RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

Stunning progress Louis I applaud your progress!

Thanks Carl,

Hi, before moving to the rear, i thought it was important to finish the frontal armor arrangement with the transmission housing.

As seen in this reference picture of the M3 frontal area, the edge of the transmission housing is pretty strait, overlapping the glacis at the same angle. The armored separators between the 3 sections of the transmission housing are also going all the way up to the tip.


You can clearly see what is wrong with the Vandra kit. The transmission housing was probably originally designed to fit a Sherman. The tip section does not have the right angle, and the bottom of the glacis was obviously cut short to fit in by going right against the tip, not under it as it should be. The separators are also too short and need to be extended.
The tip of the transmission housing need to be repositioned. It was cut by grinding the resin using the back of a blade running along a metal ruler, it's a 5 minutes operations.
The bottom of the glacis need to be extended by a few mm to be accurate and be positioned under the housing tip as shown in the first picture of this post.
The glacis is carefully sanded smooth and positioned for the reinstallation of the lip.
The resin part need to be thinned first, and is then glued back to the main transmission housing part at the right angle, without gluing it to the glacis as it is removable. It was a bit short even before the cutting, so i added a thin polystyrene strip to compensate for the grinding and make it higher.
Overview of the new connection between the glacis and the transmission housing. You can see all the adjustments i had to do for making this work. I know i used a Mato M4A1 chassis instead of the recommended Heng Long M4A3, but i can tell you that the original gap to bridge the glacis with the transmission housing were over 5mm in all directions... Fitting this arrangement and keep the upper hull removable is a big challenge.
Regards, Louis

Hi,

I am now attacking the rear of the vehicle. There is nothing like cracking a tank hull open to get your mind off an election night.

This is the rear view of the M3 Lee early model, providing the general look and feel of shapes and dimensions. It is equipped with the early round air filters.
Good detailed view from the Miniart 1/35 kit instructions. Notice the exhaust grill with no exhaust pipes. The Miniart instructions are a reference book on their own. It also include full interior details. Its a must have for M3 fans.
Graph showing the shapes and dimensions of the top armored plates, size and position of the bolts. The last rear top plate is in one section, which need correction on the Vandra kit to properly capture.
View showing the angles of the plates. Notice the position of the rear plate in relation to the idler wheel. This is important for the positioning of the back plate because the Vandra kit is too long with bad angles and need to be shortened.
View of the back plate before alterations. The Vandra upper hull section that connects to the Mato M4A1 rear plate need to be shortened by at least 5mm to fit the Mato hull, not counting the separate kit extension part for the air filters that is equally too long on its own. The overlap here depends on how the builder has integrated the hull at the front. For sure, if the transmission housing is somehow positioned further up front, it reduces the issue at the back. Ideally, the upper hull needs to be positioned on the chassis a couple of mm more towards the front but with the complicated three dimensional transmission housing integration with the hull over there, it has proven difficult to do on this build. The integration with a Heng Long M4A3 chassis is a bit different but not easier.
For anyone building a later variant with the square air filters, notice the Vandra kit oversized air filters compared to the Mato ones. I assume it is the main reason why Vandra extended the rear section to make them fit.
Creation of the round air filters using the Miniart kit as references.
As these are mostly hidden, capturing the general look and feel is ok.
Preparations are being made for the upper hull surgery. The Vandra kit did not get the last plate correctly. As shown earlier, it is made of a single plate all the way to the rear. Bolt heads are oversized, too numerous and wrongly positioned. Yes, i am a bolt counter, but these are very visible, important for accuracy and general look and feel.
All upper plates bolt heads need to be removed. Measurements against all available references are done and redone many times to ensure no mistakes are done. New planned 1/16 dimensions compare well to the extrapolated Miniart kit dimensions.
Continuing on following post.

After cutting the rear extension, it was installed on the upper hull to better determine exactly how much the upper hull need to be reduced. Both Tamiya and Miniart kits are used as references in addition to the Gunpower graphs. All show differences in sizes... so the idea is to get to an average that fits the Mato and Vandra integration, while getting closer to the look and feel of the M3 Lee.
The rear hull is cut with a metal saw blade for a strait and clean cut in 2 places.
I cut the upper hull to make it flush with the Mato hull as it should be.
The new air filter and exhaust arrangement is created. Dry fitting is required at every step to avoid mistakes.
The new back plate was reinforced from the inside and it now provides good support for the resin upper hull, and this is where the locking magnet will be positioned.
The rear plate is glued back, requiring some adjustments because of the hull reduction.
Parts for the mud guards are being scratch built.
Overview of the rear of the model. The mud guards were made stronger in thickness than seen in references in order to sustain RC operation without breaking or falling off all the time.
Continuing on following post.

The joint between the rear top plate and the extension for the air filter is sanded smooth and seamless. All the top plate bolt heads were redone with smaller size Meng SPS006 bolt heads and positioned as per references and count. These are bolts with washers, not rivets like the rest of the hull because these are removable plates for the engine access.
Checking the overall look and feel, alignment, positioning compared to references and idler wheel position. It is definitely closer than it was before, not perfect but very acceptable. The use of track adjuster and different track length can impact this. I tried to make everything as close as possible to references.
Regards,

Louis

Hi,

This post is for the completion of the roof and re-installation of the rivets on the armor.

