M4A1 Sherman - 2nd Armoured - Carentan

[grim_marmazet]

No worries Mike, glad I could help. I must admit, mine were a bit slapdash, as I was using what I had to hand. With a bit of patience they could be improved on.

I've got them all on now, and they bear the weight of the tank well, and with the resin upper hull its getting fairly heavy.

Anything else you want to know feel free to ask. I like to share everything I do.

Cheers,
Rik

[grim_marmazet]

I've been busy getting the turret all together today. Infact I got so into doing it, I forgot to take pictures of the process!

The recoil works fine, but the elevation is a bit touchy, and can stick sometimes. It's something to work on. I'm not too fussed as my tanks are primarily shelf queens.

I've started to detail the turret. I've added the .50 cal, which is a fantastic model in its own right. I need an ammo belt for it though. I also added the split hatch, and the rear stowage for the .50 cal. I still have the loaders hatch, and the periscopes to add to the turret. I'm also trying to make some periscope guards out of brass rod, but to no avail so far.

I'll post some pics, and take some of the internals when I open her up next.






Cheers,
Rik

[fleshpedler]

Hi Rik
Why don,t you make the light guards from copper wire i used 2mm and beat it flat remembering to turn it after every stoke or it will curl always the wrong way and it,s a lot more forgiving than brass it,s worth a try if not then contact fv432 and ask him how? with the brass.........
Fleshy...............

[grim_marmazet]

Thanks for the tip Fleshy! fv432 is going to send me some of the brass strip he used to make the light guards, so I can do the same.

The periscope guards, are rod welded together, and i'm gaining some insight into how to make them out of 1mm brass rod soldered together. I'f I fail though, i'll just get the schumo set. I need to make the actual periscopes first. It annoys me that Tamiya make the kit with all the periscopes closed. How are the crew ment to see where they're going! lol

Cheers,
Rik

[grim_marmazet]

In an effort to be a bit cheaper i'm trying to make the detail parts myself, rather than buying an after market set.

Using a bit of brass and styrene tube, and some copper wire, I made the spring antenna mount. It doesn't 'spring', but then it's not going to have an antenna in it, so thats fine;


I've made one of the periscopes for the turret. It didn't come out as perfectly as i'd have hoped, and my camera phone doesn't show it too well;



Cheers,
Rik

[grim_marmazet]

I used a Pershing recoil unit, which I plan to later modify to spring back, and slowly return to battery.

The recoil unit was bolted to the metal crossbar in the turret;



I used screws and nuts to hold the front securely, and a bit of servo tape under the back to hold it down. It was then attached to the barrel using the elevation arm included in the kit, bent and cut to shape. I inserted the bit of brass tube into the barrel, glued into place, and used a bit of brass rod fed through to make sure it doesn't come out. I needed to put the flash through first, as it wont fit through the brass tube. This may not be a problem with a larger barrel;


The recoil action is surprisingly smooth, and went together quite well. I had to make a custom system for the elevation which i'll show later, as it's only relevant if your using a rotor shield. If you want to see it let me know, and i'll grab some pics.

Cheers,
Rik

[BREL]

hi rik those pictures are great how did you sort the elivation

[grim_marmazet]

I used half of a 1-1/4 inch waste pipe screwed to the M34A1 mantlet through the holes in the rotor shield. I used the black ariel mounting piece that came with the kit as an arm for the elevation. It was screwed to the inside of the pipe. I then just used the normal piece to connect the two.

It's still a bit twitchy, and i'm getting it to run smoothly, but it works. I have to go to work now, but i'll take some pictures when I get back.

Which gun and mantlet do you plan on going for on yours. If you go for the 76mm and later turret then Ex_Pat_Tanker's elevation mod will work better than mine;
http://www.rctankwarfare.co.uk/forums/v ... =21&t=4412" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Cheers,
Rik

[BREL]

thanks for all of the information Rik
but I think I will leave it alone for now, I have 5 projects on the "go" right now
these are as follows
Stug IV, bergpanzer III, Sherman barv, M16 half track electronics conversion and a Robbe fork lift truck

[grim_marmazet]

No worries Stewart. If you want to know anymore, just let me know.

I've got some pictures of how I did the elevation.
I used a section of waste pipe to form a smooth rotation for the mantlet, and used the black metal piece, normally used for the antenna, as an elevation arm.
The mantlet simply screws into this piece of pipe, and the screws and barrel hold it in place;



This shows what it looks like fitted;


Its not the smoothest rotation, but I added some rod between the top and bottom, and the arm, which helps a lot.

I re-did the turret periscopes. I need to add styrene strip to form the frame on the front, but i'll do that after painting;



Finally, I actually managed to get three of the periscope guards made from 1mm brass rod. There were many many failed attempts at this, and although, they're not perfect, it'll save me having to buy a set, lol;


Cheers,
Rik