lposter

Today I finally got all the road wheels on. have to trim off the bits of the axles behind the swing arms.Reaonably pleased with how they went on given the nature of the "engineering" applied!.All the bump stops have been roughed out....they need a lot of trimming, drilling and filing and so on before they are mounted.Return idlers are mostly done.....although I only mounted two. Bits and pieces to do there. Started the mudguards....lot of work there too.I need to get most of this stuff finsihed before the winter comes....plus I want to get tracks on it as soon as pssible. I need to be finsihed the hull before it gets too cold as I can work on the turret indoors as its smaller. The patience of my better half only goes so far.Im a bit pissed that the tank doesnt sit level...I need to tweak the suspension. Luckily for me its a fairly adjustable system (!) but Im thinking I should wait until I get tracks on it and can at least simulate its final weight. Otherwise Im probably wasting my time.Found it very hard to get the flats on the axles the swing arms are mounted on to be in the right place (or orientation). That really bugged me and will probably haunt me.pdont know why my carriage returns dont work and I keep getting just blocks of text.

lposter

Well the first try at th eroad wheels didnt go so well....... once it was put on the ground it looked like a drunk duck with wheels going at all angles......Part of the problem was "slop" in the suspension....the springs acted to stop the swing arms going up but the slack let them fall all over the place in the other direction. So counter acting springs had to be installed in the other direction as in the picture.IN addition, set screws may be good at stopping rotational forces but didnt do much in holding the road wheel axles in place in terms of up and down movement. A nut and spring washer system was then used.I dont really mind as I am willing to sacrifice "looks" for sheer brute strength. Now its sitting pretty even and the suspension is quite bouncy. It can be adjusted by positioning the springs at different lengths along the long arms of the internal t-pieces.I roughed out some mudguards and just magnetted them to the sizes for the hell of it. The glacis plate on the front is just balanced in position hence the gaps.Ive been busy with the mudguard brackets and apart from a lot of sanding and grinding I think Im making progress on those......tedious work indeed.All bump stops are done...Im justing waiting for 100 M1.6 screws to fasten them. Tapping those holes should be a deight indeed. Not to mention the 100 or so to hold those mudguard brackets in place!Now that the entire running gear is nearly done...its time for the tracks!... To give you an idea of what they will be...here is a shot of the drive wheel with the duplex chain laid over...I then have a decision....I can either use 7 cm long 1 cm by 2mm thick cross members, 1 per link, held on by counter sunk screws from the back of the inner links on each duplex.Or alternatively join the two using 3 lengths screwed from the front and being positinioned on the "inside" of the track so that the visible track will appera much as it does right now....I think the former for the sake of protecting the chains themselves....It all looks rough at the minute but once everything is cleaned up, bolted on correctly and after lots of filler.....should be ok.p

lposter

Thought I'd update this as the hull is soon going to be finished I think. Bad quality pictures but Im no Liebowitz.

I started work on the tracks last week. I just kind of draped them over one of the wheel sets today to see how they look and I think they are not so bad. have to make 400 cross members, drill them and tap th eholes this weekend.......the weight of the chain gives a nice sag but whether or not I keep that remains to be seen.

I got the motors mounted on delrin brackets and they have capacitors soldered on and are ready to install.

I bought a nice 12 V 2 rpm motor from china which is going to serve the turret. very handy and I avoid a whole lot of hassle with chains etc etc.

I started on the cannon itself...patiently sanded down to correct diameter along the visible part. Then bored out by hand the hole along it. It will be mounted on a linear bearing in the turret so If I feel likemaking a recoil system it will be easier to do along the line.

I made the first version of the bow machine gun. Happy enough with that. Have the bracket made for it and will mount it next week.

I alsomade the exhaust ducts from copper. These are going to be functional and enter the hull itself via a 5 mm brass tube (its not in the pictures). Later I may get a smoker.

I have all the brackets for the fenders made and the fenders but a lot of polishing and so on is needed before mounting.

I also managed to finish th eturnbuckles (functional) for holding the tow ropes along the hull and am pleased with those.

Also have made many of teh bits and bobs that go along the top of the turret.....

Before winter the hull should be 100% done and then I can start on the turret indoors over the winter.

This has really turned into a marathon. Slow but steady progress though......

