Fitting Brass Bushings in HL King Tiger Wheels-Partly Done
Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2014 7:16 am
The wheels on my new HL King tiger turned with far too much resistance to be acceptable. I dont really want the weight and expense of the steel parts so I thought i would mod the plastic wheels by installing brass bushings. I gave some thought to installing bearings but with the plastic wheels theres not enough room to work with in the wheel itself. Also defeats the purpose of the exercise-cost and simplicity. No one makes these bushings for the HL tanks, (perhaps there's a minor untapped product niche begging to be filled) so i decided to make my own.
I had a thought about these bushings a fired cartridge case from a .22 LR shell, is just about the correct length! If you have access to these cases they might make good bushings. The length of a fired .22 shell is about right, if not the diameter- which is probably a bit too wide. I'd solve that by cutting off the closed end and slitting the case lengthwise down one side to make it fit. Even if you are not a .22 LR shooter perhaps you know someone who is, and maybe they will just give you a few dozen empty cases. At any shooting range in the US you would find hundreds of empty .22 shells lying around in the dirt as they are useless for reloading. Just a thought that might be of use to someone.
So far have done about 8 of the wheels, have not touched the inner road wheels yet.
I started by taking off the tracks, by removing the idler and then working off the track. Then i removed the cap of the wheel by prying it up with a small screwdriver, turning the wheel and prying gently repeatedly til they popped off. The caps were not glued on, they were press fit. (I gave some thought to "sealing" for the bushings, since they will be greased. The wheel caps will do for that end of the axle, and perhaps a rubber washer facing inboard together with a steel or plastic washer facing the hull on the other side of the axle. Not sure if that would do anything useful, or if that's just overkill here. I'll see how the axle fits before I decide on that.)
Then to remove the allen bolt holding it on and the wheel comes off.
Next i went to the hobby store and used the axle bolt for sizing. I found a size the axle would just slip into (sorry i can't remember the exact size, i obliterated the sticker already...) i compared it to the wheel which i'd brought along and decided there was just enough plastic in the wheel to drill out for the bushing (as it happens there is, but not a half millimeter left over to spare either!) The tubing cost me $4 for 3 feet.
Next i took the tubing, and a road wheel and used a band saw and grinder to shape and size them using the wheel for fitting. Here's what i wound up with after a half hours work
They are all different sizes i did not mike them, my time was limited since I was using my shop's tools- i needed quantity at the moment! (I'd like to be able to do all my model work there as they have almost every tool you'd want, but that'd be frowned on as you can imagine).
I Figured i'd work out the details once i had my bushing stock. BEFORE GLUING THE BUSHINGS: (note that the axle bolt head needs room to fit inside the wheel, and for the wheel to spin freely and not be clamped tight by the axle, not to mention enough thread sticking out, to hold the wheel to the suspension arm. SO the inside of the bushing need to be completely flush with the end of the hole-inside the road wheel- where this axle bolt holds on the wheel. You must position your bushing accordingly before glueing as you can't cut that end, once glued in place as it is recessed! If the bushing goes a little below flush that's no problem.
The bushing must be the same length or less, then the run of the hole in the wheel when done and should be flush with the INSIDE end of the hole, in the road wheel at the recessed end of the hole)
I used an epoxy glue, for plastic, but it dried too fast! I only got about 3 axles installed til the whole tube dried up. So i tried JB weld, it takes overnight but if it sticks it's forever. I will know if that worked, tomorrow.
With the axles sized I placed the metal axle inside the tubing first, then i mixed the epoxy and apllied some inside the wheel, and some on a ring about 1/8 inch wide around the center. So it would not ooze out around the hole and glue the axle into the bushing nor leave glue inside the bushing. Then positioned the brass tube stock inside the drilled out wheel, accordingly. (Beforehand I covered the metal axle with grease so the glue would not stick to it and used it as a tool, for positioning the bushing while the glue was setting). And to make sure the axle would fit and not stick.
Right now i have done 8 of 10 road wheels. i have not even touched the inner road wheels and may simply not put the brass bushings as they spin freely already.
Right now, I am waiting for the glue to dry, and will see how the glue holds tomorow. Also some of them will need some more machining, they wound up like in picture 2. A dremel is almost indispensable for a mod like this, it makes cutting thin brass tubing a breeze-much much easier and more precise, then a hacksaw or even a bandsaw.
It was a fair amount of work, too much, doing this especially because i have no shop to work in just the floor. I've thought up an easier way for bushing the rest of the wheels. I think my method i used today is the hard way, and it can be done much faster and easier. It requires a dremel tool, If you have a dremel tool, you will want to use the cut off wheel. So just make the outboard end of the tubing true and finished, and glue the tubing with about an inch too much sticking out of (non-recessed) end of the road wheel. (I forgot to mention, i roughed the outer section of the brass tube with sandpaper to make it easier for the glue to stick. Probably should have cleaned with brake cleaner too but i skipped that-i might be sorry for that later).
