Tom's Pershing Build

[Tom Miller]

Hello Everyone,
I am well into my 7th Armortek build. Seemed like a good time to post a few pictrues of my progress and let other builders know about an issue I had with the front armour casting.
EVO104 front armour casting must fit EVO101 and EVO114 forward hull sides without a step at the joint of the two parts. My casting stuck out about 1/8in on the left side.

This will be a problem later in the build when EVO601 mid mudguard is assembled. EVO616 will also be a problem. The picture shows two black lines I drew to show where ther mudguard goes. My solution was to use an angle grinder to sand off the extra material. I clamped the casting to a table with the offending side facing up and spent about an hour sanding away the step until the casting was even with the side sheet.

Here are a couple progress pics. Next up is the drive case and road wheels.

[DaveMacri]

Same issue with the 1/8" overage on the left side, I also used an aluminum grinder disk to remove the excess. then put on the weld over that seam. Tom looks like we are about the same point on the build...

[Tom Miller]

Hi Dave,
Great minds think alike....
Nice job so far. You will have to remove a portion of the weld when you attach the mudguards. You better slow down and get the electronics installed before you seal up the upper portion of the tank.
Carry-on
Tom

[Ray Massa]

So this is only necessary because of the mud flaps it seems. Well this should be fun to grind off now that all my suspension pieces are attached. I did not realize that overlap would have any effect on anything.

-Ray

[John Burden]

Hello Everyone,
I am well into my 7th Armortek build. Seemed like a good time to post a few pictrues of my progress and let other builders know about an issue I had with the front armour casting.
EVO104 front armour casting must fit EVO101 and EVO114 forward hull sides without a step at the joint of the two parts. My casting stuck out about 1/8in on the left side.
IMG_3096.JPG
IMG_3091.JPG
This will be a problem later in the build when EVO601 mid mudguard is assembled. EVO616 will also be a problem. The picture shows two black lines I drew to show where ther mudguard goes. My solution was to use an angle grinder to sand off the extra material. I clamped the casting to a table with the offending side facing up and spent about an hour sanding away the step until the casting was even with the side sheet.
IMG_3106.JPG
IMG_3108.JPG
IMG_3109.JPG
Here are a couple progress pics. Next up is the drive case and road wheels.
IMG_3103.JPG
IMG_3104.JPG
IMG_3105.JPG

Wonderful

[Nick Chiocchio]

So I ran down to check my tank and it wasn't that bad but it wasn't flush. I used two washers on the bracket that holds the two together and when I retightened the offset was 1.1mm measured with a digital caliper. I think that will be OK. The other side measured 0.79mm. I didn't want to take it apart to grind. It's all primed and painted at this point!

Anyway I'm not sure if this will work for anyone but I thought I would post it. If you try it and it helps let me know, Thanks.

Before the washers

IMG_6166.JPG (48.05 KiB) Viewed 5678 times

Again, before the washers, not bad

IMG_6167.JPG (89.03 KiB) Viewed 5678 times

Washers in place

IMG_6168.JPG (49.45 KiB) Viewed 5678 times

Different view

IMG_6169.JPG (41.09 KiB) Viewed 5678 times

[Tom Miller]

Hi Nick,
I tried that too and got similar results. One concern with that solution is that now the side panel is on an angle outward at the top. That may effect the track alignment as now the front return roller is further out than the rest.
Tom

[Tom Miller]

Hi Guys,
Thought I would post a couple pics of my progress and offer a suggestion on how the side skirts are attached to the mud guards.
Since pins for the front lugs are not supplied with the kit, I turned up two pins like the ones for the rear tow eye. I also modified the front and rear lift eye's to look more like the prototype. I will add welds where they mount to the hull. Started doing some weathering to get an idea of the look I am after.

I do not want to continue with the upper part of the tank until I get all the electronics installed so I got out the mud guards and skirts. Mounting the mud guards to the chassis is best done before the tracks are mounted otherwise access to the mounting screws will be difficult. Attaching the side skirts is not easy because you must reach up behind the skirt to get the nut in place. With or without the tracks mounted this is not easy. My solution to this problem is to solder the nuts to the back side of the mud guards. I use counter sunk screws to hold the nut in place for soldering. This insures the nut is centered over the hole. I also soldered the 2.5m x 5 screws to the front and rear mud guard so they can be attached or removed with the tracks in place. This is especialy important with the front mud guard so you can have access to the track tension adjuster. Note: the 2.5 button head screws supplied with the kit are stainless and will not solder. I used steel screws left over from another kit.

[John Burden]

Thanks Tom

[Damon Resch]

Ditto on the thanks, Tom. I appreciate the heads up on some of the build processes that need to be finessed a bit.

[Brian Womersley]

Hi Guys,
Thought I would post a couple pics of my progress and offer a suggestion on how the side skirts are attached to the mud guards.
Since pins for the front lugs are not supplied with the kit, I turned up two pins like the ones for the rear tow eye. I also modified the front and rear lift eye's to look more like the prototype. I will add welds where they mount to the hull. Started doing some weathering to get an idea of the look I am after.
IMG_3115.JPGIMG_3116.JPGIMG_3117.JPG
I do not want to continue with the upper part of the tank until I get all the electronics installed so I got out the mud guards and skirts. Mounting the mud guards to the chassis is best done before the tracks are mounted otherwise access to the mounting screws will be difficult. Attaching the side skirts is not easy because you must reach up behind the skirt to get the nut in place. With or without the tracks mounted this is not easy. My solution to this problem is to solder the nuts to the back side of the mud guards. I use counter sunk screws to hold the nut in place for soldering. This insures the nut is centered over the hole. I also soldered the 2.5m x 5 screws to the front and rear mud guard so they can be attached or removed with the tracks in place. This is especialy important with the front mud guard so you can have access to the track tension adjuster. Note: the 2.5 button head screws supplied with the kit are stainless and will not solder. I used steel screws left over from another kit.
IMG_3110.JPGIMG_3111.JPGIMG_3112.JPGIMG_3113.JPG

Hi Tom….Thanks… Great bit of “weathering” you have done so far… I need to learn a few more skills so I can do something like that….. How about a new post of its own on “Weathering advice”

[Tom Miller]

Hi Guys,
Just discovered another small issue. If you are going to install the lighting option pak Armortek did not drill the hole for the tail light all the way through to the inside of the tank. I used a 9/64th drill and a battery drill to finish the job. There is just enough room to do this with the drive sprocket installed.

I touched up all the screw heads on the drive wheels. Next is to weather them.

Weathering is an aquired skill. I have built models, mostly railroad in many scales all my life. Mig makes all sorts of filters, washes and special effect products that I use along with weathering powders made by Bragdon Enterprises. Buy some of these products and start experimenting. There is no wrong way to do it.
Tom

[Dan Fuhrman]

Tom,

I noticed you attached your cable hooks to the rear plate assembly without the screws. Did you modify the hooks and weld them to the plate?

Dan

[Tom Miller]

Hi Dan,
I used the screws. The angle the pic was taken at just hides them.
Tom

[DaveMacri]

Tom,

I noticed you attached your cable hooks to the rear plate assembly without the screws. Did you modify the hooks and weld them to the plate?

Dan

Mine are on with this technique, I don't have any fasteners show on parts that were welded on the tanks. This can be achieved by countersinking and setting a flat countersunk screw then shaping miliput over the area to blend it all in.
Sorry Tom for steeling you thunder...