RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

As Eric put it: "Pure magic, Louis! Blown away...again!" I'm blown away and 'dozed off the field!

Stunning, a single post is worthy of an entire thread from me. So impressed!

Wonderful.

Hello, so there!!! seeing this, well thought out and thoughtful work, superbly done, excellent work so many hidden talents makes me want to get back to knitting

Hi Everyone,

Time to show an update on the T-31. Here is a set of post for the M1A1 dozer blade.

I had to do some analysis to determine the next steps for a dozer blade for the T31. Reference is very limited, wartime images are rare, old, fuzzy and do not provide much detail views.

First, there are two different set of dozer blades for the Sherman, it is important to select the right material depending on the tank used as a base. The narrower M1 blade is designed for the Shermans with VVSS suspension and the larger M1A1 is designed for the HVSS Sherman but there is an adapter for the VVSS.

Shown below is an M1A1 blade integration for the HVSS.
First thing is to determine the mounts on the chassis. The next picture is interesting.
- Parts K are the mount for the M1A1 on HVSS Sherman.
- Parts L and M are the mounts for the M1 on VVSS Sherman.
- Parts M and the adapter N are to mount the M1A1 on the VVSS Sherman.
The jack for blade elevation is also different depending on the Sherman transmission cover, more about it later.
I found one 1/35 on the market that has a M1A1 blade on HVSS sherman. Although i did not purchase the kit, it is quite rare, i was able to find the instructions on the web, which were extremely helpful.
After printing some sections of the instructions, i determined the scale and was able to extrapolate core dimensions for 1/16.
The back of the blade had components that were impossible to find anywhere. Thanks to the 1/35 kit, i was able to made some sense of how it should be.
After my study, i determined the resin Vandra kit is not applicable to my build. First, it is a small M1 blade designed for a VVSS Sherman, secondly, it is not strong enough for RC operations and suffers from many dimensional issues. Better to leave it for a static build for someone that wants something that looks like a Sherman blade.
First item to design are the mounts.
The Tamiya HVSS suspension is done in a way that allows the dozer mounts to be installed with ease. Just need to remove the bolts on the first two suspension bogies.
continuing on following post.

I gave important parts of the dozer blade a solid core of layers of thick plasticard for solidity, before adding an thin overlay for a smooth finish.
View of the finished dozer mounts for a Sherman with HVSS suspension.
Mounts are installed on the Tamiya M4A3E8 HVSS Sherman.
Then moving to the blade and supports. Parts are designed in order to build the blade in a telescopic fashion. First, basic parts are created to finalize the dimensions of the blade with the chassis.
Core parts are tested for integration, looking good, proper level, strait and flat.
Then the supports are build around the core part using all available references. As i want a functional blade, thick layers are plasticard as glued for very solid blade supports. A thin plasticard will be added on top later and polished for a smooth finish.
Once the supports are perfectly aligned with the chassis, the core part of the blade itself is cut and glued. Notice the inside curve that needs to be given to the blade.
continuing on following post.

The back of the blade has an important structure to recreate in order to have an accurate and functional blade.
The components are built in a telescopic fashion. Here, I also gave the supports its finishing layer.
The core components of the dozer blade itself are built, except all the components associated to the elevation jack.
Comparing the scratch built dozer blade support with the ones coming with the Vandra kit. Notice the differences in shape, dimensions and strength. Resin is also too weak for a functional blade, and i was never able to completely remove the warping on those long resin parts.
The blade is mounted on the chassis. Looking good.

That's it for now.

Next step, the elevation jack and associated components.

Regards, Louis

Hi Louis, shouldn't you stick a thin sheet of aluminum on the front of the blade to enhance its efficiency?

Nice!

Barry