Study of the Miniart instructions and of Gunpower book graphs are required to determine the angles of the protection bar, number and position of the riverts, and overall configuration of the early production version. Notice the absence of air intake fans for the crew compartment on the M3 early production variant.
The two bars join, a feature not provided with the Vandra parts.
Positioning for the roof elements are determined more accurately.
These are the parts salvaged from the kit for the roof. The larger bar and the hatch are used, the rest is discarded but the air intake are kept for future use.
Overview of the model with roof completed and rivets installed.
The Vandra rivets for the main armor plates were earlier removed with a sharp blade and salvaged for reuse. Although the rivets are unequal in sizes, i found it important to reuse them to maintain consistency across the hull. The real vehicle also show much imperfections in rivets. New smaller Meng rivets were used for the transversal plates on the roof.

The tracks have been removed for conversion.
Regards, Louis

I really enjoy how deep you go through with this project at correcting this so useless vandra kit which I also have.
I had the opportunity to measure in detail the M3 hull at Saumur's museum and realize how far this kit is all wrong in all the major areas.
When I'll be tackling at this one too for myself, I think I won't keep anything from it except for very few minor details and rebuild an entire upper hull.
I already have a 3D printed turret designed by a friend and I'll be using the early VVSS bogies that I scratchbuilt some years ago.
Now you've played a very good job with this one.

Manu-Military wrote:When I'll be tackling at this one too for myself, I think I won't keep anything from it except for very few minor details and rebuild an entire upper hull.

Thanks,
They are difficult to built and improve but without Vandra models, i would not have an M3 or many other rare models on inventory. They are relatively cheap compared to competition and i am therefore grateful for their availability even if i think they could have been much better designed with the simple effort of using a ruler against references instead of eyeballing Prime Portal pictures... Vandra tends to either oversize or undersize everything and they are then stuck trying to make them fit together, creating some weird looking vehicles. You can see something's wrong but it take thorough analysis to get to the root of the issue(s) and see how they can be corrected.

The M3 upper hull is complicated with mostly asymmetrical surfaces that need to come together in 3 dimensions. Starting a new hull from scratch is risky. I tried to rebuild more of the Vandra frontal area for the sponson gun because the armored rounded shape is undersized by a few mm and positioned at bit too far back. Most angles of the hull are off by some degrees and all dimensions are therefore inaccurate by some mm. I found it very difficult to create the required angular shapes and make them come together. I gave up going further and therefore concentrated on rebuilding the most obvious issues like the turret, the roof, rear area and i adapted the rest. The M3 expert will notice the areas where i did have to normalize and compromise in order to move on. All references showed differences in sizes and position between themselves, not just by 1 or 2mm but much more, that complicating things for me. And this need to sit on top of a hull designed for RC instead of accuracy,

I see these Vandra model kits as base kits. I have to admit i take pleasure in cracking open an RC tank hull, correcting them and therefore creating unique models. The builds for my Vandra M7 Priest and the RAM II are good examples of what can be done with Vandra kits. They can be seen on this forum.

Regards, Louis

Hi,
This post is for the completion of the T41 tracks.

Here is a good wartime American propaganda color picture featuring an M3 Lee. The look of the T41 tracks with flat rubber pads without chevron is typical. I have not seen any M3 with Sherman tracks. It is therefore an extra step required for accuracy to try to reproduce the T41 look.
As shown in an earlier post, the conversion of the Mato T48 tracks into earlier T41 is relatively easy, it just take times. It is about an 8 hour process. In this picture, an assembly chain has been created outside on this nice warm weekend.
1- Dismember all the tracks with plyers
2- Cut away the plastic T48 chevrons from each track shoe with a blade without loosing any fingers. I assume it can be done with a electric sander if you do not mind the noise or dust.
3- Sand the track shoes flat but rough so that the superglue with have a strong bond with
4- Take the 1mm thick rubber sheet and cut into enough 9mm wide strips for all the tracks.
5- Superglue a shoe on the rubber strip, cut to lenght and move on to the next.
6- Sand with a nail file all rubber pad joints for a smooth rounded corner with the plastic shoe.
7- Sand the flat rubber pad surface for a light worn out look.
8- Re-assemble the tracks
9- Perform flexibility test on each connectors

The removal of the plastic chevron is the toughest part of the conversion, done with a new blade and i have been extra careful not to slice open a finger in the process, or to damage the pads, there are no spares track shoes and only 10 fingers... The gluing and sanding of the rubber pad on the plastic shoe is better done outside to avoid inhaling any of the vapor or dust.
The tracks components are prepared for reassembly.
Assembly takes a couple of hours. A few connectors require glue to ensure they stay in place. Notice how beautiful the inner face of the Mato tracks are compared to the empty holes of the Heng Long Sherman plastic tracks. The double pins are also more flexible and authentic.
The T41 tracks are completed and reinstalled on the model for testing.
Overview of the newly created 1/16 scale T41 tracks mounted on the M3 Lee. This must be a rare sight.
Close up.
I am very happy with the conversion. The created T41 tracks look very good and pretty accurate. Keep in mind these are not worn out tracks that are often seen on M3 pictures, like the one below.
This is the look i wanted. Having an M3 with T41 tracks is a big bonus for the build, not just for the look but also for the fact that it now runs on rubber pads like the real thing.
Regards, Louis