Blackadder's Landkreuzer P500; Der Wühlmaus

Blackadder

Blackadder

Active member
Well you have to look at rivets as a minor part of the overall scratchbuild. Granted it's tedious but if you listen to talk-radio or sort of watch a movie/tv or (god forbid a sports event) while you do it you'll be surprised how much you will accomplish subliminally. I use to watch my grandmother knitting afghan doilies while watching TV and think how can she do this without slashing her wrists but it does work. You'd be surprised how much you can accomplish without consciously putting your mind to it.
 
Blackadder

Blackadder

Active member
Tread Links 1.02

Okay so the tread links are cleaned and the excess bits of plastic sanded and cut away; the rivets filed down to a uniform height, we're ready to install the front end link plate. I glued all the link to continuous strips of styrene leaving a slight gap between so I can cut them separate once the glue dries. this is so much easier than cutting each individual piece plus all the front strips are of a uniform height.


http://i.imgur.com/llrREyj.jpg

llrREyjl.jpg




A closeup of the rivet rows and the tread pattern reveals slight anomalies in the spacing and placement but the casual observer will not notice, "Hey that rivet is half a millimeter too close to the other."

http://i.imgur.com/DMHHxGy.jpg
DMHHxGyl.jpg



Government Work.
 
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Blackadder

Blackadder

Active member
Helpful Tip On Filing Rivets:


The key is where I said "rough cut", (if you look at the second picture [previous post]you will see the cut rivets are nowhere near uniform in size or shape.) I glue them on and file to the proper height. The problem is the type of file. Small rivets require a steel emery board (Diamond fingernail file)


Diamond%20Nail%20File.jpg



or they will drag off. Larger rivets naturally can take a coarser file.
 
Blackadder

Blackadder

Active member
A Big Dividend:



More than likely an exercise in complete lunacy but to have accomplished this pays me a big dividend; thumps chest over heart, here.


I gave up on this project half a decade ago because I couldn't conceive of making treads and by treads I mean plain old run of the mill tank treads, not FW Baneblade treads. I really, really, really, coveted those skull treads and every so often I would look at this uncompleted model and think, "Someday I'll make this work."


Well today just a few minutes ago it became a reality and as I savor the result and a well made Martini I am sharing this moment with all of you.


http://i.imgur.com/njFbp76.jpg
njFbp76l.jpg



http://i.imgur.com/zECI63y.jpg
zECI63yl.jpg



Cheers,
 
Blackadder

Blackadder

Active member
Tenacious more so than brilliant I would say otherwise this all would have been done correctly five years ago....Ha!

The Track Blocks:

My original track blocks were an abysmal failure and I discarded them. These new ones will be much sturdier and easy to work with.


http://i.imgur.com/IBxX1Re.jpg

IBxX1Rel.jpg




Note the 6,3 X 2,0 MM centering strip I am using to align the bogie wheels, much better than the centering spine of the original track block.


In the image below I know the centering strips don't look like it (I had to measure myself) but they are 12,4 MM from each track well wall.


http://i.imgur.com/AUVcPWr.jpg

AUVcPWrl.jpg



So now we have a true and sturdy base on which to mount the wheels.


http://i.imgur.com/9GPvGfV.jpg

9GPvGfVl.jpg




Next; The manufacture of the drive and idler wheels:
 
Quiarcus

Quiarcus

New member
Tenacity and patience - awesome work as always. I know it comes from experience but you make this stuff look ridiculously easy - can't wait to see where this goes.
 
Blackadder

Blackadder

Active member
Years Ago:

When I was a budding scratch-builder I made the bogies for this monster. Having already been apprised pf how outlandishly over-sized it was I search around for a shortcut to make the over-sized road wheels.


So I have a complete set of bogies made out of a 5/8 inch dowel for the axle, a 7/8 inch OD ABS tube (I don't know where that came from) and I went to the dollar store and bought a couple of packets of felt tip markers,


http://i.imgur.com/xNljHtG.jpg

xNljHtGl.jpg



cut off the end plugs and beveled the inner vanes.


http://i.imgur.com/vHznqfW.jpg

vHznqfWl.jpg




and there you have it , 16 reasonably detailed road wheels with a minimum of effort and talent.


And there for some reason I let the project drop.



Had I used my head I should have noticed that even if the drive wheels were larger in diameter, they still had the same sized inner core. (I actually just noticed that as I type this.... Ha!)


Anyway that's where we are today; trying to see if we can't improve on that other fellow's work.




Next Reply Please
 
Blackadder

Blackadder

Active member
Blackadder's 'Crown' Experiment




I love 'Eureka' moments, one came to me two nights back at 3:00 AM where for the few previous days I had been mulling how to produce the drive/idler wheels for the tracks. (The Blackadder has very little to occupy his mind these days.) anyway even though I have an even better way, I'll share this eureka moment with you as it is a more general way to make tank road tires.




BTW for those unfamiliar with "Eureka Moment" I enclose the following link:




https://www.google.com/search?q=app...sm=122&ie=UTF-8#q=archimedes+crown+experiment




I hate repetition and the thought of making 40 round tires with axles to make 16 bogie wheels and 4 drive wheel frustrates me and sends me into a state that inactivates me. Rather than wallow in my doldrums I usually just switch to another project which is better for my mental health. Therefor 5 years ago when stymied by the problem, I built Lucie the Warhound (and numerous other projects as well) instead.




