Torro M16 Halftrack to M3 conversion
02-09-2015, 09:45 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Torro M16 Halftrack to M3 conversion
I had our half track dealer strip the AA quad .50 out of my half track as I didn't need it. I intend to scratch a 75mm AT gun and install a Battle Armor BARC3 and Rx18 for Tamiya IR battle.
I chiseled off all the hinges on the armor, chiseled everything that was molded onto the rear, and filled in the line all the way around. Then I blanked out the cut outs with sheet styrene and bonded and sanded smooth. Inside I removed the gun mount, (which is kinda sad for me, I have actually been in an M16 and spun the turret around and aimed and fired the .50s which were fed with propane. Still very awesome) I removed the extra ammo cans from the rear floor and chiseled the floor smoth and filled the holes. (any body need more ammo cans for show?)I still need to either cut out the door or just scribe it in and make some hinges. Then I can prime and paint. Then get started on the gun mount. I have the Osprey book on the way for gun mount reference.
Here is my plans
I chiseled off all the hinges on the armor, chiseled everything that was molded onto the rear, and filled in the line all the way around. Then I blanked out the cut outs with sheet styrene and bonded and sanded smooth. Inside I removed the gun mount, (which is kinda sad for me, I have actually been in an M16 and spun the turret around and aimed and fired the .50s which were fed with propane. Still very awesome) I removed the extra ammo cans from the rear floor and chiseled the floor smoth and filled the holes. (any body need more ammo cans for show?)I still need to either cut out the door or just scribe it in and make some hinges. Then I can prime and paint. Then get started on the gun mount. I have the Osprey book on the way for gun mount reference.
Here is my plans
02-10-2015, 04:32 AM
#3
Cool, nice to see some half-track TD's.
Hopefully I can swing a T-19, similar to the one used in 'Kellys Heroes'.
Jeff
Hopefully I can swing a T-19, similar to the one used in 'Kellys Heroes'.
Jeff
02-10-2015, 05:06 AM
#5
Wow, Rich, that's cool. I don't plan to get that elaborate, I'll most likely just invent a story to go with it. In the summer of '43 there was a U.S. unit in England that had an M16 and the motorpool, no matter what they did or how hard they worked on it, just could not get the quad .50s to operate properly. Finally the CO got tired of his best men wasting time on this thing so he told them to just strip out the quads, cover over the floor and give it to HHC to haul gear in. Do you see the beauty of that little lie? Now I'm free to mount anything I want to on it and I don't have to worry about historical accuracy. As long as I don't try to load the back with plasma rifles in the 40 watt range I can get away with quite a bit. See, the hippie brain can have it's uses. 
Seriously, though, that's a lot lower voltage than I thought it would be in those tail lights. Wait, I think that's in the other thread.
Anyway, what did you do with the quad .50s? I was thinking they might also be cool in some kind of ground placement or possibly on a trailer. I'll have to do more research on the quad .50 and what it got used for. Can't wait to see more of your build.
Seriously, though, that's a lot lower voltage than I thought it would be in those tail lights. Wait, I think that's in the other thread.
Anyway, what did you do with the quad .50s? I was thinking they might also be cool in some kind of ground placement or possibly on a trailer. I'll have to do more research on the quad .50 and what it got used for. Can't wait to see more of your build.
02-10-2015, 06:08 AM
#6
Wow, Rich, that's cool. I don't plan to get that elaborate, I'll most likely just invent a story to go with it. In the summer of '43 there was a U.S. unit in England that had an M16 and the motorpool, no matter what they did or how hard they worked on it, just could not get the quad .50s to operate properly. Finally the CO got tired of his best men wasting time on this thing so he told them to just strip out the quads, cover over the floor and give it to HHC to haul gear in. Do you see the beauty of that little lie? Now I'm free to mount anything I want to on it and I don't have to worry about historical accuracy. As long as I don't try to load the back with plasma rifles in the 40 watt range I can get away with quite a bit. See, the hippie brain can have it's uses.
Seriously, though, that's a lot lower voltage than I thought it would be in those tail lights. Wait, I think that's in the other thread.
Anyway, what did you do with the quad .50s? I was thinking they might also be cool in some kind of ground placement or possibly on a trailer. I'll have to do more research on the quad .50 and what it got used for. Can't wait to see more of your build.
Seriously, though, that's a lot lower voltage than I thought it would be in those tail lights. Wait, I think that's in the other thread.
Anyway, what did you do with the quad .50s? I was thinking they might also be cool in some kind of ground placement or possibly on a trailer. I'll have to do more research on the quad .50 and what it got used for. Can't wait to see more of your build.
what your planning in the back deck area.
02-10-2015, 08:29 AM
#7
Thread Starter
I never thought of using the .50 mount for a camera. Good idea.
i dont have it. Bob kept the guns and gave me a discount.
if you want to do brittish, you could mount the firefly gun in the halftrack.
