WHEELS

I decided to make the wheels look semi accurate in terms of scale, and as I wasn't keen on machining 24 wheels to look good, I decided to cast them in a urethane resin. This means, I only need to make 1 "master" which looks right, then simply make a mould using silicone rubber which captures every detail perfectly. I'll go further into mould making in a later post.

Here is an overall shot of the running gear (minus idlers). All wheels, return rollers, idlers and drive sprockets are cast from "smooth cast 305" its a very rigid urethane resin, casts very nicely, easily tintable. The road wheels, idlers and return rollers all ride on sintered bronze bushings. The drive sprocket is bolted to a flange which is welded to the drive shaft, the bolt heads will be covered in a scale looking "hub".


These are the masters for the road and return wheels. They are just made of styrene, mostly to get the look close, once these are made its easy to cast stronger parts using resins.



Same deal as above, styrene, little bit more complex as the teeth need to be perfect to mesh with the tracks.



The adjustment plate mods I was talking of earlier. Just makes them less likely to flex



Here are the motors installed, tight squeeze, but I guess that's the pay off when its all planned, everything fits! everything is kyed so its all solid as and never gonna slip. Thats very important in a vehicle that constantly changes direction (turning) as the shafts are under huge stress!



Smoth cast, www.smoothon.com
chains, kyed shafts www.surpluscenter.com

Next tracks! as promised.

=Mr.TigerAce=