Universal Carrier 15 - a first kit

[John_Allgood]

I've lurked on the forum since I put a deposit on the Universal Carrier at it's initial announcement. This is my first attempt at building an Armortek kit so I will probably come across as a bit dense at times. Honestly, my building skills have been limited to plastic models and some basic woodworking. My metal working skills are about as basic as they come. But I've long looked at Armortek kits and wanted to build one. And the Universal Carrier is more appealing to me than the German tanks - to each their own. But today Universal Carrier kit 15 arrived in Texas. I probably won't get started on this until after Christmas but I am excited and apprehensive. I've attached a photo of the box. My cat is also intrigued (or perhaps he realizes I"m a bit mad for doing this).

John Allgood

[Brian Ostlind]

Have fun. Looking forward to progress updates.

[Steve Stuart]

Welcome to the Armortek Confabricators, to coin a word. The great thing is the support that you as an individual will find over time from within the Forum, and once Covid is tamed, by meeting other builders in person at events far and wide. Each new model finds issues and questions which when shared helps everyone in their progress to an animated model! I too will start after Christmas on my build, I just hope the weather is not too damp as all that steel will need a quick clean and primer paint to keep rust at bay.
I think the Carrier when it is shown at events will prove a very captivating model with bags of character which will entertain the viewers hugely. So the build will keep me entertained until the spring and summer hopefully gives us all freedom to be out and about, so onwards!
Steve

[John Clarke]

Nice one John, I'm looking forward to all the builds. the more the merrier. There's going to be so many variations which is wonderful. Support should be strong, with quick builds in the offing.
The Quad went together really quickly and it was great to see the fast progress on the model.
If the UC performs well, it will be a joy at meets and anywhere else for that matter.
Being so small it will dress up really well, with a lot of personnel items easily purchased, I'm also thinking direct control of animatronics as less channels are required on this RC model as compared to a tank.

Enjoy

[John_Allgood]

I'm finally getting around to starting this kit. I wanted to have the motion and sound packs together before I started. Also slowly doing some dry assembly before I loctite things and paint.

I initially had some confusion about the gaps in the wheels of the Front Bogie Assembly but a look at some of the other builds recommended the M3 shims. That worked like a charm. Nice to have access to other people's work here.

I do have a question about the spring system for the Front Bogie Assemble however. I see where a couple of people have put a couple of the parts (ER0209 and ER0208) into a lathe to allow the springs to fit in these parts. Any suggestions for the poor soul who doesn't have a lathe? Just a slow and steady use of a file or sandpaper?

Attached is a photo showing my issue

[Dave Dibb (Armorpax)]

Hi John,

I have not turned mine down but found that if you grip the sections well enough you can "wind" the springs on. Takes a bit to get them going but I managed all without machines

My tool kit is very much Dremel, Power drill, files and needle files.

Best regards

Dave

[John_Allgood]

Thanks very much Dave!


I'll give that a go.

[John_Allgood]

I'm having some difficulty getting the tracks on my UC. I have exactly the number of tracks listed in the kit. I've put them together using the Armorpax pins (which are quite nice looking!). Using exactly half the number of tracks on each side, I seem to be short a track or two to easily connect them. At first I thought I had the Front Idler Assembly installed too far forward. To correct that, I loosened the bolts to push the Assembly as far back as possible. It still seems like the tracks are not long enough. Anyone else have a problem with this or any suggestions?

photo of track

[Graham P Hough]

I too have used Dave's pins and I have used all the links and completed the tracks each side. How much play/sag have you in the track, you may have to rob the other track.
I have also found that the pins fit so well in the tracks that they have acerbated any slight miss alignment in the track castings resulting in the track curving or twisting in places. The bonus is that the tracks fit the sprocket well.
Hope this helps.

[Dave Dibb (Armorpax)]

Hi John,

I have 165 on each side and the gap once all set up was just over a track link which when pulled up has the tracks sitting as I would have expected. After being on for a few weeks now they have stretched a little. I have not modified the mechanical build and all is straight out of the box. The slight right hand curve of the track has also now gone. Not sure why your gap would be bigger. I also fitted the track sitting on the bogies so not sure if that helps where it naturally pre compresses the suspension with the model weight?

As Graham has stated the fit round the sprocket looks right. Another builder used cable ties to pull the links together on his tracks (using split pins not ours initially) which is a tip that may help?

Took this the other day for another customer and shows the track after a few weeks on the model. I would expect with regular running to eventually drop a link which is quite normal.

https://1drv.ms/v/s!AiWgFgOctns_g5xYB0u ... A?e=pdVqvm

Best regards

Dave

[John_Allgood]

Thanks for the quick replies. I'll keep at it and, hopefully with the UC on the tracks, it will help set it. If not, I'll try the cable ties.