Something I've been doing the past days

[atcttge]

Thanks guys! I finished the hinge for the right side plow. Next to do: the "ski". The little details will be made when the general shape of the entire plow is finished.

[greengiant]

Saw a pic of a M1A2v3 during training in Germany recently It had a mine plow on it but rather then the "ski's" it had a v shaped something attached where the ski's would be. Might be worth the effort to try to find more pics of this newest mine plow variant as it may be more appropriate for your build of the most modern V3 version. The pic I saw had grass blocking the view of the whole plow but there were no ski's on it that I could see.

[atcttge]

IIRC, the V-shaped "teeth" are attached to the skidguards (aka the skis). I'm not building that mine plow hahahahaha! Too complicated already and while it looks so BAMF awesome, I prefer the no-V-teeth plow for sheer pretty looks hahahaha!

[atcttge]

Test fitting...

[HERMAN BIX]

Claws eh !!
Real clever work mate, love that plow

[greengiant]

Couldn't find another picture with the V shaped thing on the mine plow anyway and the pic I saw had grass blocking the view of how it was attached but it stuck up pretty high as the pic showed the tank moving with the plow in the raised position. The "skis" alone look good to me.

[atcttge]

The skidshoe is made of aluminium that was bent to shape then layered with styrene sheet above. The prong (for lack of a better term) under the skidshoe's curve up front is aluminium sandwiching styrene sheets. A hole was punched through the skidshoe through which the prong was inserted. The idea is to make the skidshoe withstand use on terrain.

Below is the V-plow attachment. Some skidshoe have mounts for it. Some don't.

[atcttge]

Notice the "nose down" profile of the M1 with mine plow:



This is because of the weight of the plow. I'm trying to figure out how to do the same for my tank. Putting leadweights up front isn't enough. I use stock springs for the suspension. If I use softer springs, that will affect track tension. I could tighten the tracks but there will be issues running the tank as per experience (particularly when making turns).

Ideas?

[atcttge]

Apparently, the V-shaped thingy with teeth is called a rake....

Anyhow, more pix of the plow with rake:







Note the last pic with the nose down profile, further exaggerated because it seems the pic was taken just when the tank made a stop (see the rear wheel off the ground).


Also:

[greengiant]

Could just drilling out another hole for the forward stock springs in the hull letting the road wheels be a little more in a depressed position work to get the plow weight effect your looking for without effecting track tension? Just a thought, except if you remove the plow the tank would still be in the nose down position.