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Another view of the cupola
Now, the loader's hatch

I did not like the HL Gi-Joe looking loader's hatch. It is too small and It is a representation of an early version. I found the picture below of the loader's hatch on a late model M41 and it looks a lot better.
The section of the hole that will remain after enlargement of the hatch is plugged with plasticard, and later sanded smooth with putty.
A new hatch is created using measurements from the Tamiya kit with formula; Tamiya dimension divided by 1/35, then divided by16. The rain guard need to be sanded lower a bit. I reused the Heng Long hinge.
Good view of the shape and size of the new cupola's front. It is not perfect but it is closer to the real thing for sure. I will likely have to fine tune it after priming.
Overall view of the turret
This is the model as it stands today. I am so far happy with the results of all the modifications, it is starting to look like an accurate M41.
Next step is to install the recoil and gun elevation units, and rework the turret front to install the mantlet. I need to do some more study on this area first.

Regards, Louis

It is really starting to take shape Louis, the turret looks fantastic!

Barry

Hi,

The following 2 posts are for the gun, barrel, mantlet, recoil, elevation and flash units.

The Heng Long Mantlet is cleaned up of all features and the barrel is cut and discarded.
A new trap hole for the gun sight is made. It is dangerous to use a large drill bit that usually goes out of control on such scale. A small hole is made with a small bit and then a Dremel file (big and small) is used to enlarge the hole at both extremities. It does melt the plastic with a clean cut in a safe operation. Practice on a piece of junk plastic before doing this. Then a simple strait line is made between the two holes using a knife. A new trap is made of thick plasticard.
The new mantlet is ready. I looks rough because a layer of superglue was applied on the surface to reproduce a light metal cast effect that will look good once the part is painted. The coax machine gun is made of an exterior 5mm brass tube and a 3mm aluminum tube that simulates the .30 MG barrel.
The interior of the turret is totally cleaned up, except for the left mount for the gun.
A similar mount is created on the right, and both are reinforced.
I am using a standard and inexpensive Clark recoil unit. The mantlet is installed using the Heng Long braces but it is positioned about 1mm more up front than the pre-drilled holes on the recoil unit, providing better higher and lower elevation. Lots of testing and fine tuning was required with the mantlet so that it optimally goes up and down.

This is an M41 aluminum gun barrel purchased at Tankzone many years ago. I was badly surprised to see that it is not empty inside. So, in order to install the gun flash (important to me), I had to drill through 23mm (9 inches) thick of solid aluminum using a specialized long drill bit. I used a Bosch BL2735 to drill through the barrel, it sells for about $12. It took 90 minutes and it is a good physical exercise, 1mm at the time. It went well and the hole is strait end to end. It is worth it as otherwise, it is a solid metal stick.
This is the LED and a fiber optic string superglued to it for the coax machine gun. A hole is made in the LED for a clean connection with the fiber.
The elevation servo is not enabled on my TK22, it is very annoying. Until I find a way to resolve this, I installed a HL motorized elevation unit.
Clark recoil unit is installed.
Continuing on following post

Part 2 of the mantlet/gun installation

Another angle of the turret interior
Please check out the YOUTUBE video to see the gun barrel, elevation, recoil and flash units in action.

https://youtu.be/RsZ7YbB8VwM



Following are some pictures taken outside. The main construction effort for the new shape is completed. Once painted, it will look much better but the "Frankenstein" looking and tortured visual aspect of the model give you an idea of what it went through.... and the work required. It is a bit complicated and probably not for everyone. It was worth a try and I am happy with the results.

Next step, the tracks... I know many people are wondering what I am planning to do. I will expose my plan in the following post. Give me 15 minutes.

Regards, Louis

Hi,

In this post, I will present the plan for the tracks.

I had Plan A and Plan B;

Plan A: The new MLRS/Bradley metal tracks from AFV-Model
Plan B: 15 hours of HL track resizing, cutting and gluing.

