Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to All -

Well, I finally got a few minutes to "play" with the Abrams again today. Made and installed the crew step on both front sides. Filled the grenade launchers with some "protection" stuff, and fashioned a tie-down strap out of some brown tape. Also fabricated some boxes of bottled water from a file sent to me by Gorehound (thanks my friend). Even managed to make a case of Pepsi. Still working on the MRE boxes, but I think I've got that now. Found a brand of box matches that the boxes seem just about right for MRE boxes. Should look OK. I'm still trying to decide about attempting to use the new Elmod stuff in this thing, but it uses a 12 volt system and I'm not sure their stuff will survive and that's an expensive experiment, but we'll see. This thing runs well, even in the cold, and the "beefed up" suspension seems to handle just about anything I can throw at it. I sure wish 21st Century Toys would re-release this thing (with just a couple of improvements). Take care one and all, stay safe !!!

OttoDiesel

Nice ride!

Thanks Swath !!! When I get some more free time, I intend to go back and re-look at some of your and Perry S' gun posts. I could just about put anything in here there's so much room, but I'm thinking eventually of going to an electric Airsoft setup - something with a little more power than our Heng Long's provide, but somewhat less powerful that the M249 SAW (although that would be pretty cool, a tank putting out 1000 rounds a minute)!!! Unfortunately, I don't have either of your's electrical genius, but we'll see what pans out later. TTFN !!!

I could have done without seeing another Arabic box of bottled water!

That said, that's some awesome detailing. Good work.

Hi OttoDiesel,

How did you beef up the suspension? Where did you find the 50cal machine gun and mount? Mine came without it. Where did you find most of your accessories?

Thanks,
Jack

Hi Otto

She is looking better each time I see her. I must get going on my own one soon. Xmas hols now so I may have some time at last

cheers
Gorehound

Hey Jmcnulty - Merry Christmas fellow tanker !!! I put in different springs. Not quite as strong as the originals. I put slightly softer ones in, so I guess I actually "unbeefed" up the suspension ?!?!?!?! I also drilled out all of the wheels and inserted nylon bushings in all of them. This protects the suspension AND the lower hull by strengthening all of them. I also inserted metal supports on inside of the lower hull. Next, I inserted 3/16 in steel piano wire as axles on all but one (and that's coming soon) of the wheel assemblies. This is truly critical for the front idler wheels (the ones on top, up front, nearly totally hidden by the side armor). Again BIGMIG's posts on this are what convinced me that this had to be done to keep from breaking the really flimsy wheels. Lastly, I wrapped each and every road wheel in a soft type of foam rubber that I cut from 8 1/2 X 11 sheets. Not only does this strengthen the thin plastic a great deal, it adds that realistic look to the wheels, as without this on them, they look weak and fragile. I'll post a copule of shots to this so you'll see what I mean.
The .50 cal I ordered from Kenny Kong. It's actually from his 1:8 scale series of accessories, but the difference between the two scales is really negligible. I'm going to order one of his tank crewman next. The .50 cal mount I made from some plastic and some 1/8 in piano wire. I just bent the wire until I got the general shape where it would fit and then did some final adjustments with the pliers and Vise Grips. Super glued it to the gun. The gun moves up and down and that's it, but its more for show than anything. Do a search for 1:9 scale Abrams or for BIGMIG and look for his posts. That's what I used for most of my changes. I'd be glad to help in any other way I can if you want to try some of his stuff out - it works.

Ottodiesel

Hi Otto,

Did you add those metal plates or are they already in there? Would some pieces of all thread work to stiffen the hull?

Thanks a lot,
Jack

Jmcnulty -

I added the metal plates. They're 1/8 inch aluminum. A local sheet metal shop did them using some scrap they had. The guy only charged me for a few minutes labor since he was really interested in how it was going to be used. I found it simpler to just take the lower hull and show him. I drilled a small hole through the hull and metal where I was going to put the screws in. GREATLY aided in hull strength. I read in another post about using wire or thread, but I never tried it. Like I said, between the metal axles and these metal pieces, this hull is extremely solid now. If you only have a little time, and don't want to do the whole thing, I'd suggest the metal axle for the idler wheel. Even that will make a big difference.

