So after seeing Mike's Maus, (and my kids never shutting up about the Maus in World of Tanks) and having some serious interest in RC stuff now, I lucked out and got a Juckenburg resin model for a huge steal... (Currently retails for somewhere around $425+ CDN Shipped).






So the other reason I did this was after talking to Mike and seeing his RC'd version of the above, that I'd look at designing a full aluminum version.

I had been using a copy of Panzer Tracts No. 6-3 to get some measurements to create a basic 3D model. I've also been talking to the guys at ETO Armour regarding the drive line. So this was after a week of fiddling during lunchtimes and breaks at work... I figure that this will be a 6 month project for design alone.




So this is currently the 9 pcs that have been rough designed.
12.7mm (1/2") front upper and lower glacis
9.525mm (3/8") rear upper glacis (lower TBD)
6.35mm (1/4") outer side skirts (TBD Turret components)
4.7625mm (3/16") inner hulls, (TBD some upper hull portions)
2.05mm (0.0808" #12 ga) inner track wells, (TBD upper hulls and turret upper plates)

TBD once the overall exterior is created, internals for structure. The concept is that the outer skirts will be able to be removed by taking out 4-6 bolts for access to tracks and bogeys.






And showing some of the component dimensioning of the side skirt...

Wow that's amazing. Looking forward to it !

Oooh I love engineered diagrams  I've learned that the M3 hex-head bolt and matching tap are my best friend on tanks, I use them wherever I can. Makes removable bits and chassis parts a breeze. 

So do you plan to R/c the resin one and then design a whole new kit?

Strato50 wrote:

Oooh I love engineered diagrams  I've learned that the M3 hex-head bolt and matching tap are my best friend on tanks, I use them wherever I can. Makes removable bits and chassis parts a breeze. 

So do you plan to R/c the resin one and then design a whole new kit?

No plan on using the resin as an RC unit. Bought specifically to do some dimensional checks and to help visualize assembly concepts.

Yeah, already have a hundred or so M3 HSCS and M3 countersunk hex socket bolts from a previous repair to one of my dad's old projects.

https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=8&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjtjrrP9ebNAhWM7YMKHcZgD1cQFgg0MAc&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hobbyhavoc.com%2Foldhavoc%2Febooks%2FTrojca%2520German%2520Secret%2520Panzer%2520Projects.pdf&usg=AFQjCNEzQBLCPFSfVDlEB-Fqt2tp9F669A&sig2=XZWk7djpvhqc216cfyogHg

maybe this will help

Ohhh. more details never hurt.... Larger scales mean more accuracy... Many thanks.

What scale is the tank exactly , just curious

1/16th of course...

I have this one also and line drawings in 1/35s if you want to borrow it.

http://www.sklep.tankmodels.pl/en/wydawnictwo-militaria/6719-maus-e-100-militaria-398.html

Oh yes please...

Did I mention that I'll be looking at you guys for your expertise in electronics and such for controls.

Mike, I know you did dual turret motors on your Maus due to the size, did you use continuous rotation servos? I was thinking of that using a Y control cable to actuate two servos simultaneously... Again just concepts currently...

I used two Heng Long turret rotation unit which is just plastic gears with 130 motors. You can definitely split a servo output to drive two or more continous servos.

A design update... Just cause


So I developed a basic framework using the external components I was modelling. 65mm inside the inner hull is scale. Ug... So small...
Main transverse framework to be 3/8" thick, all other framework to be 1/4" thick. (lasercut nesting to be completed later)


Side hulls will attach to the framework, sponson floors will attach as well. Front and rear lower Glacis plates to form part of the major framework.


Lower hull floor attached to framework and lower glacis plates. (Left inner hull wall and sponson floor omitted for clarity)


Added upper glacis plates (1/2" front, 3/8" rear) , note that there will be additional framework added for support and structural rigidity.


Front track armor covers put in place (1/4" thick = 2-3 3M bolts/csnk screws per for installation and solid attachment)


Front "crew compartment" upper panel (3/16") and primary vent panels (12ga, 0.0808") placed


exhaust panels and turret ring in place (all 12ga /0.0808" aluminum sheet)

26pcs and mass is 5.6kg so far (not including the motors). No hardware yet, no mounting holes, but likely going to use hexagon socket countersunk cap screws with flat heads. Everything is at least 2mm thick and the heads have a 1.5mm depth on a 90 degree countersink. Should be lots of holding force. The question is whether to use helicoils or not for added torque ability...

