Best Of Detailing the Micro-Trains DODX M1 Abrams Tank Sets

[Mark W]

I would have thought that stripped (30 AWG stranded) decoder wire would have have made (still slightly out of scale, but doable) tow cable. Your cable looks much heftier with thicker strands.

If anyone wants to PM me I have 36 AWS gage 11 strand flex wire for turntable arms that I can send a few pieces to.  I can measure the strands if you like.

Measuring what I used, it's 28 7/36.  The decoder wire I tried is 32 14/50.  Realistically, that's almost dead on for scale 1.25" cable, but those 50 gauge strands (0.001in) will surely disappear after paint. 

I think the target wire would be something like 32 7/40, if that exists. 

[peteski]

If anyone wants to PM me I have 36 AWS gage 11 strand flex wire for turntable arms that I can send a few pieces to.  I can measure the strands if you like.


Measuring what I used, it's 28 7/36.  The decoder wire I tried is 32 14/50.  Realistically, that's almost dead on for scale 1.25" cable, but those 50 gauge strands (0.001in) will surely disappear after paint. 

I think the target wire would be something like 32 7/40, if that exists.

Why not use 32 14/50 and instead of paint, chemically blacken it.  No paint buildup!  You have some chemical blackener in your modeling supplies arsenal, no?  If not, time to get some. 

[Rivet Miscounter]

I think the target wire would be something like 32 7/40, if that exists.

Jumping off from Lemosteam's post, I searched for "Tonearm Wire" on eBay and found a few things that may (?) work.   This seems to have close to the spec you were looking for:  https://www.ebay.com/itm/20-feet-32-AWG-Silver-Plated-PTFE-Tonearm-Wire-Red-Gore-/382110992241
I'm doing this exact same project except in Z.  I was thinking about using this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/24-Or-60-96-cm-36-AWG-TONEARM-Wire-Stranded-Copper-Ultra-Flexible-/252404942337
Of course, we don't need nearly that much length of wire, so maybe there's a better way of buying this stuff, dunno.

Thanks for this thread, btw.  I'm not going to get nearly as crazy as y'all are in Z, but I'm picking up bits and pieces that I want to try.  And it's pretty interesting to learn what everything is on these tanks.

[John]

Awesome!  The detail certainly looks to be there.  I hope it's the camera perspective that's making the scale look off.  If you have calipers, I'd be curious what you get for wheel diameter (should be 4.00mm) and overall length of the tracks measured from leading wheel to rear drive sprocket outside tangents (44.90mm). 

I measured 4.06mm, 45.64mm (might not sure if I got it on the right spot) and the drive wheel inside diameter was 3.22

The tow cable looks pretty good .. would paint it blackish to simulate the grease ..  a smaller diameter wire (such as decoder wire) might actually make a pretty believable tie down chain as well .

By the time we get done MTL won't recognize these little vehicles

[Lemosteam]

I measured 4.06mm, 45.64mm (might not sure if I got it on the right spot) and the drive wheel inside diameter was 3.22

The tow cable looks pretty good .. would paint it blackish to simulate the grease ..  a smaller diameter wire (such as decoder wire) might actually make a pretty believable tie down chain as well .

By the time we get done MTL won't recognize these little vehicles

Neolube to the rescue?

[Mark W]

Why not use 32 14/50 and instead of paint, chemically blacken it.  No paint buildup!  You have some chemical blackener in your modeling supplies arsenal, no?  If not, time to get some. 

That sounds like a winner.  Didn't even think of using blackener, probably because I don't have any. 

I think I'd still like to get something in the 40awg range for individual strands though.  One could always separate 14/50, twist a few groups of 2 or 3 strands, then re-twist the groups together, ya know, like actual cable.   

Jumping off from Lemosteam's post, I searched for "Tonearm Wire" on eBay and found a few things that may (?) work.   This seems to have close to the spec you were looking for:  https://www.ebay.com/itm/20-feet-32-AWG-Silver-Plated-PTFE-Tonearm-Wire-Red-Gore-/382110992241
I'm doing this exact same project except in Z.  I was thinking about using this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/24-Or-60-96-cm-36-AWG-TONEARM-Wire-Stranded-Copper-Ultra-Flexible-/252404942337
Of course, we don't need nearly that much length of wire, so maybe there's a better way of buying this stuff, dunno.

Thanks for this thread, btw.  I'm not going to get nearly as crazy as y'all are in Z, but I'm picking up bits and pieces that I want to try.  And it's pretty interesting to learn what everything is on these tanks.

Sounds awesome.  And welcome to TRW!  Any photos of your Z tanks?

I measured 4.06mm, 45.64mm (might not sure if I got it on the right spot) and the drive wheel inside diameter was 3.22

By the time we get done MTL won't recognize these little vehicles

Good, that's a lot closer to size than the photo made them look.  Still might have to try and cut a link or two out of the bottom of the track to get a fit.  Looking forward to seeing yours come together.

[peteski]

The tow cable looks pretty good .. would paint it blackish to simulate the grease ..  a smaller diameter wire (such as decoder wire) might actually make a pretty believable tie down chain as well .

@David K. Smith had good luck simulating chain using some sort of jewelry wire. IIRC, it was made from 2 wires twisted together.

[peteski]

That sounds like a winner.  Didn't even think of using blackener, probably because I don't have any. 