I am thinking of removing the front bumper and building the roller as i think all the TDs had rollers.
The halftracks in Kellys heros were 105 howizter models i think. I just watched it two weeks ago.
The one thing i am not sure I want to do, is cut out the fuel tanks and move them to the rear as per the diagrams. I might. Im such a rivet counter in my train modeling i dont know if i can live with an error that big....
i dont have it. Bob kept the guns and gave me a discount.
if you want to do brittish, you could mount the firefly gun in the halftrack.
I am thinking of removing the front bumper and building the roller as i think all the TDs had rollers.
The halftracks in Kellys heros were 105 howizter models i think. I just watched it two weeks ago.
The one thing i am not sure I want to do, is cut out the fuel tanks and move them to the rear as per the diagrams. I might. Im such a rivet counter in my train modeling i dont know if i can live with an error that big....
02-10-2015, 09:33 AM
#9
I kept the mount for tilt and elevation on my M3 TD - unfortunately that build stalled out after I discovered that the new location fouled the end of the EL-Mod board I was going to use, and I don't have a small enough soldering iron to pull the capacitors off the board and remote mount them.
You'll need to remove the fuel tanks to clear the gun shield if you want to traverse the gun tho.
You'll need to remove the fuel tanks to clear the gun shield if you want to traverse the gun tho.
02-10-2015, 11:56 AM
#10
Well of course they are 105MM guns... that's the allure. I have an oddballs tank, need to finish up the 105MM halftrack, then move over onto the JEEP and Kubel. Doubt I can swing an Opel now since all the new tanks have been announced.
Jeff
02-10-2015, 12:15 PM
#11
My Feedback: (1)
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Pearl City, HI
Posts: 372
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Carl hasn't quite brought his 105 gun to market yet, but you might want to contact him and see where he's at with it. http://www.radiocontrolcustomtanks.com/Workshop.html
02-10-2015, 01:58 PM
#12
Carl hasn't quite brought his 105 gun to market yet, but you might want to contact him and see where he's at with it. http://www.radiocontrolcustomtanks.com/Workshop.html
02-10-2015, 02:00 PM
#13
Only mine will be on an M-41 chassis.
02-10-2015, 04:51 PM
#15
Hey Rich, I see you only have one mudflap. Battle damage?
Ain't those things horrible? Have you driven it outside yet? I really hated the way it would get hung up on those stiff plastic mudflaps, so I fixed it. You may have seen this already, or Bob may have told you about it. I sent him a video of it when I first did it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSAl-6eZtrU
Ain't those things horrible? Have you driven it outside yet? I really hated the way it would get hung up on those stiff plastic mudflaps, so I fixed it. You may have seen this already, or Bob may have told you about it. I sent him a video of it when I first did it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSAl-6eZtrU
02-12-2015, 09:22 AM
#18
Thread Starter
No the flap didnt come off from battle damage. It fell off when i had the armor box off. I will pop the other one off on elf these days. Yeah, i was going to look for a piece of rubber to cut up for flaps.
I was looking over the fuel tanks last night, i suppose im gonna have to cut them out and make shorter ones for the rear.
Max, you need to fill in the armor cut outs on that second halftrack wihout the AA mount.
why would you want to put a 105 in a half track, a 75mm TD is so much more interesting and usefull if you battle.
my battle damage is to the large front bumper. It goes like this, i was chiseling the brackets off the rear armor that were under the boxes after i unscrewed them. Th screw peg for the round thing was thick and stubborn, and i was pushing hard with a freshly sharpened chisel. The chisel finailly made it through and went right into my left palm. I dropped the half track and put pressure on my hand and ran for the house, when I got up i stepped on the front bumper. I really didnt care at the time as i had weird tissue coming out of the hole in my hand along with all the blood, which got all over the half track. Spent the night at the ER and got stitches. Pretty bad, but lucky i just barley missed all the tendons. Going to take a few months to heal.
I was looking over the fuel tanks last night, i suppose im gonna have to cut them out and make shorter ones for the rear.
Max, you need to fill in the armor cut outs on that second halftrack wihout the AA mount.
why would you want to put a 105 in a half track, a 75mm TD is so much more interesting and usefull if you battle.
my battle damage is to the large front bumper. It goes like this, i was chiseling the brackets off the rear armor that were under the boxes after i unscrewed them. Th screw peg for the round thing was thick and stubborn, and i was pushing hard with a freshly sharpened chisel. The chisel finailly made it through and went right into my left palm. I dropped the half track and put pressure on my hand and ran for the house, when I got up i stepped on the front bumper. I really didnt care at the time as i had weird tissue coming out of the hole in my hand along with all the blood, which got all over the half track. Spent the night at the ER and got stitches. Pretty bad, but lucky i just barley missed all the tendons. Going to take a few months to heal.
02-13-2015, 10:28 AM
#19
Senior Member
My Feedback: (3)
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Ottawa,
ON, CANADA
Posts: 1,930
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Rich...
