RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

More fantastic work. Your builds inspire me!

That’s a lot of trial and error with the suspension! Good work to overcome the issues.

How come I didn't notice your thread AGAIN. Amazing skills as usual

Hi, thank you Ecan, Ad Lav and Kaczor for your encouragements.


Switching to something else this time, and have some fun. The IDF Sho't tank crew.


From what i could see in pictures from the Yom Kippour war in 1973, most IDF tank crew wore plain regular uniforms with US T56 helmets, same as the Americans used in the Vietnam era. Sometimes, they had a flak vest.

There are no serious 1/16 IDF tank crew available for any era. It's always a challenge to find something that can be used. Browsing the web for latest developments, i found these 3D printed Spanish Nationalist tank crew from FC Model Trend of Spain in very plain uniforms. For the faces, my basic requirement was that they look "Mediterranean". They seem to match requirements.

The brand also produced T56 US tank helmets and sunglasses, great...

Here we have the basics for an IDF tank crew.


Just got them, opened the boxes and performed the conversion.


I am calling this one David and will be my loader. Funny guy, young and motivated.


This guy is more serious and older. Obviously very experienced, he never smiles even for the camera, he will be my tank commander. I am calling him Uri.


At first, the helmets looked small. I was about to give shit to the company that they produce 1/18 helmets but figured it would not resolve anything soon so i decided to go on with them for the conversionj. No choice. Need to remove the details inside so that figures can wear it.


It takes a while to clean them up. Nicely detailed but the microphone is extremely fragile and thin.


The sunglasses... extremely fragile and expensive, 3 sets of 6 differents pairs in different styles are provided. 2 of them were already broken on arrival.


Cleaning these with a new sharp blade is risky. Broke another 2 trying to separate them from the sprue. Broke another one trying to sand residue with the smallest grain possible. But i got 2 good ones... Not sure 3D printed sunglasses is a great idea. It would be simpler in photo etched metal.


Starting with the loader


Continuing on following post

First task was to give this bum an IDF haircut, enough to fit the helmet.


After a couple of attempts, the helmet fits. The helmet still look too small for my liking but it fits, and the guy looks good.


Loader in position.



And then the sun started to shine and I gave him his sunglasses. He looks really cool. Time travelling from 1936 to 1973 went well for him.




I cut the lower body, resting on the servo below. Its a realistic pose. I'm happy with this figure.






Now, let's do the same with the old man. Removing the heavy berets is a nasty Dremel job. It must be done outside and in the wind.




Ah No Dammit, it’s Donald Trump…

Too late. At least I can finish the job and decide what to do with him.



Toupets not allowed, he needs to fit the helmet. They give them too much hair. I had to rescribe the back of the neck.



With helmet on, he doesn't look very cool.


continuing with following post

With sunglasses, still does not look cool at all, probably worse. Time travelling is difficult for him. I am now thinking of changing the head. Reintegration of a new head with a 3D printed body is not easy. Anyway, this is how he looks. Still thinking.


With sunglasses on in the sun, a bit better.



The Sho't crew, for now...



Regards, Louis

Louis!
Spectacular as always! The fix for your Commander is a simple one. Build him a bit of a forehead with putty or summat and the Helmet and Sunglasses will fit nicely as with the Loader figure. Following along.
regards,
Painless

PainlessWolf wrote: ↑Sun Oct 01, 2023 9:08 pm Louis!
Spectacular as always! The fix for your Commander is a simple one. Build him a bit of a forehead with putty or summat and the Helmet and Sunglasses will fit nicely as with the Loader figure. Following along.
regards,
Painless

Thank you Painless, you made me realize that i placed the helmet too low, its not helping him. I will take the figure out again and try different poses and see the situation with the forehead. I had to put the figure in a safe place. Touch the head and either the sunglasses or the microphone will break... Those fine 3D stuff are not really to run on RC.


Continuing with the build


Started the exhaust


I analysed all the pictures of Centurion Mk 5 on Prime Portal, kit instructions and my books, trying to find details on the exhaust.



These are the main components;

The exhaust head of a custom shape, followed by a long pipe going to the muffler at the back. That long pipe has a heat shield made of thin metal sheet.

The muffler itself, under a heat shield, with the exhaust tail at the end.


Details on the exhaust tail, and close up rear view of the muffler under the heat shield made of thin metal shield. We can see a thin edge around the muffer, and square plate with 4 bolts at the root of the exhaust tail. This one is placed horizontally.


These are the TONGDE main parts for the exhaust, remembering that i completely ripped apart the muffler as it was molded with the upper hull. As i want the smoker to push the smoke out of the muffler's tail, i made an easy decision to build a working exhaust, the way it should be. It's actually simpler that way instead of creating some bypass.



Not much to reuse other that the exhaust head that need to be reshaped. The fake tube is discarded as it will be replaced by a hollow metal tube.


After measuring the AFV Club part from all angles, i determine that the TONGDE head was missing 3mm in depth, and to reshaped it with a nail file. It needs to be more pointed towards to top and the tip.


Before on the left, reshaped on the right.



Good thing it is already hollow, just needed to put a hole in the plasticard add-on. The pipe need to be 5.5mm is diameter. I only had very thin wall aluminum tubing of 5.5mm so i decided to use a 5mm plus the 5.5mm overlay for a stronger pipe.


Building the muffler after much measurements taken from the AFV Club. It is worth rechecking measurements 5 times before starting this in order to avoid time consuming mistakes.


As i will be rounding the corners, reinforcements are added on the corners for buffer.


Continuing on following post

The muffler are closed. I did not run pipes through the muffler, it's hollow. I figure that the smoke will enter and exit with the air pressure.

Corners are roughly rounded. Most of it will be under the heat shield so only the tips will be visible.


Added front and back plates, with a thin plasticard around them to reproduce the edge seen in picture.



Drilled hole in the hull where the exhause head are located. There is nothing inside the hull at that location.




Exhaust heads are refined and made ready for the pipes and tubes.


Going to the smoker that will be installed later.



And the first exhaust pipe is in place, looking good.



Exhaust tail pipe is added. It should work fine.


Continuing on following post

Close up on the exhaust head.


The muffler is positioned 2mm high with a plasticard spacer deep under. I did not find any picture of how the muffler is actually held in place.Every model maker, including Tamiya just put pins under or on the sides... No big deal, it does not really show.



The head shields for both the pipe and the muffler will be made in thin brass sheet, currently on order, i should have it in a week. I just put the TONGDE part there to see how it looks.



The TONGDE shield parts are way too thick. Heat shield should be very thin, its not an 3 inch armored plate...


Close up on the exhaust tail pipe. I had to put a lot of glue to avoid smoke leakage around the pipes.


After installing the other one, i have to wait for the brass sheet to finish the exhaust. Next step is propably the front and tail lights.


Regards, Louis