Big As MAZ

[RichO]

Crazypoet,

 

  I had not thought of articulated, until I had already mounted everything as fixed.  Someone else had suggested articulated steering also.

 

Rich

[RichO]

    I'm sure you guys have figured out that I am not building this much as posted in just a day.  I'm a bit farther along with this build than what I am showing.  So some suggestions are beyond being able to redo.  I'm posting to get all you guys caught up to where I am actually at with this build. Which is just to installing the tires.  I'll get everyone up to date shortly, and then to the current build.

 

Thanks,  Rich

[RichO]

 Hello All,

 

  The MAZ build goes at a slow pace but steady.  I have worked out the front suspension angles, and the parts are ready for molding.

 

  The front suspension parts...

 

 

 

The parts seem to fit nicely together altho at this point the dry fit is loose. I now have four set of these parts to cast.

 

  My casting supplies are on reorder, so while I wait, I will be making the little bumper things and anchor points along the outside of the frame.

 

  I have a ton of these little things to make, various different shapes...

 

 

 

 

While I have been building the suspension, I have been thinking about the wheels and tires.  I hadn't considered the size of the tires and wheels. Now I have to think about how much resin would be used to cast nine sets. The resin that I'm using is rather heavy when solid, so I'm thinking about casting rubber, or building them out of card...things to consider.

 

  So while I wait for supplies I will keep building more components...

 

  Thanks All for looking

[RichO]

Hey All,

 I built all the small bumpers and anchors and things that are placed along the outside of the frame.  These small pieces have an amazing amount of parts to able to manufacture these. And as per my style, I have a number of these, all in multiples.

 

Frame bumpers...12 pieces each...

 

 

Torsion bar supports...10 pieces each...

 

 

Torsion bar anchors...14 pieces each...

 

 

Shock absorbers...13 pieces each...

 

 

I'm also to the point that I have begun the casting prosess. I have poured the first half of the mold for the axle pass through collar.  I am making this as a two part mold to show the casting seam lines.  I'll post photos next time.

 

  Thanks All for looking,  Rich

[JeroenPeters]

Supercool. And I thought assembling tank tracks was tedious. 

Really cool seeing this from step to step.

[RichO]

 The MAZ project continues.

 

  The mold making and casting of the suspension parts and the small bumpers and things. Each part of the suspension had to have its own mold, so I had to build the master pattern for each part, then , because of the nature of the parts, I had to make a two part mold for each piece I needed to cast.

 

  The rear suspension has four main parts. The two "A" arms, the pass through collar on the frame, and the pass through collar at the wheel hub. All two part molds...

 

 

 

 

Seven new resin collars and the original...

 

a lot of small parts...

 

 

after all the work,  the first pass through collar is dry fitted...looks good...

 

 

This is the first test fitting with all resin components...a little more clean up and things will fit nice and snug...I even got the seam lines in the correct spots...

 

 

Now I will build the rear suspension for the four axles to this point, and then off to the front suspension.  The front system is quite a bit different than the back, so it will need a different approach to the parts. 

 

I'll be back with what ever I figure out with the front....later.

 

Rich

[RichO]

 Hi Everyone,

 

  More with the rear suspension.  I have reached the point where I had to give the rear end a spray of primer. I have some areas that I wont be able to get to later...

 

 

 

  I first had to mount the rear axle pass through collars to the frame...

 

before...

 

 

after...

 

 

Once all of these were mounted solid, then the individual components were primered and mounted...

 

 

  At this point only the top "A" arm is secured to the frame, all else is just dry fit, but ready to secure...

 

 

 

  I still have one component to cast to finish this off...

 

 

In the photo above you can see the small end caps with the ring of bolts, these are maintenance covers. There are eight of these for each axle, and eight axles.  I didn't want to build that many small things, so I built the master, and I'm now letting the mold set...

 

 

I will now tighten up all the components of the rear and get read for the front suspension. I'll be back with a photo or two of the basic rear finished and the start of the front end.

 

  Thanks All for looking...

[RichO]

Thanks everyone for looking...