Then glue in the tubing, let dry, test the glue for strength and make sure you wont want to reglue or start over. Then use the cutoff wheel and cut flush close the end of the wheel and file to size. Use a rat tail file or even a drill, to open up the ragged metal from the cut off wheel.
Will try that method on the last two wheels tomorrow.
I had a thought about these bushings a fired cartridge case from a .22 LR shell, is just about the correct length! If you have access to these cases they might make good bushings. The length of a fired .22 shell is about right, if not the diameter- which is probably a bit too wide. I'd solve that by cutting off the closed end and slitting the case lengthwise down one side to make it fit. Even if you are not a .22 LR shooter perhaps you know someone who is, and maybe they will just give you a few dozen empty cases. At any shooting range in the US you would find hundreds of empty .22 shells lying around in the dirt as they are useless for reloading. Just a thought that might be of use to someone.
So far have done about 8 of the wheels, have not touched the inner road wheels yet.
I started by taking off the tracks, by removing the idler and then working off the track. Then i removed the cap of the wheel by prying it up with a small screwdriver, turning the wheel and prying gently repeatedly til they popped off. The caps were not glued on, they were press fit. (I gave some thought to "sealing" for the bushings, since they will be greased. The wheel caps will do for that end of the axle, and perhaps a rubber washer facing inboard together with a steel or plastic washer facing the hull on the other side of the axle. Not sure if that would do anything useful, or if that's just overkill here. I'll see how the axle fits before I decide on that.)
Then to remove the allen bolt holding it on and the wheel comes off.
Next i went to the hobby store and used the axle bolt for sizing. I found a size the axle would just slip into (sorry i can't remember the exact size, i obliterated the sticker already...) i compared it to the wheel which i'd brought along and decided there was just enough plastic in the wheel to drill out for the bushing (as it happens there is, but not a half millimeter left over to spare either!) The tubing cost me $4 for 3 feet.
Next i took the tubing, and a road wheel and used a band saw and grinder to shape and size them using the wheel for fitting. Here's what i wound up with after a half hours work
They are all different sizes i did not mike them, my time was limited since I was using my shop's tools- i needed quantity at the moment! (I'd like to be able to do all my model work there as they have almost every tool you'd want, but that'd be frowned on as you can imagine).
I Figured i'd work out the details once i had my bushing stock. BEFORE GLUING THE BUSHINGS: (note that the axle bolt head needs room to fit inside the wheel, and for the wheel to spin freely and not be clamped tight by the axle, not to mention enough thread sticking out, to hold the wheel to the suspension arm. SO the inside of the bushing need to be completely flush with the end of the hole-inside the road wheel- where this axle bolt holds on the wheel. You must position your bushing accordingly before glueing as you can't cut that end, once glued in place as it is recessed! If the bushing goes a little below flush that's no problem.
The bushing must be the same length or less, then the run of the hole in the wheel when done and should be flush with the INSIDE end of the hole, in the road wheel at the recessed end of the hole)
I used an epoxy glue, for plastic, but it dried too fast! I only got about 3 axles installed til the whole tube dried up. So i tried JB weld, it takes overnight but if it sticks it's forever. I will know if that worked, tomorrow.
With the axles sized I placed the metal axle inside the tubing first, then i mixed the epoxy and apllied some inside the wheel, and some on a ring about 1/8 inch wide around the center. So it would not ooze out around the hole and glue the axle into the bushing nor leave glue inside the bushing. Then positioned the brass tube stock inside the drilled out wheel, accordingly. (Beforehand I covered the metal axle with grease so the glue would not stick to it and used it as a tool, for positioning the bushing while the glue was setting). And to make sure the axle would fit and not stick.
Right now i have done 8 of 10 road wheels. i have not even touched the inner road wheels and may simply not put the brass bushings as they spin freely already.
Right now, I am waiting for the glue to dry, and will see how the glue holds tomorow. Also some of them will need some more machining, they wound up like in picture 2. A dremel is almost indispensable for a mod like this, it makes cutting thin brass tubing a breeze-much much easier and more precise, then a hacksaw or even a bandsaw.
It was a fair amount of work, too much, doing this especially because i have no shop to work in just the floor. I've thought up an easier way for bushing the rest of the wheels. I think my method i used today is the hard way, and it can be done much faster and easier. It requires a dremel tool, If you have a dremel tool, you will want to use the cut off wheel. So just make the outboard end of the tubing true and finished, and glue the tubing with about an inch too much sticking out of (non-recessed) end of the road wheel. (I forgot to mention, i roughed the outer section of the brass tube with sandpaper to make it easier for the glue to stick. Probably should have cleaned with brake cleaner too but i skipped that-i might be sorry for that later).
Then glue in the tubing, let dry, test the glue for strength and make sure you wont want to reglue or start over. Then use the cutoff wheel and cut flush close the end of the wheel and file to size. Use a rat tail file or even a drill, to open up the ragged metal from the cut off wheel.
Will try that method on the last two wheels tomorrow.