Ex Pat, I reviewed your photos. I saw you used the urethane cast arm on the mantle, I cut mine off and used the super Sherman bracket. That's where my problems lie. I love that dark OD you painted your EZ8. That is FS24087 semi gloss OD post WWII. That is the color both of my real Military vehicles are, (Willys and Dodge) I don't care for WWII OD much, which is a lot lighter in shade, but that is what I am going to use to paint my tank. Testors sells a color called 34087 which should be flat (the 3) post WWII dark OD, but its not the color for the Fed Standard number. Its WWII OD, which is a different number, I just don't remember the number. I find that irritating as a guy that has restored several real military vehicles and knows the Fed standard color system.
In pictures 4 and 5 its pretty clear that the vertical elevation arm is stuck right against the rotation bracket. They are tight together not allowing any movement. I don't thin I can file or grind away enough material to allow movement, but I can try. I think I am eventually going to have to just cut it and solder on or screw a new elevation arm in a different spot to make this work.