 

  Hey Guys,

 

  The Maz build continues...I left off the WIP needing to cast the little end caps for the suspension.  This procedure went smoothly enough...alto I was at my max limit on trying to see the small parts.  When you look at the photo in the last post, you can notice how small the access bolts are.  Not to bad in real life,...but to small for me to work with.  You'll notice that my end caps are somewhat over sized.  The smallest bolt I have to screw this thing down with is a 0.8 nut,  I could have used a 0.4 nut, but my inventory has the 0.8 as the smallest thing I work with.

 

  Casting this little piece was a bit of getting used to.  I have done plenty of casting in the past...this was a different animal tho.  When I finished the master,  I had a small part measuring just 1mm thick by almost 4mm wide.  Everything was fine until I mixed the resin...and then all heck broke lose. 

 

  The first time I mixed the resin I had enough resin for 20 of these,...oops.  The next time, trying to get the resin into a mold this small, I might as well have been using pancake batter.   The resin just covered the whole mold.  I finally figured that one drop of resin and one drop of hardener was still enough for about three of these. 

 

 

  Once I got it all sorted, I cast the rest of caps and started with the install...

 

 

After the end caps were secured, I next had to install the 12 wheel hub bolts...

 

 

The state of the rear end build to date...

 

 

 

  I have various parts of the front suspension all over my work station that need to be finished and installed.  Stay tuned.

 

  Be back later All, thanks

[RichO]

  The front suspension is going together nicely, but at my regular pace these days. I did run into a bit of a problem with trying to find some material to construct the front wheel hub mounts.

 

When you look at the photo above, you can see the front axle pass through. It has the big slots cut into it.  This is sort of a pumpkin shape with multiple compound curves. After a day or two of searching for something to construct this out of, I got the smart idea of just turning a small piece of wood to the correct shape.  This was small enough to turn on my Dremel tool...

 

 

 

Once I got some details added to the piece of turned wood, I made a mold and cast the piece...

 

 

What I got was a featureless plug of resin that I used to detail into a new master...

 

 

  While all the figuring with the hub was happening, I also had to construct the front top and bottom  "A" arms.  I decided to build these rather than cast them in resin. The thinking at the time was that these arms are all straight angles to cut and build and to save a bit in casting materials. The straight cut went fast enough... just a lot of small parts...

 

 

 

 

 

Then I had to start putting things together for sizing for the final sculpt of the front hub...

 

 

When I got thing sorted, I had to carve up my resin plug and then add some details that makes this version my new master...

 

 

 

  I still have to copy this new master four times and then clean and finish all the parts for the front install.  Unfortunately I can't install the parts separately, as all the parts inter lock and need to be installed at the same time together.

 

I'll be back when I make some more progress...Thanks All

[RichO]

 

 

  The work on the MAZ continues...I have been working on the front suspension, still.  A lot of parts for this...

 

  Here is the start of the assembly process...

 

 

The complex front is coming together...

 

 

 

 

 

 

[RichO]

Hi Everybody,

 

  I have gotten to a nice finish point with the front suspension.  I could do a bit more but I don't really need to right now. I had a bugger of a time getting everything to stay strait.  After what seemed like months I can now move on to other things for a while. The front and back are at a good stopping point.

 

  I left off with just starting to try putting things together. Once I got all the little parts manufactured, it was time to assemble ...

 

 

 I felt like a sort of contortionist trying to get this together, but it seemed to fit reasonably well...

 

 

Russian engineering...

 

 

Two times...

 

 

You know the drill...

 

 

  Time for some primer...

 

 

 

 

 

  I next have to add some color to the inside of the frame where I can't get to later.  I'll be back with some inside coloring...

 

  Thanks for looking.

[RichO]

Hey Everyone,

 

  I managed to get some color on to the Maz frame. My internet connection died for four days, on the same morning that my printer ran out of ink. I have not been able to do any pattern work for a while. I drove for miles to the nearest office supply place just to find out that my printer is some what outdated and they don't have ink in the store. "Go on line to order it". So I had to wait for four days for inter service to return and the ink wont be hear for week. AND, I'm not even sure if it's the correct ink cart.  We'll see.

 

  I thought I would show a detailed account of my particular rust method, with a bunch of photos.  At this stage of the build, I am not so concerned about the amount of rust that I am attempting to portray. Please keep in mind that just about all the rust that you will see here is going to be covered up by other components.  So I have over done this step some what, because I want a certain amount of the rust to show from under the other components that are installed over the frame.

