1/16 R/C M3 Lee/Grant (Build)

After finishing my M7 Priest I've decided to have a go at the M3 Lee/Grant to go on the Heng Long M4 Sherman lower hull.

I started with a Tamiya 1/35 Lee and a copy of George Bradford's WWII AFV Plans (British AFv's) which has plans for the Grant.

So to start I made thin card mockup of the 1/35 model to check sizes and angles.

Then draw it out in Openscad -

The hull is printed in three parts-

I had already done the back section as part of my Priest and the three piece transmission covers just need a small modification.

Then for the sponson-

I'm thinking of having a airsoft gun in the 75mm gun and IR in the top turret. That's if I can figure out how to get it all to fit.


Now for the hull top. This will be printed in four parts-

And the turret

hot off the printer

So far-

Got some more done-

HL bogie

a bit of chopping

add some bits

voila

It's just tacked together with superglue so I can check it out (and change bits). The wheel on the left is waiting for a rubber tyre and the one on the right has a printed tyre.


Early bogie (MkII) with rubber tyres.
Had a bit of trouble with the fake springs getting in the way of the wheels when they move up so after a bit of a redesign (and a paper clip) the springs now move out of the way (though not up and down). It's not perfect but without a major modification of the HL bogie springs it'll have to do.

The wheels are a bit wider then the HL as the HL wheels are too narrow for the tracks.


Now my Firefly is out of the way I can get on with this-
Bogies almost finished and hatches added-

Decided to redo part of the hull roof with supports and added the hinged engine deck.-

Got round to doing some more-

I've been dragging my feet as I'm not looking forward to doing the rivets :(

and I keep getting distracted-

Tracks and fenders-

Rivets and guns added (still got the back of the fighting compartment to do)-

Ready for priming-

Ready for weathering-

Photos of the finished tank are here

 Now for the Grant

Bigger printer means I can print the hull in one piece-