1/16 Grant
 

This what I did for the Grant Tracks... First I used a stationary belt sander to sand down the standard HL Tracks... this turned out pretty well.. then I had some British Track pads printed and painstakingly cut out and prepped each pad.. there is approx. 170 of them... and affixed them to the sanded Sherman tracks... thew work well...as I haven't lost one yet. Then I did the M3 Suspension.. this was a bit tricky and I didn't do a very clean job of it, but it works and the final painting and weathering hides many sins... I am still waiting for the proper wheels to arrive as well as the sand shields...as you can see on the pix.. I haven't yet done the turret aside from putting it together... I have a ton to go....but I'll tackle the rest in time.. as you can see have many projects under way.. I'm patient so it is all good...

the 5 Panthers and Jagdpanthers all just got the Taigen metal chassis(s)... still waiting on the Rubber-Saving, all steel wheels... Domimique says a few more weeks and they will be in...
The early Jagdpanther is slowly being brought up to the same level as the rest... I still have two sets of Aber Fenders to make...
The Panthers will be a very late Panther G, a Panther G Late production, an Early G.... the Jagdpanthers are an early Production model and a late production version

The Shermans are as follows.. the Normandy M4 early, a Firefly, an M4 Composite large hatch Dry Pacific, an M3a3 75mm Pacific, and a Cast hull 76mm.
The Shermans are still in the hunting ands gathering phase... I have most of it, but still searching for a few parts... and thinking about the composite hull build...
I did get all of the correct rear top panels and parts though.. that was a big score...







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what a collection you have going there. impressed.

I had a flashback when I saw the work you were going though to get the track correct. I used the same track on my Grant but I didn't grind off the chevrons and add pads. I'm got lazy on that. Before the HL Sherman track was available I went through a labor intensive modification of Tamiya Sherman HVSS track to make VVSS track with outside guide horns for my Stuart. What a pain that was!


I really appreciate what you are doing on your M3, your skill and attention to detail is a treat for me to see. Thanks to you, I just may have to modify the track on my M3 to be more authentic. Your British track pad design blows me away ---- WOW! You have no idea how much respect I have for your efforts on this project.
rex

These things are just growing on trees now... ;) Hehehehe

Great work on this Grant & good to see the work put in for the 'real' M3 bogies. Track pads are a great touch.. soon I will tackle my own ><

Have you worked on getting the hull secured down tight? I had some warping in my Grant hull so I have 1 screw keeping the front down. Any alignment issues?

That is the next thing.. I'm thinking maybe Magnets..( I saw that on another thread.. it looks pretty good)... the front cowl cover is being problem as I broke the left screw holder...(what a pain in the @@#$%) the next thing are the sand guards..and the gear hanging bar,,,,at that point I believe I will be moving

upwards.

I want to thank you all for being so encouraging... I have been looking at the other threads and the past threads and I must admit there are some fantastic Modders out there.. some that put me to shame... but that just makes me want to get better... I have joined-in some of the discussions and found many very kind

and helpful people....Modelers seem to be a better type of people than what you find in everyday life... I am rather new to this forum and have been doing this stuff alone in a vacume for about 40 years... with a 35 year break .. saying that makes me feel very old, but I assure you I still feel 15 inside... : )

when I found 1/16 scale (which was a god send for my eyes and my arthritis).. I got reintroduced to the field.... My early Shepard Paine training did me well, but all the new after market stuff as well as the 3D printing has opened up everything.....

so thank you...

Jealous of the Panthers... that's a lot of dough to spend on a fleet! It's an excellent hull I hope you like it.

Magnets are the best thing ever, especially for tanks. I use tons of them & it makes HengLong hulls "easy access", usually the first thing I do. The transmission cover was a mixed blessing for me too... Once you get the Sherman hull trimmed as the instructions suggest it fits very nicely and is strong. I had to open up the two lower holes on the cover to fit the hull, and used two self tapping screws on the upper as they didn't align at all. Once I got it secured though it became solid.

Thank you, YES YES and YES... ; )

P.S. I am the Master Deal Hunter for sure,,, much of what I have has either fallen off the back of a truck, was broken, or factory seconds... I started buying parts and did it enough to fix and build most of it...

I do have a few brand new tanks, but not many.. The Panther hulls were expensive, but they wer5e on Sale and I got a break for buying 5 of them....