I think I'd still like to get something in the 40awg range for individual strands though.  One could always separate 14/50, twist a few groups of 2 or 3 strands, then re-twist the groups together, ya know, like actual cable.   

Are you looking for a stranded 40 AWG wire, or a solid 40 AWG wire?  If it is the former, then you are getting into Jake's type of crazy territory, like his metal and glass micro-spheres.  But then again, you do dabble in T-gauge, so I guess I'm not surprised. 

[John]

I've been working on the treads that Mark W put on shapeways ..  the parts are very detailed, and came out nicely from the bestine bath.

I cut the old wheels off at the suggested cut lines, but managed to also cut off the little posts that Mark recommended we leave on .. so I had to adjust the side skirt by hand.

My first attempt was a disaster. I managed to break the tread in a couple of places, and couldn't get the wheels to line up properly in on the tread .. lesson learned - be very careful -- things break fast.  Fortunately, Mark added extra parts to the sprue.  I also found that the parts are slightly wide, especially the drive sproket. I had to trim a bit of material from the tank body and the sideskirt.

for my second attempt it went better. I used an existing side frame, and a little scotch tape to secure the tread in place and minimize movement.  Carefully place the wheels on the tread, using the Tank side as a guide. I would use a jewlers file and open up the V in the wheel more to allow it to sit on the tread better .. I used canopy glue. After the glue dried, I started to hand fit the assembly onto the tank .. a couple of problems there -- the assembly is flexible, so I'm having a hard time lining it up .. also, you need to trim tread off the ends to make it actually fit .. take a look below for my progress so far.












I need to figure out a way to keep the treads from moving up and down when they are installed. If you look at M1 prototypes, the top of the wheels are just barely covered by the side skirt .. there needs to be some bracing installed to keep this from flexing, and also a place to glue the wheels to the body, otherwise, this will break.   Some re-design of the kit is probably needed -- maybe a single assembly with the wheels already in place lined up, and some additional strength points.   

Overall, this is a great improvement, but not for the faint at heart. If your manual dexterity is limited as mine is starting to -- or if you have the shakes, it may not be the right project for you.   More to follow as we progress. 

[John]

I found that fitting the individual wheels would go much better and more accurate with this setup


Some progress shots

[peteski]

John, looking at what you had to go through, wouldn't it have been much better  and a lot easier to have the entire piece (skirt, track, wheels) 3-d printed as a single piece? Even if it cost a bit more? It sure seems like a lot of futzing around (with modifying the original MTL part, then futzing around with separate wheels and track).  While Mark is a model micro-surgeon, and you are pretty good modeler, I imagine that an average "Joe-modeler" would find this "operation" very difficult.  Maybe Mark could offer a direct-replacement-of-MTL-part variant of this upgrade "kit"?

[John]

John, looking at what you had to go through, wouldn't it have been much better  and a lot easier to have the entire piece (skirt, track, wheels) 3-d printed as a single piece? Even if it cost a bit more? It sure seems like a lot of futzing around (with modifying the original MTL part, then futzing around with separate wheels and track).  While Mark is a model micro-surgeon, and you are pretty good modeler, I imagine that an average "Joe-modeler" would find this "operation" very difficult.  Maybe Mark could offer a direct-replacement-of-MTL-part variant of this upgrade "kit"?

I'll leave it to Mark to decide whats possible .. for me, this has been a fun project, but I probably won't convert more than what I have parts for from the kit .. but I will do other mods to any MTL M1s I get with the next batch of flatcars coming out ..

As far as the average Joe .. It's not beyond the capabilities of the artistes we have here on RW .. but yea, the out of the box runner probably won't do this. My biggest gripe with the MT tank is the bustle railings break too easy ..

[peteski]

I'll leave it to Mark to decide whats possible .. for me, this has been a fun project, but I probably won't convert more than what I have parts for from the kit .. but I will do other mods to any MTL M1s I get with the next batch of flatcars coming out ..

As far as the average Joe .. It's not beyond the capabilities of the artistes we have here on RW .. but yea, the out of the box runner probably won't do this. My biggest gripe with the MT tank is the bustle railings break too easy ..

Since you brought it up, I meant the Railwire "average Joe".  Yes, you and "Joe" are capable of doing this upgrade, but would you want to model a train with a dozen tanks and repeat this task dozen times?

As far as as the bustle basket goes, a photo-etched brass replacement would probably be much sturdier (and closer to scale appearance)?  We have members here who produce photo-etched items.  I wonder if The Keystone guy ( @Lemosteam ) would be interested in doing this?

[John]

This experiment is just about over for me ..

One tank with the new shapeways parts, the other with just daylighting some areas and shading the wheel area with a sharpie .. of course both have added parts

[Mark W]

John has shared a bit more feedback with me offline and I'm well on my way toward an improved detail kit.   While I still think re-using the MTL skirts is the best option, I admit the major flaw in the first version of the 3D detail kit is printing the wheels and treads individually.  Since the top of the wheels are hidden under the skirt, I can run a support beam across there to have all the wheels printed exactly in place and in a stronger and much easier to build part that mates right up with the modified skirt.
I also realized that on the skirt, you can cut those posts off without worry as the back of the skirt butts up to the exhaust grill part for alignment, making the part modification much easier as well. 

I'm definitely liking the spare hub and tracks hung on the turret!  And I maintain that daylighting is a big improvement, but yes, still need to work on making the task shorter and sweeter.