So my eureka solution was this, rather than trying to cut round road wheelsof the proper thickness or sandwiching a half dozen or so thin disks together I took thin strips of styrene of proper width (in this case 1/4 inch) and wrapped it around the largest diameter styrene tube in my inventory 1/2 inch which coincidentally was just about the size of the axle needed.




Here we see the first of the eight road tires required already completed:




http://i.imgur.com/kjkte9R.jpg
kjkte9Rl.jpg





I'll demonstrate how to make the next one;




Measuring the proper axle spacing I glued the end of the 0,25 MM styrene strip square on the 1/2 inch styrene tube, then when sufficiently dry I filed the end to a fine taper so a lump won't form when I wrap the strip around the axle.




http://i.imgur.com/FxfJVxP.jpg
FxfJVxPl.jpg





When the strip is completely wrapped around I insured the wrapping was squared and tight and glued the free end to the wrap. I the proceeded to apply thinset styrene glue to the edges of the entire wrap and allowed to dry.




http://i.imgur.com/v3bSz1e.jpg
v3bSz1el.jpg





I used the milled jaws of the vernier calipers shown to true the wrap edges before applying the glue. (Engineers cringe)




Since the tires will be thicker than the one strip of styrene will achieve I wrapped a second around the first in the same manner. Now that the tire diameter is significantly larger than the 1/2 inch axle it was safe to use a thicker wrap, in this case I used 0,4 MM strip styrene.




http://i.imgur.com/w2F2RXF.jpg
w2F2RXFl.jpg





Here we see the tire finished wrap with the vernier calipers in place to compress any spiraling edges so the strips aren't telescoped.




Next post please.
 
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Blackadder

Blackadder

Active member
My loyal Cadre; I appreciate the reply; Having self-diagnosed my condition as reverse-Aspergers in other-words I have the non-verbal skills but not the verbal. Ha!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asperger_syndrome

The Odyssey continues:

The Mantle Of Lunacy:


Since I am so very often labeled "Crazy" I may as well don the appellation and adopt it for my very own to wit; last night I deemed the bogies too plain and spiffed them up a bit. with center axles and lugs.


http://i.imgur.com/YFEzXU7.jpg
YFEzXU7l.jpg



After drilling close to 400 holes my placement became a tad erratic.


http://i.imgur.com/dhQX89Z.jpg
dhQX89Zl.jpg



Since the skirting of the side armour eclipses half the road wheel I'm sure no one will see the discrepancies.


But I'll have to be more careful on the very prominent Idlers.
 
Blackadder

Blackadder

Active member
Time To Space the Road Wheels:

Well the new tread block seems to be just about perfect; the tire hubs appear slightly below the proposed fender skirting and the block sufficiently long enough to mount the outrage number of bogies. Yeah I'm guessing about all this; that's what comes of working without a plan boys and girls..........


http://i.imgur.com/plMUYT8.jpg

plMUYT8l.jpg




The next step will be to determine the best spacing taking into account the drive sprocket and nose idler wheel the hub of the nose idler being just under the leading edge of the fender.
 
Blackadder

Blackadder

Active member
Looks Like a Plan:


With very little forethought and purely by accident everything is rosy, the bogies seem just the right size for the tread run. i need to space them about a millimeter apart as opposed to the present image but nothing critical.


The two nose tires which are at odds with standard 'Christie suspension'


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christie_suspension


conform nicely to the FW/GW design none the less so it's acceptable.


http://i.imgur.com/GbiwiJx.jpg
GbiwiJxl.jpg



Even without the front idler the wheels look businesslike and seem adequate for the extra two hundred tons this tank has over the Baneblade


http://i.imgur.com/ZQhYR7R.jpg
ZQhYR7Rl.jpg



With the body removed the clean installation is revealed so those who want to copy this design, feel free.


http://i.imgur.com/KfELvs0.jpg
KfELvs0l.jpg



Only please don't ask for plans, diagrams or templates; I regret to say there aren't any.
 
Blackadder

Blackadder

Active member
No Need To Rush:


Let this be a lesson, it doesn't pay to rush these projects. I was about to affix the road wheels to the wheel base but on seeing this I will have to wait until the drive and idler wheels are done. Otherwise the wheel placement would have to be redone.


http://i.imgur.com/CjK0qfR.jpg
CjK0qfRl.jpg



but everything else seems satisfactory.
 
Blackadder

Blackadder

Active member
Thanks for the reply..............

Smacks Forehead:


On re-examining the side armour fender skirting there's a grievous error in the rear cutout and only this image brought it to the fore:




http://i.imgur.com/CjK0qfR.jpg
CjK0qfRl.jpg



My problem is that I was following the Armorcast Baneblade profile when I initially built this.


http://i.imgur.com/SRV3wxa.jpg
SRV3wxal.jpg



Where the cut out is significantly larger.


http://i.imgur.com/JK0IvrB.jpg
JK0IvrBl.jpg



That's why the skirt access panel cutouts won't work out.
 
Blackadder

Blackadder

Active member
Well I've been a fortnight on Florida and no one seems to have missed any updates so it appears if I were to somehow depart this mortal coil no one would notice............ a comforting thought...................
 
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