Ralph

Looking at that first picture one thing comes to mind.......echo, echo, echo............

Hey Perry, hey Perry, hey Perry . . . . . you get the idea. If only our HLs had this much room !!! Lots more I want to do to this thing, but time and schekels are always in short order. I'm waiting for a reply back from Tom at Elmod about some of their stuff. Proportional speed control and a more realistic Abrams gas turbine engine would . . . well, vor lcak of a better word - be AWESOME in this thing. It moves easily now, but only one freakin' speed, and the sound of a Stuart (Sherman???) just doesn't cut it. Now if I could only hit a small lotto jackpot . . . .

Ralph

Hi Otto

I would be interested to hear how you get on with the El-Mod route as I had considered this myself.

cheers
Gorehound

Hey Buddy !!! Happy New Year !!! I'll let you know what I get back from them. It really could be interesting. I read and re-read their web pages several times now and they state that their stuff has worked in tanks as heavy as 35Kgs. Isn't that about 70 pounds or so? I think I'm up to around 37 pounds so I've got a little left to go. It sure sounds promising though. Also, go to Elmod's page where you can download the WAV files and turn your volume up. Find the one for the M1 Abrams and let 'er' loose !!! Damn, that's loud !!! With a decent speaker, you really could wake up the neighborhood.

Ralph

Hi Ralph

And a happy New Year to you too - will be here soon now

35Kgs is 77pounds (1Kg = 2.2pounds) in our imperial measurement.

I looked at the El-Mod stuff for my Stuart but went for a Tamiya MF unit out of a Pershing instead as I got an old abused PErshing very cheap on the evilbay. I have started on the conversion but got side tracked (as usual) with one of my other projects. However, I did get a lot of help from the M5 battalion on Yahoo and was going down the route of using a 12v and 7.2v setup. I was going to put the 12volts through a standard two channel ESC to run the motors for the main drive and then run the rest off the 7.2v. By using a y piece out of the receiver to the motor controls on both the ESC and Tam DMD I could sync up the motors with the sound on the Tam kit. The turret and all other stuff could come from the Tam system.There was more than enough room to put all the stuff in.

I thought I could do domething similar with the Abrams but this time with the El-Mod to get the correct sounds. I had looked at the El-Mod previously for my 1\16 Flakpanzer Gepard but still needed other parts as there was a lot of damage to my old one so started collecting bits to get it sorted first and it is still sitting in bits in my loft, albeit with all the parts I need to complete it - I really need to get building some of these projects[]

On the bright side of stalled projects, I have restarted on both my Tam King Tiger and Tiger 1 during the hols as I have had some modelling time . Hopefully the KT will be done in the next week or so as I am on the weathering now and the Tiger can get some serious time. Once these are off the bench work will recommence on the M5 and hopefully the Abrams suspension repairs.

cheers
Gorehound

Hi Ralph,

One of bigmig's threads said use 5/16 wire for the fron axel on the Abrams. 3/16 sound more like it. How did you remove the 1st road wheel after that? Sounds very complicated?

Thanks,
Jack

What foam did you use for the road wheels and where did you get it?

Philipat -

I got it at Michael's, kinda like Ben Franklin, a craft/toy/hobby/framing store. It comes in 8 1/2 X 11 sheets just like normal computer printer paper. Itr's about 1/16" thick and comes in several colors, naturally I used clack to simulate the black rubber on the Abrams' wheels. The wheels on my Abrams are 3/4" wide so I simply marked off every 3/4s of an inch and cut with a paper cutter. These are long, but when I got to the point where the overlap started, I simply cut it off. Works like a charm to stengthen the wheels themselves by cushioning them, and gives the look I want too. I just looked and there is no name on the pieces I have, but I need to go to Michael's anyway tomorrow so I'll see if I can find you a name. Each sheet is about a dollar.

Ralph