And what have we learned from this 'little accident'?
One: cut AWAY from her hands, & your body too, fool! I say that as a fellow-idiot who has chopped the heck out of his paws and other parts (slashed my kneecap while opening a packing box, ech!)
Two: Always keep first aid material handy when using tools that could injure yourself. Trust me, even if its just Kleenex for wadding, and some tape for holding it, you'll be thankful. With my illness, I have proper stuff handy: Telfa no-stick pads in various sizes, paper and plastic tapes in 1/2" & 1" widths, and I always keep a tube of Polysporin complete handy (the one with lidocaine in it!)
Three: Its a good excuse to wear a used lab-coat/apron/whatever, or otherwise 'junked' clothing. Why? Blood on the clothes is a pain in the butt to get out.
You can make a pretty decent DIY First Aid kit from the dollar-store stuff, trust me, I've pointed it out to friends. As for storage, either grab a small cosmetics bag, and label it well, or buy the Dollar-store First-Aid kit, salvage what ya can, junk/recycle the rest, and pack your gear in their nice red bag)
From Mr. Slashed-Fingertips hisself (damn hard to type sometimes, *sigh*)
WhiteWolf McBride
PS: The halfie looks good... keep at it! Gonna have to talk to The Commander about getting one now that funds are stable again.
And what have we learned from this 'little accident'?
One: cut AWAY from her hands, & your body too, fool! I say that as a fellow-idiot who has chopped the heck out of his paws and other parts (slashed my kneecap while opening a packing box, ech!)
Two: Always keep first aid material handy when using tools that could injure yourself. Trust me, even if its just Kleenex for wadding, and some tape for holding it, you'll be thankful. With my illness, I have proper stuff handy: Telfa no-stick pads in various sizes, paper and plastic tapes in 1/2" & 1" widths, and I always keep a tube of Polysporin complete handy (the one with lidocaine in it!)
Three: Its a good excuse to wear a used lab-coat/apron/whatever, or otherwise 'junked' clothing. Why? Blood on the clothes is a pain in the butt to get out.
You can make a pretty decent DIY First Aid kit from the dollar-store stuff, trust me, I've pointed it out to friends. As for storage, either grab a small cosmetics bag, and label it well, or buy the Dollar-store First-Aid kit, salvage what ya can, junk/recycle the rest, and pack your gear in their nice red bag)
From Mr. Slashed-Fingertips hisself (damn hard to type sometimes, *sigh*)
WhiteWolf McBride
PS: The halfie looks good... keep at it! Gonna have to talk to The Commander about getting one now that funds are stable again.
Last edited by WhiteWolf McBride; 02-13-2015 at 10:39 AM.
02-13-2015, 11:46 AM
#20
Secret option B - use a Dremel with the appropriate cutter tools and eye protection. With a bit of practice you can quite cleanly remove any surplus detail without having to resort to sharp objects...
02-13-2015, 01:08 PM
#22
if you can clean up a chisel mark, you can clean up Dremel marks. Its just a question of using a tool that is sharp, enough rpm, and a Dremel that has some good bearings left (mines starting to get a bit wobbly after 5 or 6 years worth of abuse 
).
).
03-31-2015, 06:32 PM
#24
Senior Member
Aren't these RC Halftracks a blast? Rich is doing the work himself. He is a very capable modeler. I don't know what system he is leaning towards. I do know he is a busy man. I just sold him the Halftrack without the Maxon Quad MG guns but with a floor template. If anyone wants the Quad M2s please PM me.
I do have M16 parts in stock both new and used. As well as NIB halftracks. My RCU buddies always get a discount.
PM me and/or see my rctankcommand.com website for more info: http://www.rctankcommand.com/
I have already produced the front roller bumper to increase the Halftracks surprisingly good cross-country ability. I couldn't even get it stick in snow and ice during a winter recon mission. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEPA...m45MJ47wobWY2g
That the huge overhanging (but nicely detailed winch bumper) can get in the way sometimes. Just like the mud-flaps...LOL. Here are some pix. They are all hand made by me from brass.
Here is a demo video of the roller bumper: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zC9...m45MJ47wobWY2g
748, 223
I do have M16 parts in stock both new and used. As well as NIB halftracks. My RCU buddies always get a discount.
PM me and/or see my rctankcommand.com website for more info: http://www.rctankcommand.com/
I have already produced the front roller bumper to increase the Halftracks surprisingly good cross-country ability. I couldn't even get it stick in snow and ice during a winter recon mission. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEPA...m45MJ47wobWY2g
That the huge overhanging (but nicely detailed winch bumper) can get in the way sometimes. Just like the mud-flaps...LOL. Here are some pix. They are all hand made by me from brass.
Here is a demo video of the roller bumper: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zC9...m45MJ47wobWY2g
748, 223
Last edited by thecommander; 03-31-2015 at 06:45 PM.
