Centurion Dozer Blade

[Frank Fleischer]

Hi all,
it`s my first turn at the board. My name is Frank, I´m 47 years old from Germany, near Stuttgart.
While waiting for the delivery of my Cent I decided to build a dozer blade version. Think it will enourmosly increase the fun while playing. To get the measurements I took a 1:35 kit by AFV and inspected a lot of pictures. After CAD drawing the first parts of the blade are cut and milled. Not yet sure what kind of version it will be exactly. At the moment I tend toward an Aussie Cent like the following picture. Here are the first photos of the blade building.

NOTE: My hobby is modelling and not foreign languages – so sorry for my english!

regards
Frank

[Adrian Harris]

Hi Frank and welcome.

What a piece of hardware for your first post

I like the way you have notched some of the parts to keep the alignment, something I've also done to keep things lined up.

Can't wait to see this dozer blade pushing around the dirt.

Oh, and nothing at all wrong with your English - much better than my Deutsch

Adrian.

[Stephen White]

Frank

Congratulations on starting with a stunning piece of work. If you do decide to build an Aussie Cent, you'll find a lot of reference material online. I've put a lot of sources into the Cent References thread. If I can help in any way, do let me know.

Good luck, enjoy the build and please keep the reports coming.

Best wishes

Stephen

[Bob Gould]

Welcome Frank.

Nice to see your innovation. Looks excellent and I shall follow your progress.

[Fabrice Le Roux]

Frank
Welcome!
Blade looks fantastic! I have a good number of photos too, if you cannot see something clearly, PM me and I will try to help.
How are you approaching the lifting mechanism? Servo, pneumatic ram or scale hydraulic?
Look forward to following your build.
cheers, Fabrice

[Frank Fleischer]

Hi,
first – sincere thanks to all for the kind welcome.
At the moment I`m down with influenza, so there isn`t much going on in the hobby workshop.
The lifting mechanism is planned by electric drive with control unit and transmission gearing.
Here are some more pictures showing details of construction and the first draft of a half gear box, which will be mounted at the front plate. Isn`t complete finished. Backing ribs and some more bits and bobs ar still failing.

@Fabrice: Thanks for the offer. I`ll refer.

regards
Frank

[Robert E Morey]

Frank,
I always thought a RC dozer would be fun. What could be better than a tank, and a dozer in one! Great work thus far, keep us posted on your progress. Get over that nasty flu though!
Best regards,
Bob

[Dennis Jones]

Hi Bob,

Talking of dozers, thought you might like to see this. It is owned by a mate of mine Barry, who helped in the building of the Diamond T. He didn't build it but it was scratch built, I have done a few mods and it performs well.

Dennis.

[Robert E Morey]

Hi Dennis,
Yes I believe that is made by Clive Lockwood! Been inspired by that model for a long time. I hope he's still making them!

It looks like the blade lift is different than before?

Would love to have a 1/6 D7 or D8 myself - in WWII livery of course. We must think alike? Tanks, Trucks and Tractors! What could be better?

Your Diamond T is a fantastic piece.

Sorry to sidetrack your thread Frank!

Best regards,
Bob

[Frank Fleischer]

...after the flu is beaten here a little progress

kind regards
Frank

[Frank Fleischer]

...the puzzle is going on

[Adrian Harris]

Frank - what metal have you used for the blade, and how are you bonding it together ?

It looks as though it is soldered/welded ?

Adrian.

[Frank Fleischer]

@Adrian : It`s normal aluminium (AlMg3) which is bonded with UHU 300 Endfest. At the joints I took a little more glue to spare the reproduction of the welding lines. Maybe I have to refinish them after the base coat.

kind regards
Frank

[Frank Fleischer]

...one more rainy day - one more day in the workshop

[simon_manning]

a post to say, clever, and an interesting topic to follow, very good, regards simon manning.