be an unsurpassed Masterpiece. ;o) It's one thing to be dingy with builds like my Crazy Joe and his excesses, it's altogether another to be an engineer with your builds. I'm awaiting updates, my Friend. ;o)
regards,
Painless

[Ludwig von wigbearer]

Hi painless, I have been looking through this thread and just wish to say that your work on your td is second to none, my
tanks have been gathering dust for a while due to certain issues, your detailing work is amazing, will be happy if mine gets
within 50% as good as yours.
regards john.