Tankmad's kt rebuild

[tankmad]

At long last I have got round to rebuilding my KT I bought on ebay ages ago it was partly built by the original owner who then decided to buy most of the upgrades available then lucky for me then decide to sell it. The first thing I done was spray the lower hull and the wecho sprocket cover then fit the wecho suspension upgrade along with the schumo idler adjuster.

[knighthawk]

Nice work...Looking good

[Gunshy]

I willl be following this with interest. I'm up to about step 8 in the instructions.

[tankman]

Nice one Stevie, Keep those pictures coming.
Alan

[tankmad]

Right I have skipped the back plate detail at the moment as I will customise brass exhausts so hopefully in the future I will get a smoker for it. I sprayed the lower hull in Tamiya dark yellow from a Tamiya spray can I also sprayed the wheels with it as well as dark green and red brown. This is the first time I have used Tamiya sprays and im impressed by them they make things a lot easier no mixing paint and cleaning the airbrush I don't like the slopiness of the wheels and after a chat from Alan (Tankman) I have decided to get bearings for them.

Stevie

[tankmad]

I have done some more work I have fitted the Wecohe gears you make these up using the existing gear boxes along with the new gears and housing. This upgrade cost almost £300 and you still use the same plastic cogs you get in the Tamiya boxes I think at this price you would think these would be upgraded to brass. I have also fitted the electrics so I can test the boxes before I fit the tracks. The tracks are from Schumo and are the closed pin type I don't wan't to sound like a moan but these tracks at first glance are disapointing you have to file out the holes for the sprockets as most of them are still closed by excess metal when you count the holes on both tracks thats almost 200 so a bit of time consuming work is called for the other gripe I have about them is the pins ,They are too long and stick out at the end and they seem a bit too loose for my liking for the price of these tracks you could buy 3 sets from from Forgebear and still have change to go to the pub.











Stevie

[FireflyKeith]

WOW, your doing some great work on the KT Stevie, but i have one question, that is a very expensive gearbox mod you have got yourself there what is the benifit of it, over something like the £45 brass 4-1 reduction boxes

Keith

[tankmad]

Hi Keith other than the brace that holds the gearboxes together giving it extra strength I think the gearboxes I got off of Dave for my Jagdtiger are just as good. They are quality gears there is no doubt but worth nowhere near what they are asking for them in my opinion.
Stevie

[boxerdog]

i reconise that fuel barrel

trev

[tankmad]

Hi Managed to get the Wecohe recoil upgrade up and working you get two brass gears to replace the plastic ones a end part for the cradle and a small electronic bit just before you plug it into the MFU. The new gears have some teeth missing and a spring pulls the barrel back faster than the standard set up. I had to use a cable tie to keep the motor in place as the impact of the gun coming back dislodged it. I must admit this makes the gun recoil look a lot more authentic. I took some of the Wecohe suspension bars off at the back and front as the tank was sitting a bit too low and put the standard ones in as they are stiffer I could have made the Wecohe ones stiffer but it would have meant having to take the gearboxes out if they moved or got weaker so I decided to do it now. I will have to put a support in at the front as the left sprocket cover is rubbing against the tracks and seems to be sitting out a bit. I also put a bit of plasticard under the turret to lift it up a bit as the turret seems to be too close to the top deck and rubs against it this was Septons tip thanks mate.







Stevie