Have cut the first test piece of rubber for the tracks, these will be routed first and then cut to size, the will then have a washer and be rivited to the track along with glued as well, now need to order 1sq mate of it

Have desided to go with a urban camouflage theme of grey's and black's, will probably look at a digital camouflage patten for the top and turret

Back into it

Have finally got some time to get back into the little bits.

Am pulling all the road wheel assemblies off so I can get the painted and ready for final assembly

First track cut to length and put on for testing

 

Suspension sitting were it should and track joined

getting an idea of what it will look like



Right Hand side on

Have attached all the suspension units on the right hand side and fitted road wheels.

Put on track so its ready to spin over and load test it.

Will lift a pallet up under the tank to take its weight (and that of the jig) with batteries etc in it so I can see how the suspension will ride.

Once that is done I will be able to cut the tracks to the right length and join them, then I will be able to run them up to see were the road wheels will want to track.

 

Here you can see the suspension units running along the inside



Left hand side test fitted

Got quite a bit done over the last few days
TIG welded all the stub axles into the trailing arms and assembled half the suspension units with lots of Coppercoate to get them moving.
Cut the retaining clips that go on the outside of the hull and hold the stub axle and suspension units to the side of the hull

Installed all the left hand side units and have tested the road wheels on the axles.
Also tried on one of its feet as well, they will have to be shortened but about 4-5 links but will do that last once everything is in.

Once thats done it will be time to hook up the batteries and give the left hand side a run to see if there are any other issues that need to be sorted before starting on the right hand side

Holes drilled through hull

Suspension units fitted with retaining clips in place

Road wheels fitted temporarily for testing 

There is still a small tire to go on each road wheel

About 4 links will need to come out of the tracks but still have to add idler wheels first



Have pressed the stub axels into the trailing arms ready for welding and test fitted the first unit into the hull.

Have a couple of small adjustments to make to the trailing arms to allow easier access to the bolts but otherwise very pleased with how they are sitting

 

Trailing arm with stub axel ready to be pressed into place

Ready welding

first unit installed for testing, all looking good

Inside the hull

 

Have assembled the main drive hub on the motors and adjusted the clearances for the tracks.

 

Just waiting for the last parts of the trailing arms and can then start assembly of road wheels and tracks

 

 

Have removed turret and side skirts to allow access to the hull so I can drill the mounting holes for the suspension units.

Installed Motors so I can assemble the main drive hub

 

 

 

Have TIG welded the axles into the trailing arm, just waiting for one bit for each to come from the lathe and they are ready for paint.

 

 

Road wheel welding jig

Well I finally got the jig sorted for the road wheel assembly and have matched up the rims with the hubs

The pin and steel plate make sure the hub sits the correct amount through the Rim for welding

Spacers to give the correct gap between the two rims

finished road wheels ready to go onto be painted etc

 

Drivetrain assembly

Have finished 99% of fabrication work and laid it all out to do one last full parts check before finishing assembly of the 862 parts into the tanks main drivetrain.

Consisting of

2x Main Drive Hubs (48 parts)

2x Front Wheel Assembly's (14 parts)

2x Track Assembly's (562 parts)

14 Road Wheel Assembly's  (238 parts)

Got the last major pieces for the suspension and road wheel units cut and ready for assembly.

 

These are the trailing arms that attached the road wheels to the suspension units.

Have a bit more lathe work to do on the 20mm rod that is attached to the trailing arm and will go through the tank body to the suspension unit.

Both the 20mm and 16mm rod in the test unit here are just press fitted into the trailing arm, there is no way they will come out but they will still be TIG welded around the backs to keep them in place.

 

The blue "tire" seen here has a split in it where I had to cut it to get it off the first test rim, these will be press fitted onto the rims last

Exploded view

 

Got the front tensioners axels sorted, These are made from 20mm rod with the bracket cut from 10mm Mild Steel, they will need to be stronger than the normal road wheels as the stress of the tracks will be pulling around them.

The rod is pressed in and then TIG welded around the back.