Good concept and design , do you have a company that can mould everything ?

Mould? No. Lasercut aluminum. All of it! Maybe the smaller pieces will need to be cast resin/plasic. (hatches/Deflectors, etc...

Added some assembly fasteners and further details.

Really rough bogey arm concepts.

OMG
We have Military Generals ,Military Gunnery Specialists, Aviation mechanics , Mechanical Engineers , Cost Reduction experts , Colour application experts , Graphic Design specialist, Top Real Estates Performers, plus a number of other super skilled members in our club. You guys should  update your profiles so we can bath in your expertise.
We, Norma and I, are proud and  honored  to be part of this group of enthusiasts with such hidden talents.

That CAD is making me jealous..

Suspension iteration. showing road wheel travel possibility.


Should be only 3.2mm total travel Full unit compressed to extended, all bogeys at the same time (so far... from suspension arm limits Slightly smaller than scale 51.2mm vs 70mm theoretical design)



New component arrangement (bogey mounts and crossmembers...)



Took the time to model an IBU3 board with proper JST connectors, positions are guesstimated from images online. Overall dims are from the source

Decided to layout how much I would need for making 50+ units.
The 1/2" component requirements = 1 full 4'x8' plate of 1/2" aluminum sheet.
Will require a 3D waterjet cutting setup as the turret sides and rear require 30 and 15 degree angles respectively.



Damned... That is ALOT of parts.
Upper left corner - Front lower glacis plate
Most of left half - Left & right turret sides
Middle right of plate - more front lower glacis plates
Right of that - Turret front plate/glacis
Right third - Front lower glacis plates (they are SOOO small)
Far right side - Turret rear plates

Holy jebuz, so where does one get a water jet cutter for this? That's like 3D printing but with cooler parts.

Once I get the layouts roughly done, it is a matter of finding a material source and job shop with the appropriate cutting equipment (many are combined, too bad laser cutting doesn't work well on Aluminum)

So I decided to buy some scale maus tracks for reference. Many thanks to Mark @ Mark 1 tanks for the opportunity to snag the last of the remaining tracks from his epic 1/6th scale maus.





As for an update... Been working heavy on the tracks... 8 degrees one way per link, 225 degrees the other.

















The main cleat is 66 mm wide and those pin holes are 2mm in diameter.
Some creative liberty with "exact" precision of the casting webbing in the original mold. Going to be submitting these components to an aluminum casting company locally to see how much they will roughly cost...
I'm hoping that they come out decent... 56 pairs of links per side... 112 main cleats, 224 outer links, and 112 center links per side.... Out of aluminum, each track set should be roughly 0.8kg (1.75 lbs) not including 112 track pins (56mm long) per side. Or I use dual pins per pivot akin to mato Jagdpanther tracks...

So it has been awhile and I had not forgotten about my Maus Project... Space, time, and $$$ have been the limiting factors (In that order...).

But with my new fun in 3D printing I decided to put my concepts into theory...



Those are rough scale 3D printed Maus tracks...

The NEW plan is to make a 3D printed Maus first from my modelling files for proof of concept/assembly.

Thread resurrection!

I may as well have a long overdue update. As many of you know my Maus project was put on hold in late 2017... Not a lot was done as I was hunting down sources to make my 1/16th scale tracks out of metal (Preferably not zinc, but aluminum or other durable, long lasting alloy)


Some of the RC stuff that is in process... (Some... Like you see under 1/2 of it)



The Juckenburg Maus sitting on a separate shelf awaiting additional use and a future owner...



The Maus 3D prototype as currently sitting in "storage" Thankfully not much dust



The original 3D modeled tracks showing inward flex.



The 3D printed tracks (held together with straightened paper clips) showing the same flex.



Original modeled tracks showing typical rolling flex



The same set of 3D printed tracks curled up (not tightly mind you).



Up against the Sherman for a track size comparison. Maus tracks are HUGE...



The Maus Turret... (And some upper deck pieces)



Top plate removed... Note that all 3D components are printed to scale armour thickness.



Scale opening under the front mantlet as per Maus specifications. That is 240mm of scale armor!
And the Germans made a bunch of these turrets....
There were supposedly 5 hulls welded together and even more turrets (Sans inner guts)



Turret placed upon the Sherman for a scale comparison...


Inside of the turret, 3 sections for length, under the turret you see the 2 piece lower turret floor (That opening is scale)