M3 Grant (Lee?) scratchbuilt... or that's the plan anyway...

[Kaczor]

We wish you a speedy recovery. The set looks great, I hope it will be on sale someday

[ColemanCollector]

The double-whammy! That must be brutal having a hacking cough with abdominal pain. My sympathies.
Dang, that M3 is looking righteous! I'll second Kaczor's hopes that this gem will be available as a kit one day.
Mike.

[Herr Dr. Professor]

Welcome back, Rob! May the healing force now be with you all the way.

[Rob1970]

The dreaded 'rona seems to be slowly dying, so I've been up to some more shenenigans...



...meaning the single piece that was the rear deck and sides of the Grant has turned into multiple pieces, allowing me to do various versions of the engine deck (the pink squarish part in the middle) to allow for different engines and whatnot. Same is going on with the arse-end which will have multiple versions with diffent exhausts and filters.

I've gotten into the habit of searching for Grant and Lee bits on the various 3D-depositories, just in case there's something I can *cough* borrow. I found a reasonable gaming miniature that actually scaled up pretty well to 1/16 scale and decided to print it out just for Schlitz and giggles...



Printed it out in "draft" settings (0.24mm layer height) for speed and to see how it would look. You can rrrreally see the layer lines at the resolution...



Love the X1C and the support settings. They rip out with minimal fuss...



Might as well do the rest of the turret too...



Watching that first layer go down never gets old...

phpBB [video]

Nice...



Again, "Draft" settings. In the end I would probably print these in resin...



and yet it is nothing I think a little sanding and some good primer won't fix...



Sureley looks like a Lee... and a lot less malnourished than Vandra's offering. (No offense...)



TTFN,
Rob

[ColemanCollector]

They say the best therapy for coronavirus is designing a Grant turret...please, pretty please!
And the Lee turret is spectacular!
Mike.

[Rob1970]

They say the best therapy for coronavirus is designing a Grant turret...please, pretty please!
And the Lee turret is spectacular!
Mike.

Been there, done that... And thank you!

[Rob1970]

Needed a little break from tinkering with the arse-end of the Grant, and someone asked me if the 3-piece transmission cover I designed could be modified to fit on a Sherman.

Bad news is; it can't. The lower StuG gearbox gets in the way.

Good news; I designed one for the Sherman in particular... including templates for cutting the gearbox and the hull.



When I've ran a few test prints, it will go up on Cults.

TTFN,
Rob

[Rob1970]

Sometimes the rabbithole runs deep when 3D designing parts. What was supposed to be a quick excursion from the main build turned into a full-on tinkering bonanza, resulting in two types of 3-piece differential covers for the Sherman, complete with cutting templates for the Heng Long hull and gearboxes. Working on a manual for easy installation, all the parts optimized for ease of printing and minimal supports.



And while the last test print is running, I am wondering if I could do a version for a resin printer that could include casting marks...

TTFN,
Rob

[ColemanCollector]

This is absolutely amazing! Please let us know when this is available.

Since a 3D printer is on my horizon, what would be a good novice model that is capable of this type of work? Many thanks and no rush, just when you have a moment after emerging from the rabbithole!

Mike.

[Rob1970]

This is absolutely amazing! Please let us know when this is available.

Since a 3D printer is on my horizon, what would be a good novice model that is capable of this type of work? Many thanks and no rush, just when you have a moment after emerging from the rabbithole!

Mike.

Pffff... a novice model? Ya know, I've been kinda spoiled, having spent my bonus on a Bambu Lab X1C. Not a cheap printer at $1,549.00 CAD, but it is quite awesome. Any printer should print these files pretty easily tho. No weird amount of supports or insane settings. You could go from 0.2mm layers to crazy and 0.08mm layers (on a filament printer) and they would still come out pretty decent at the 0.2mm.

My recommendations? On a budget, go for something like a Elegoo Neptune 4 Pro or one of the Creality offerings if you print in PLA. If you have got the cash, go for a Bambu Lab X1C (or alternately a P1S which is slightly cheaper). An enclosed printer is a must when you print ABS or ASA, and I've found the X1C to work without a flaw since I've got it. I have an opinion about the Creality K1 and K1 Max, but I will spare you the rant...
If you want to print in resin (kinda nice for some of the more detailed parts) you can't go wrong with something like a Anycubic Photon Mono 2.
TTFN,
Rob

Disclaimer; the advice about 3D printers is based on my personal experience and budget. Please treat it as such...