I ordered the AFV-Model MLRS (early model) tracks without knowing if they fit or not. All I knew was that they were of the right 32mm width, and they are obviously of the same track family as the T913E tracks of the M41. To avoid 15 hours of track cutting, I thought it was worth the try. Plus they are metal tracks with rubber pads...
There are a few differences with the real track but when the alternative are the HL tracks, anything is better. Below are trumpeter 1/35 kit showing how close they are from the metal track I have.
Here they are, looking good and of the right size. I glued one rubber pad to see how they look. The others will be glued at the end of the build only, after painting.
You can see the small difference. The rubber pad of the T91E3 goes a bit further down, and they have a raised metal feature on both sides of it. But I think this is acceptable.
Comparing both sets of tracks, no contest.
The issue is the sprocket, the diameter of the HL part is too large by about 2.5mm according to my calculations. Therefore, they will need some work in addition of reducing their width to align with the 32mm tracks.
The plan is to slowly reduce the diameter of the sprocket until it fits the new track, keeping the 12 dents aligned as they are. I will make a plastic prototype first, and then I will see how I can do the same for the metal sprockets I have for the model. Well, that's the plan. Now you know...
Regards, Louis

Louis,

The sprocket may prove a little challenging (metal) but small steps like you've planned will yield the desired results. I think the track solution is going to look great!

A good plan today is better than a great one tomorrow. I often find that if I move forward with a good plan then a great one may just just break through like a ray of sunshine if not, I still have a good plan.

Barry

Louis,

I like it, I believe you've got this one mastered. The barrel and mantel look great and your solutions for the gun recoil and elevation are fantastic!

Barry

Best of luck on the plan!

A hell of a plan, very well devised

Hi,

Here are the tracks and sprockets. I am pleased to say that Plan A, the resizing of the sprockets diameter, was a success.

The real M41 sprocket is actually a bit smaller than the Heng Long model scaled rendition. The reduction in diameter actually meets the dimension they should be. Also notice that the teeth are not as long and pointed as Heng Long made them.
For the resizing, i recommend practice with one of the plastic sprocket. Although tempting to keep the plastic sprockets for the model, I do not think they would last long with the metal tracks. And resizing the plastic one is not simple either. Metal might be harder to work with, but it is also harder to make mistakes. One or two bad strokes of the file on one of the fragile plastic tooth and it is ruined, not so easy with metal.
Doing the same with the Mato metal sprockets in a step by step description. Step 1, the heavy grinding was done with the Dremel, removing about 2.5mm of diameter on the main wheel, leaving the teeth alone. I sacrificed two of my Dremel bits in the process, money well spent... The fine tuning of the metal teeth was done carefully with a hand file.
The teeth are hand carved with a hand file, not leaving any sharp corner on them. It makes them run more smoothly with the tracks. The process needs to be done 4 times, once for each sprocket side.
The teeth are thoroughly tested with the tracks and finetuned as required. The key objective is to make the sprockets wheels and teeth identical so a lot of comparative analysis is required before moving on to next step.
The sprockets need to be reduced by almost 9mm in width in order to fit the new tracks, so something got to give. I sacrificed the central locking mechanism of the shaft between the 2 halves to get 4.5mm, the other 4.5mm is taken from the portion of the shaft that connects to the outside wheel. The side that connects to the gearbox was left alone.
The central locking mechanism is removed and the two halves are sanded smooth.
The outside wheel is cut from the central shaft.
The 2 shaft halves are glued together with a compound called Epoxy Steel. It dries in 8 minutes, allowing the building to properly position the parts and finetune as required before it sets. And solid it is. After 2 hours of drying, I put all my arms strength in trying to split it apart and it did not give any indication that it was stressed in any way. I was planning to put a 4mm coat of the stuff over the whole shaft but I determined it is not required. It can be sanded for a smooth finish.
Next step is to carefully calculate the length of the shaft to remove, leaving enough for finetuning with a hand file.
Continuing on following post.