Have you ever thought you were going crazy?

[tank_me]

Because I have...lol

So I was in the middle of doing body work on the 1/10 Jagdtiger and I looked over to see the Bambu printer just sitting there idle. Then I remembered I had close to 30kg of PETG sitting in the closet I got on sale for $9/kg. I started looking for a set of tank STLs that I could scale up to 1/6th scale. I really wanted to do an Abrams, but I couldn't find any really excellent files setup for RC. I figured if I was going big and going to use that much filament, I needed to find the best files I could to make the best 1/6th scale tank I could. With my love of Russian armor, I settled for a classic KV-1. Even better, the files are free, highly detailed, and optimized for printing. All the bolt heads are printed separately so post processing the panels should be a breeze as they can be primed and flat sanded.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5069466

So now the printer is busy churning out 1/6th scale KV-1 parts. The engine deck shown had to be cut into 6 pieces to print on my printer, but oh boy this is going to be a project. Remember, the Jagdtiger in the background is 1/10th scale:



The biggest issues with scaling up a highly detailed tank like this is that the original designer used a lot of bearings. Bearing holes don't scale from 1/10th to 1/6th very well as in the bearings become non-standard sizes in the large scale. Rather than modifying the design, I will find bearings to fit the new openings or find/build sleeve bearings to fit the design. My girlfriend's Dad was a welder so I'm going to have him weld my tool post to the top slide of my metal lathe and then I can actually turn the adapters I need.

I feel nuts...lol

[tank_me]

The madness continues as the 1/6th KV-1 project just keeps getting bigger...



Derek

[Quakinking1]

The madness continues as the 1/6th KV-1 project just keeps getting bigger...



Derek

I hope you keep us updated once you finish it!

[tank_me]

Further work on the turret. The entire turret ring has been printed and assembled, some of the turret details installed, a base coat has been applied to some of it, the recoil/elevation has been installed, and the barrel/mantlet printed/installed. I know the color is wrong, but it's what I had on hand in a spray can. I will adjust it with my airbrush when the build is ready for final paint.

The commander's hatch is opens and rotates. The periscopes both rotate. Still need to print and install the rain shield over the gun.

[tank_me]

Still moving forward...got some of the lower hull stuff test fitted, got the handles bent up for the three fender mounted storage bins, printed some test track pieces and used them to align the sprockets. Those things are bigger than my fist and the tracks are ~4.5" (115mm) wide. Only another 165 track links to print.... :) Still need to do the body work on the lower hull before permanently mounting all the details and priming. Need to get on the lathe and turn some custom bushings first as I can't find any suitable bearings that fit or that I can make adapters for. Just need to get my repaired tool post mounted on the lathe and order a few more sizes of Delrin rod.

[sclui56]

This is coming along nicely, very impressive. Thanks for keeping us posted. Can't wait for her to come alive.

[SoCalBobS]

What a great project. Will you be incorporating exhaust smoke? Some of us engineered it on 1/16 scale KV's. It looks pretty cool to have smoke pouring out of the rear deck!

[tank_me]

Thanks. I may do smoke on this tank since it's not an IR battle tank of course. I have a Tarr smoker I pulled out of a 1/16 scale tank. The exhaust is setup for smoke generation right in the design of the STLs.

[tank_me]

Got a bit more printing done and a bit more assembly. I still have over a week of printing tracks before I will have a full set, but they are looking good. Need to source some pins though. Right now they are just friction fit.



Finished up assembly of the sprocket mud scrapers, assembled the bore cleaning kit, got the saw assembled (minus the metal latches), assembled the horn, and got the turnbuckle hardware sorted.



Got the track fenders printed and mocked up. I also mounted the tool boxes (minus the covers). The fenders and boxes are not permanently installed at this point. I just wanted to do a test fit. I got the driver's hatch detailed and functional. I also got the engine hatches detailed and functional. The driver's hatch and the engine hatches weren't designed to work so I took parts from the KV-2 turret, cut them in the slicer, and added them to the engine hatches. I then printed the KV-2 hatch assembly and installed it on the KV-1. The KV-1 turret hatch couldn't be used for the driver's hatch or the engine hatches as it has the machine gun mount arms on it.



The driver's hatch close up:



The engine hatch close up:



I have all the suspension arms, road wheels, sprockets, and idlers printed. I can't install them yet as I need to get on the lathe to make the Delrin sleeve bearings. The saga continues...

[quitcherbitchen]

Thanks for posting. Very interesting.

[tank_me]

Lots of work since the last update to this. Still need to install the motors and electronics and lots of body work to do. All the printing with the exception of some clear parts is complete. I might be time to move it to the garage to finish the rest of the work...

[Handy Lance]

Cool build. That’s so much work!
Very motivating to watch people do these crazy builds.

[tank_me]

It really is a crazy build. I'm about to attach about 100 little fake hex head bolts to all the angles holding the fenders on. The hex bolts on the angles going vertically are actual M1.6 hex head bolts with nuts holding the skirts on (at least on the bottom two holes). The top hole will have the bolt glued in as there isn't room on the back for a nut on those. Do you know how hard it was to find M1.6 hex head bolts in stainless steel for a decent price? I should've bought more of them as I just used half my stash on these skirts alone. I'm debating whether to glue the fenders on as I'm almost positive they will get damaged at some point. The tool boxes are bolted to the hull and to the fenders so they give some additional connection points. They are amazingly ridged despite being made of plastic.

[MaverickTank]

This is an awesome project. Just curious, how much printed waste have you made? I know from my own printing experience not all the parts come out spectacular.

[tank_me]

I have not clue at this point. I'm using one of the Sunlu PETG cases that holds (10) 1kg spools to hold the supports and bad prints. It's just about full after 5100 hours of printing. That printer has probably eaten 100kg of filament at this point. I'm thinking about grinding up the junk and using it in molds for dragon's teeth so that it doesn't go to waste. That waste is from the 1/10 Jagdtiger, the 1/6th KV-1, 1/6th Sherman RC conversion parts, and a bunch of 1/16th tanks (M270, IS-4, Jagdpanzer E-100, E-100, Maus, Centauro B1, T28, Tortoise, Merkava MK3, Conqueror, Hellcat, Comet, IS-3, M60, M113, BMP-1, SU-76i conversion, T49 conversion, and T26). I mean I've also used the printer for a myriad of other projects like the spice rack I adapted to hold a bunch of my paints and tons of peg board parts to hold tools. Even built a vertical wall hanger for my Colt rifle that was designed in the slicer without needing CAD. Last night I designed and printed the motor mount bases for the motors and mocked up the center bearing holder in preparation to mount the motors.