Grant

[NickDonitz]

Started the Grant build. Finally found some accurate plans though they were 1/39th scale not the 1/35 th they said they were To get the sizes right I made a scale converter on Excel, there are a few on some sites but only in standard scales so put my Excel brain on and did the formulas.
One of my biggest bugbears about the Grant was getting the transmission case right and the angles correct too.
I got the hull of Forgebear a HL Sherman which pleasantly is very accurate size wise. I like black plastic card as if it gets scuffed and scratched it just looks paint chipped. I also used appropriate thickness card

[ALPHA]

Started the Grant build. Finally found some accurate plans though they were 1/39th scale not the 1/35 th they said they were To get the sizes right I made a scale converter on Excel, there are a few on some sites but only in standard scales so put my Excel brain on and did the formulas.
One of my biggest bugbears about the Grant was getting the transmission case right and the angles correct too.
I got the hull of Forgebear a HL Sherman which pleasantly is very accurate size wise. I like black plastic card as if it gets scuffed and scratched it just looks paint chipped. I also used appropriate thickness card

Hi Nick... Woz has come up with some really nice three piece transmission covers...you might want to give him a pm... I ordered a few from him

ALPHA

[cannedheat]

any pics nick ?

[NickDonitz]

I initially started with this but wasn't happy with some of the measurements so went back to the drawing board, its got the standard short shaft boxes in in this picture

[NickDonitz]

There does not seem to be much difference between the last pic and this one but thanks to access to original Arsenal drawings and the angles of plate im left with a much better starting place. Some 1/35 models are great for a general idea but are woefully inaccurate especially if scaling it up as you compound the errors

[NickDonitz]

A couple of things arise with the Grant, the three part transmission cover is further back than the centre of the sprocket and as yet there are no commercial boxes that cater for that (as far as im aware). Also theres a height issue with the main gun as i'll show in a minute, only 40 mm clearance

[NickDonitz]

So its down to the gearbox chopshop

[NickDonitz]

Skipped a little but im sure you've seen plastic card glued together before, these pics show the finished front end shape and where the transmission cover should be,, a fair amount of work to be done as yet

[NickDonitz]

Great thought about the Woz three part cover Alpha but im on a roll

[NickDonitz]

Here's a pic of the prototype, the HL box has the sprocket shaft chopped off so it can be slid back and then an extension frame holds another shaft which is meshed up, its very narrow so Ive ordered some bearings to support the outer shaft. The pic mostly shows the difference between the standard M4 track and box position and the modified version