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FreakyDude

now that is one heck of an effort and some sweet work, bravo Iposter

DeadTom

Very cool build and thank you for sharing with us.
I do have one question regarding the drill motors, especially the chuck used as the connector to the Right Angle drive.
How do you propose to "lock" the chuck in place so it will not back off/loosen it's grip with the RA drive during maneuvers with the tank?
I would hate to think of you out on the battlefield ready to take out that troublesome Panther in the village when your right drive motor starts to slip.....yikes, disaster.
Just curious as to your approach, again thank you for sharing.
Tom


PS - Meaning no disrespect whatsoever but here is a link to Lovejoy connectors, I use the Jaw type connectors on my CNC machines so durability and precision are there. Amazon carries them from many others distributors to look around for good deals. The Lovejoys are nice because you can go from one size shaft to another and still maintain the outside barrel diameter and then they have several different compound spiders to go between the jaws.
Good Luck

http://www.lovejoy-inc.com/

lposter

Hi DeadTom

I have to admit I considered the matter of the chuck. Going from experience (and my day to day drill is the same model as I got these motors from), Ive never had an occassion when the chuck slipped on a drill bit if the bit got stuck in something and its happened a few times to me. Often Id lose control of the drill rather than the bit slipping in the chuck. The shaft of the right angle boxes has a fairly substantial flat ground on one side which may or may not increase purchase even more.

If I do ever see it slip in the chuck, I may just file down the shaft to a hexagon or whatever to increase the grip.

My bigger worry is the right angle boxes. While the shafts and the bevel gear and bearings are steel and brass, the box itself is made of some kind of glass reinforced polymer. I could see that getting badly torn up so I intend to get a couple of sheets of brass and fashion a "cladding" for the boxes to hopefully beef them up a bit.

The LOvejoy couplings are very nice indeed.... Im a little unsure though how I would get them onto the drill motors (they dont end in a shaft when the chuck is off but rather some klind of left hand threaded "stump"). Machining the motors is off the menu (as I dont have any machines) and Im trying to keep to doing things "by hand" so to speak!

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lposter

Thought Id update this. Finally finisihed both tracks to my satisfaction.

Brutal work that took a long time. The cross members are 3 mm still. Each one has 4 precisely placed holes. Drilled with a battery powered drill whose bearing are now shot to pieces.

Then two holes on each cross member were tapped. By hand. there are about 200 or more members on each track. Thats over 800 holes tapped by hand. My wrist is totally knackered. Each track weighs 5 kg.

Getting them on was a hassle as they cannot be broken in teh conventional sense (Id have to remove all the cross bars). So the road wheels have to come off. Which to be fair, isn't that bad of a job.

The turret ring was eventually hacked out of 1 cm thick steel. There are ten spring loaded grub screws with bearings all around the turret ring. The brass plate in the centre is mounted to a lazy susan bearing. The lower plate of the turret will be bolted to the brass plate. This lower plate then sits on the balls of the grub screws allowing rotation without any major wobbling.

The motor to drive the turret is a self contained motor gearbox turning at 2 rpm. The shaft of the motor engages with a d shaped hole on the brass plate. This means I can remove the turret without worrying about the motor.

The motor was a life saver as its small, compact and I didnt have to worry about how I was going to gear it down or connect it to the turret.

Now I have to finish the mounting of track 2. Then the mudguards. And soon....the whole hull will be finished and I can start on teh turret which I can do indoors and stop freezing outside!

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DeadTom

Looking good, sorry to hear that your wrist hurts....now back to it
Thats alot of hand tapping, do you know anyone that has a drill press that you could help tap the holes for you? Of course that is by hand also but it is faster.
Thanks for the pics.

heavyaslead

Wonderful work, really!

Always envied metal working skill.

lposter

Well....this is a first for me. First as in it is the first time Ive taken thing off the bench in over six months. And I know why as it tops 20 kg on the scales...without any batteries or anything. So Im thinking it'll be hovering at the 40 kg mark when fiished.

Please ignore the screws and stuff....they will all be ground down and filled in when it nears finisihning.

Put it beside a 1/16 Stug just to get an idea of the size. Dissappointed I am not.

Worried about the weight and how to carry it around...I am.

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Tanque

I got tired of worrying about damaging my home as I move these things around I purchased an inexpensive padded wooden moving dolly. I fastened an eye hook on one end and I use a
~ 1 metre/ yard length of pine wood stick with a hook on it to pull my tank -o -cart around the house whenever I want to move a tank. The dolly is wide enough to prevent the tank from
crashing into door jams, furniture and the like and the padding is very good at preventing any damage. It's perfect size for 1:10 models.

Jerry

lposter

After over a month of work...the gun assembly is nearly finished! Have to make plugs to fill the two big holes in the front and add weld seams and sand off excess filler...but its pretty much done.

