M-10 Wolverine

[SoCalBobS]

Hello dear readers, I'm back!

Last week I finished Vandramodel's Ram II conversion of an HL Sherman. As luck would have it, I just received his M-10 wolverine conversion kit. It's out of production, but I found one. It cost a bunch, but the heart wants....

I've installed the turret rotation mechanism (stock HL), assembled the gun and drilled out the barrel, to ready it for an IR emitter.



Inspired by Rubicon's T23 color scheme, I'll be doing a similar one:



So if anyone knows, what are the racks on the sides for? I'll have to make them out of plastruct.

[Sappo]

Check out inside the chieftains hatch on YouTube, I'm pretty sure nick moran said they were for a special grouser you could replace some of the track pads with to increase traction.

[RichJohnson]

I believe the racks in the sides were for storing the track grousers. I have a couple restored vehicle photos I can dig for and see if there is enough detail for you.

[SoCalBobS]

They are indeed grouser racks. So I searched for M-10 grousers, and Rich, you'll appreciate this, Shapeways has them! Ordered.

[SoCalBobS]

Project update: mechanicals and electrics (lights, turret animations, IR emitter) all in. Waiting for the grousers and a different Sherman undercarriage. Right now it's sitting on another chassis with duckbill tracks, which would be unsuitable for the M-10 side skirts. Apparently crews removed the bottom portions to accommodate duckbills if they could find them. Looking at old films of the M-10, I noticed they were commonly driven with the turret facing to the rear. Why? The front hatches can't be opened otherwise, the mantlet blocks them. I modified the Heng Long turret ring gear to go 360 around for this reason.



I really enjoy this type of project, but anyone trying it should be aware that resin parts present challenges. Large parts can warp, and small parts are fragile. Getting the bottom skirt sections on was quite frustrating, and only three out of five "hinges" (on hatches, inside seats) stayed together.

[SoCalBobS]

Project update 2: painted a darkish base coat, so that the eventual camo scheme goes on consistently. Turret reversed and barrel locked is the traveling configuration!



So this is the base camo color; "field drab", hadn't know about it until I learned about it from Rubicon.



The climate change apocalypse is upon us! The shipment of my Sherman chassis for this is delayed by bad weather in Chicago! Oh the humanity!

[RichJohnson]

LOL

[SoCalBobS]

Another update; a tale of "so's":

Waiting on grouser racks from Shapeways. I have to attach them so I can finish spraying the base color, so I can paint the camo, so I can spray with closs clear, so I can apply the decals, so I can spray clear flat, so I can attach tools and stores, so I can apply weathering. Also waiting on magnets so I can mount a LegoDEI IR receiver in the turret, so I can apply weathering inside. The crew has a base coat paint, have to be detailed. The stores and crew are just dry-placed for the shots.

Of course, my un a/c'ed workshop has been in the 100's F, so none of this is being done! Oh the trials and tribulations of an armorer, r/c that is. By the way, I highly recommend K&J Magnetics online for rare earth magnets. They carry a multitude of shapes at really great prices.

[SoCalBobS]

A couple of so's done. Shapeways grousers arrived, coloring done. Next will be decaling and surface finishing.

[DavidN]

So nice Bob! You motivate me to take out my Mato/HL M10 out to work on it and join you on the battle field. I still need to do the turret rotation, gun elevation, barrel recoil, and IR set up.

[SoCalBobS]

Mine is done, as much as any kit bash can be. Needs some additional detailing on the external stores and a light overall "dusting", and of course the sprocket and idler hubs. They don't go on until I'm confident I won't have to keep removing the tracks. As I posted in the Gallery, I colored this after an example in 1943 Italy. The IR receiver will sit on a magnet on the gun in the turret. The emitter is in the barrel. There is a little step I'm going to add to other similar tanks: the 50 cal. mount is always fragile, especially when turning the tank over to replace the battery. I took two small round magnets and glued them to the mount and the turret, so I can take the gun off at will. One other thing to share: Vandramodel's and others' conversions typically use a servo that directly moves the gun elevation. The 9 gram servos aren't really strong or precise enough for this task. I substituted an 11 gram digital servo which is much better for this application.

[SoCalBobS]

Three more..







The worst part of this build can be seen in the seam between the top and bottom sections of the side armor. The edges were very rough and thin, the resins were warped and the mold angles were incorrect. I had some filler putty that turned out to be completely unsatisfactory, which I didn't discover until it was too late. Ah well, I'll put some rust along it to portray corrosion. Looks ok at operating distance though.

[Rubicon99]

Three more..







The worst part of this build can be seen in the seam between the top and bottom sections of the side armor. The edges were very rough and thin, the resins were warped and the mold angles were incorrect. I had some filler putty that turned out to be completely unsatisfactory, which I didn't discover until it was too late. Ah well, I'll put some rust along it to portray corrosion. Looks ok at operating distance though.

Looks read to make short work of a few Tigers and Panthers. 👍👍

[Cecil]

Congrats Bobs! I think it's not a easy work but you have enough patience because you wanna go as per your heart wants.
It would be better if edge thickness was increased.

[tank_me]

Three more..

The worst part of this build can be seen in the seam between the top and bottom sections of the side armor. The edges were very rough and thin, the resins were warped and the mold angles were incorrect. I had some filler putty that turned out to be completely unsatisfactory, which I didn't discover until it was too late. Ah well, I'll put some rust along it to portray corrosion. Looks ok at operating distance though.

Being so thin there you could take some Miliput or Green Stuff and run a bead of it on the inside of the upper hull to strengthen the edges. If they are thin I would be concerned about them breaking if they hit a building or a rock.

[DavidN]

Well Bob, you did it again! You have motivated me to take my M10 out and work on it. I put the HL 6.1S board inside. The tank is Mato top and HL lower. I installed the servo for the barrel recoil. The tunnel for the barrel was tight. The servo stalled and burned. I had to file the tunnel a little bit bigger so the barrel could recoil smoothly. I learn my lesson with a servo wasted. Now I have no servo left to work on the gun elevation. I installed the turret rotation and IR system. Everything runs well.

[DavidN]

[DavidN]

[SoCalBobS]

The M10 is a tank that looks great in standard OD Green. 👍

[SoCalBobS]

Hah! Better to be lucky than good. I was disappointed in my build in one area, the seam between the slanted side armor upper and lower. Turns out, that's the way it's supposed to be!


Mine:



A real one: