JS-2 lower hull front brace.
 

OK well after a buddy of mine had some serious issues with his T34 on the front of the lower hull. That got me to thinking about the weak point on my JS-2 The front glacis is pretty much just plastic with a small piece of metal that runs on the lower part of the hull for bracing. The problem is that the even though the idler system is attached to the hull, there is no real brace or anything for the hull near the idler where most of the strain is going to be. So after talking to some of the more seasoned tankers at the last Danville event about needed upgrades and possible bracing I came up with this. My hope is that this will brace up the hull enough to allow me to add the other necessary upgrades that I have found out were needed for an overall better drive and look while battling at Danville. As always comments or suggestions are always welcome.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2099391http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2099392http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2099393http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2099394http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2099395http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2099396

The nice thing is that the brace doesn't impede the attachment point on the front for the upper and lower hull.
Bill

The front end would be much stiffer if you could add tabs that tie the sides of the hull to the plate that you have fabricated. The way the cast L-shaped metal pieces are friction fit between the plate and the front glacis, its possible for the tracks' torque to gradually work the L brackets of position.

The minute I put the ETO metal tracks on mine Bill the idlers bowed outward. I was able to straighten the hull. I've since removed the metal tracks and set them aside until someone came up with an idea. It wasn't the metal tracks fault however, they fit nicely. It is just a weak point in the JS-2. How did you attach your brace to the hull?

OK, I didn't see all of your photo's at first. I now see how it is attached.

Leong i was thinking about that. I might try making another version that is a tighter fit to the sides. I actually filed down the sides a bit to allow for clearance of the screws that are used to hold the idler to the hull. the downside is that right off the bat i can't see a way to make the piece any bigger without running into fit issues. I might also try to reverse the position and have the L on the bottom instead of top. Just an idea at the moment though. part of the problem with the idlers is that where they attach to the front glacis is only slotted and not a complete circle. This can cause the bow out problem Tanker 10. I'm sure it was done for a good reason but it makes for the front to easily bow out.

I'm still working on it and I haven't given it a proper run since Danville. Hopefully I'll figure something out. Of course RustyTrax has been running his just fine without any kind of brace in the front and with metal tracks as well.

Bill

What this space for a reworked idler system that should sort this issue

I'd like to know his secret.

Bill,

If you ever need some custom stuff done, you can send it to and I can probably get the machine shop to fab up something here in Greensboro.