Might as well kick this one off, it may be long running, since it is summer and I may take a while to finish this one.

The finished product may see the last couple meets of 2012 but I make no promises.

Picked up the paint today at Ace Hobby in Niagara Falls NY

Picked up the SLU from Tim last night.

I have moved it to the bench and will start stripping it down and will begin praticing my fine line airbrushing.

Ran into a snag tonight.

Seems like they used a 3/8"drive impact gun to put every screw into the hull and turret.

I knew this from working on it in 2010.

However, it is worse than I thought, to the point where I need to come up with a way to rebuild about 90% of the posts the screws engage in the hull and turret

I have a plan involving aluminium arrow shaft tubing, plastic rod and epoxy, but I will need to source the plastic rod; it needs to be tough enough to be bored out and take a hull or turret screw.

Uhg, I hate the HL screws.. I went so far as to get allen keyed screws for my hulls once. 2.5mm allen driver came in real handy then!

Glen, what about magnets for the hull?

Stince wrote:

Glen, what about magnets for the hull?

I could use them, but I would still need to deal with the posts in the turret.

I will be making at trip (only 300 yards) to the Sprtsmans Club to pilfer the scrap arrow bucket this morning.

Update

I have the aluminium arrow shaft tubing in the right sizes, now.

I bought JB Weld this morning and have a test batch setting in a sample of tubing,

It will be set by tomorrow morning, then I will drill it and see if it will take the threads; it is advetized as being machinable and able to be tapped for threads when it cures, we will see.

If it works, my plan is something like when a dentist caps a tooth.

Make up a piece of tube that fits over the broken post and glue in place.

Take a smaller tube cut to the right length and "telescope" it into the larger tube with adhesive.

Fill the small tube with JB Weld, when it is set, drill it with the right sized drill bit and install the screw which will cut threads in the hole in the JB Weld.

I will put some pictures in the gallery if this works.

That sounds like it will hold up nicely, the layering will be super strong!

Strato50 wrote:

That sounds like it will hold up nicely, the layering will be super strong!

I hope so, it is very dependant on the JB Weld.

If it sets up so it can take threads, like they say it can, then it will be successful.

If not, there must be some other product out there that will work.

This tank has more broken stuff (came that way) than all my other tanks combined.

I think a more sensible person would have written it off for parts.

I have the six posts in the turret and the one broken one in the mantlet all fitted with tubing and awaiting JB Weld, assuming tomorrow's test is good.

The mantlet has been fitted with the tube for the emitter.

Still have to fix the broken lugs on the gun elevation and a few other things.

The goal is to finish the turret repairs, then start on the hull repairs.

This is almost like a scratch build

The test run of JB Weld was a total success.

I had some set up in a piece of aluminium tube.

The morning I drilled a pilot hole in it and threaded a turret screw into it, no prblem.

The screw cut threads into the JB Weld just like a tap cuts into steel.

The threads it cut into the JB weld are clean cut, reusable; I expect that they are stronger and more durable than the original plastic posts; but, very time consuming to install.

Photos photos..

real_hulu wrote:

Photos photos..

I have been keeping a photo record of the whole process because I think it may be of interest to other r/c tank enthusiasts with HL's.

The posts sometimes split or lose their threads.

I will have the completed series of photos on the turret tomorrow or Tuesday, then I have to get them posted, somthing I have trouble with on this forum.

What makes the repair possible is the availability of high quality, precision aluminium tubing in the form or archery arrow shafts from Easton;

http://www.eastonarchery.com/selection-charts

There is a wide variety of diameters and wall thickness's.

Here's some broken posts in the turret.

Ouch!

Did it come that way or did it get jumped by a Pan-Tiger!

There's more where that came from Too !!!

Easton Aluminium Arrow Shaft of the correct Diameter.





Select a smaller shaft that is a good fit.




Cut both to fit the right height, accuracy is critical, I measure the old parts with a Vernier Calliper, the smaller inner tubing that sticks up higher goes into the countersunk recesses in the posts on the turret floor., slot the larger tube to go over the gusset between the post and the turret wall. Glue in place with Superglue Gel.




Shows the way the smaller tube fits into the post on the turret floor.




Jump ahead, all the new posts are in place.




Here is a test, this piece of tubing was filled with JB Weld, it was left to set 24 hours, then the JB Weld was drilled with a pilot hole, smaller than the screw.




Screw installed in the test piece.




Hole left in the JB Weld, threads are well formed, tough and re-usable.


I have poured all the posts in the turret full of JB Weld, after masking the tops of the posts with "blue tack", I did this today, tomorrow I will drill the pilot holes and install the screws.

I used this method to fix a post in the mantlet and have started working on the posts in the hull.

The posts in the turret floor were cracked, too; they were fixed with 3/8" tubing ferrels which were a perfect fit, these were set w/JB Weld.

nice job Glen i know my Pershing has this problem

i may have to do the same thing

thanks for posting very helpful

Here's some more;




Mantlet post repair. Blue tack masing keeps the JB Weld away from the smaller diameter post. masking will be removed later.



Turret floor post repair, 3/8" tubing ferrel, JB Weld, blue tack masking.





Turret posts, masked, and .JB Weld installed, waiting for the JB Weld to set.

There's so much broken stuff inside this tank that a sensible person would have broken it up for parts.

However, I have turned the corner on it, all that needs to be done with the turret is to drill and thread the posts.

I have started to work on the hull posts, five more posts left there to fit with tubing, then they get the JB Weld.

This thing is almost as involved as the Littlefield Panther restoration

JB weld also make a JB Kwik weld, sets in about 7 to 10 min.

Good stuff.

I was the faster setting product but went with the regular for the longer working time since it takes a while to get 6+ posts filled, the quick set stuff might start to set up while I'm on the 5th or 6th post

The turret repair is a 100% success, the posts were drilled and tapped and everything came our quite well, pictures to follow later.

Completed posts in the turret





New post, tapped, with screw in place to show engagement.




Completion of turret floor post repair



Mantlet post repair






Last two; starting on the hull;

Once this stuff is done, I can start practising my fine line airbrushing to produce this pattern;







If that is beyond my painting skills then I have a contingency plan

The first pattern looks tricky, but it should make it hard to see you on the battlefield.

Flash Unit and 3:1's ordered from MATO today.

And heavy suspension springs from Welsh Dragon.

Happiness is ordering tank parts