Sherman Easy 8 arrives

[Tom Miller]

Hello,
I now have all the bogies assembled and painted minus some touchup and weathering.

[Matthew Whiteley]

What adhesive would you recommend for attaching the rubber wheels to the metal hubs?

Thanks,

Matt

[Tom Miller]

Hi Matt,
I use locktite 480. It is black with some rubber mixed in it. BE VERY CAREFULL to get the tire position absolutely correct quickly. This stuff sets in seconds and is impossible to remove without cutting the tire off and ruining it. I smear a very thin even amount on the aluminum wheel. Then I set the tire on a table and push the wheel through the tire front side first till it contacts the table. Then I quickly wipe the excess from the back side of the assembly. I do it this way so that any discoloration from the excess 480 is on the back side where no one will see it. No need to clamp the tire to the wheel.
Tom

[Armortek]

We use 480 as well. It is great for the job and will give you a lifelong bond, but does go off very fast - does not give you a second chance to position the part.
Kian

[Matthew Whiteley]

Thank you gentlemen!

[Tom Miller]

Pics of the latest progress.

[William Vallejo]

We use 480 as well. It is great for the job and will give you a lifelong bond, but does go off very fast - does not give you a second chance to position the part.
Kian

Good stuff, but no second chance.

[Tom Miller]

The box of electronics (option packs) has arrived. I ordered all the option packs. This is a good point to install as much as possible before continuing with the upper part of the tank. I also purchased 2 12v SLA 20 amp batteries and a 8 channel receiver. Hooked everything up and it works great.

Everything is this pic is held down with velcro. The two leads at the front of the batteries go to the elevation and turret motors. At the back of the batteries are the power switch, smoke switch and charging lead. The switches will be permanently mounted later.

The speakers still have their protective cardboard attached.

The tracks are all assembled, cold anodized with insta-blak 380 and one coat of MIG track rust. Next will be a coat of MIG dust effects

[Erik Dries]

Following this build with great interest, as i did not start my build yet and still try to figure out things in my head. I have a question, your set up as it is, will it clear with the turretdrive?
Best regards Erik.

[Tom Miller]

Hi Erik,
You are right! I did not leave enough room on the left side of the chassis between the batteries and the hull side. I mocked up the upper sides and the front and rear deck and found I had to move the batteries to the right about an inch. There was enough room to do that but it would have left a very narrow alley for the wiring to get through on the right side. The batteries are the narrowest when standing up right and that left enough room but I moved the batteries over another inch to be sure. In this configuration the turret motor will fit properly and the batteries clear the rear upper deck by an inch or so.
Thanks for noticing. I really wish I was smarter......
Tom

[GlenStenhouse]

Nice. Exactly the picture I was looking for before committing to fixing my rear deck permanently with faux welds along the edges. It's going to be loaded with supplies and junk on the rear deck so the rear engine covers won't be able to open.

[Tom Miller]

More progress on the E8.
Finished detailing, weathering and clear coating the tracks. Weathered and clear coated the hull and bogies. Now I can start on the upper hull.

[Tom Miller]

Hi Guys,
Thought I would share some pics of 2 small modifications I made to my E8.
I have been working on EUO301 front glacis plate. Part EDO604 front lift eye does not look like the part I see in most pictures and I do not like locktiting it in place. I put the lift eye in the mill and drilled and tapped two 2mm holes in the ends of the mounting lugs. Next I sawed out the rectangular plate in between the legs. Putting the part back in the mill I then removed .080 from the remaining flange thickness to make it less bulky looking. I then profiled these two boses in the belt sander to be much smaller in dia. I can now mount it to the glacis plate with two 2mm screws. I will add miliput welds later to finish the look. It helps to put a small chamfer in the mounting holes in the glacis plate to make the lifting eye easier to fit up.
In the last photo I turned up 3 bushings, threaded them 2.5mm and red locktited them in the holes where the horn guard mounts. I did this because once the glacis plate is permanetely mounted these holes will not be accessable to install the nuts on the back side as shown on the drawing. I can now install the screws from the front of the glacis plate and no nuts required.

[Christoffer Ahlfors]

Brilliant!

[Robert E Morey]

I thought about that too (threading the hook) - but yours looks great! Good point and nice solution on the siren mount.
Bob