Wasily the biggest thing Ive ever made for a model. And the most annnoying. Filing aluminium has lost its attraction.

The big welded on screws on the front plate are a different matter. I intend to use cup pont grub screws in the holes and then some milliput round teh edges of teh cup to make the kind of weld seam one tends to see. Hope it works well.

Gun elevation and recoil went out the window at an early point due to needing precision tools for those to work right. Which I dont have.

P

lposter

Thought I'd update this after the Christmas.

I spent most of my time (building time that is) on the turret. Aside from a few bits, its nearly finished. The main bit left is the door on the back, the machine gun and some milliput work to finish it off. NOthing major but Im having trouble sourceing a small piece of 1 cm thick steel for the door. Youd think itb be easy but it isn't if you dont want a 1 m square sheet.

Im pretty pleased with it - although its about the size of a 1/16 tiger and twice the weight. Im missing some stuff that I will not be able to do...the weld seam around the front bit of the trapeziodial gun mount will not be done.

I also started the hatches...those on the main deck will have to open to allow for switches and charging ports. A picture of the solution is attached. Not great but not so bad either.

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Patski

wow!!! love that thing! 1/10 is the perfect scale for me...1/6 a little too big and 1/16 isnt bad, but I can't compare them to my 1/10 trucks...

Tanque

My sentiment exactly....

Jerry

lposter

The turret is now virtually complete. The pistol ports need to be made (they will be non functional so I just have to find the right size bolt so I can file the head of it into the right size) and I have to grind down the welds on the handles.

I hate milliput and find it easier to slap on too much and file/sand down rather than trying to manipulate tiny bits.

Th etop plate of the turret is removable and isnt quite screwed down fully in these shots.

I have a lot of body filler on it and have a good deal of sanding to do on it but the filler sands easier than JB Weld and means I dont have to wait overnight for it to dry so I'll be using more of it in future.

Its dawned on me that there will now be acres of polished steel on this thing which are not going to look well painted. Buying a half litre of Mr Surfacer isn't in my budget so I think Im just going to dab on JB Weld or filler with a rough sponge then lightly sand until I get something I can live with. I'll have to test that first......

Im also a bit dissappointed in the "backlash" evident in the thing. The D-shaft of the motor for the turret was interlocking with a D-shaped hole in teh brass mounting plate which the turret is then bolted too. There was no play noted in this arrangement until the turret was mounted and then I noticed that the longer moment of force provided by the turret was enough to produce a 1 cm backlash.

I may have to live with this even though I dont like it.......

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DeadTom

Wow, that is looking really nice lposter.
Keep up the great work and the pictures flowing

thanks for sharing,
DT

MAUS45

Really nice work. Can not wait to see your texture work on the Turret and hull!!!

lposter

I wish I was finsihed with that! The best reference I have is obviously the Yakubov walkaround of teh KV in the Russian museum (http://svsm.org/gallery/kv-2/IMGP0697).

I know Russian tanks like the T-34 have heavy texturing on the turret for example but the KV at that museum seems to have a fairly smooth texture to many surfaces. There is some "scaling" on surfaces but that looks like rust or dirt to me.

I think I will have to settle for some very light texturing - just enough to take the shine off the steel. Probably simply sponge on putty or whatever and the sand the high bits off.

If anyone has any useful opinions on this (how rough was the texture on a KV-2) I'd be more than glad to hear them.....

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lposter

Woohoo!!

Turret finally finished and primed!!! Top plate isnt screwed down as I forgot to paint the screws....

Primer went on a bit heavy ina couple of spots so Im going to have to give it a bit of a sanding.

Otherwise no major problems or imperfections (and isnt that the point of primer after all!).

So sick of this turret that Im really glad its out of the way.

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yellowshaker

My Feedback: (1)

The KV-2 turret was plate steel. Not cast, so it would not have the texture like a T-34. Hope this helps.

lposter

Lucky for me I didnt go over board. It has a slight textue which
is easier to feel than see which i got by sponging on thinned JB.

Im reasonably happy. So long as the shiny steel feel is gone.
P

vonmarshall

My Feedback: (1)

You are doing an amazing job with that Soviet monster!

Quick question re the Stug... that looks like an F/8. It is beautiful! Did you make that yourself or is there a kit somewhere?

lposter

That would be an F (the lesser produced one). There is a thread on it somewhere here. Built under the same conditions as this KV-2.

If you google "experimental stug build" or something you will find it....


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vonmarshall

My Feedback: (1)

Just found it... awesome piece of work!