 

  Also keep in mind that this build is not a military version of the Maz, but as if, neglected by years of private civilian use.

 

I have primered the frame with a dark gray color...

 

 

The next step was to paint the frame with the base rust color.  Because I used a dark primer, I used a light colored rust, which turned a nice shade of medium dark rust...

 

 

Letting all that dry, I next started with the building up of the colors.  I try to select a nice cool contrasting color for my first layer when doing rust.  My years of art have shown me that a cool contrast adds depth to the finished rust.  For this build I chose a light lavender color...

 

 

 

The next thing I do is add the deepest color.  For this, I chose a deep burgundy maroon color.  I use a small piece of natural sponge, it has a more irregular edge to it.

 

 

 

The next layer is a gold orange color, applied all over, but splotchy...

 

 

 

 

 

A rusted out hulk...

 

 

Once I got everything to where I liked it, it was time to cover it all up.  I started with thinking where the rust might collect and started with the salting...

 

 

 

 

When the salt was where I liked it , I painted the whole thing black...

 

 

I just let everything dry for about an hour and then scraped the salt off...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Because this is all under everything else in the frame, I didn't go wild with the powder, but just enough to look good...I know this looks a bit over done, but it really wont be seen when the drive train is installed.

 

 

  Bye for now...

[RichO]

Hey Everyone,

 

  I have started with the Drive train.  The first pattern that I chose to build was the two Gear Box's.  For no particular reason, these just look cool.

 

  As I am building this project I have been looking at what each of my three kit references have to offer for that particular part.  I compare the parts and then chose the one to replicate.  Because I am using the Model-Kom kit for the basis of this build, I use the measurements from this kit to make things fit to scale.  I do however use the other kits for what the parts look like. 

 

  Checking out the three versions of the Gear Box.  The Trumpeter version of the Gear Box was easy, They simply chose to ignore it and not include this item in their kit.  Problem solved. I've circled where they should be.

 

 

  The Model-Kom representation is ok, but not as detailed as the E63 kit...

 

 

The E63 kit is more detailed than the Model-Kom kit is, so I used that example of the parts compared to the one photo I could find for this item.  I used the Model-Kom kit for the scaling I had to do, scaled the parts, and made sure that the other kit parts fit into the one I am building.

 

 

Trying to get photos of the deep bowels of Maz frame components is a tuff one to find.

 

The parts of the two Gear Box...

 

 

The four faces of the cases with all the parts stacked on...

 

 

The Gear Box's have a certain thickness to them that is all held closed with a series of perimeter bolts.  You can see in the photo above, I have drilled a series of holes around the edge of the parts and then cut to size, which left a postage stamp sort of affair around the edges.  I next added the dimension that I needed with strips, to create a box to glue the two face together.

 

 

 

When the boxed parts were dry and solid, I cut away the openings where the case bolts go.

 

 

Once I got the openings cut out, I installed 1.5mm rod, and anchored everything into place.

 

 

The last step is to install all the bolts that hold this thing together...

 

 

New primered Gear Box's...

 

 

 

  That is where I am at in the build today,  I managed to finish this step tho, and now I'm off to the Main gearbox.

 

Thanks for looking...Later All

[RichO]

Thanks All,

 

  Just an update for this report.  I have been working on building the Gear Box for the drive line.  I have been spending this past week with all the small sub-assemblies for this part of the build.  At the rate this thing is taking to build I will have another week of building.

 

  I'll show what I have so far for the Gear Box.

 

A bunch of sub-assemblies,  I'll go into more detail when I get everything ready to assemble.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I know it doesn't seem like a bunch of stuff, but it's all small, and a lot of parts.

 

I'll be back with the finishing of the sub-assemblies and the placing of everything. 

 

Thanks for looking...soon

[RichO]

Hey All,

 

  Well, I obviously didn't think this through when I started this build. This is going to take a bit longer than I thought it would.  That having been said, I am still not done building the gear box.  I have been working on this for two weeks and still have a few days of building for just this one element.  I'm so far behind in posting photos of the small builds to make this, so I'll try to get things in the right order.

 

A photo or two...

 

 

 

In the photo above the gear box/transfer case is on the right, the transmission is on the left.

 

  I started with the basic shape...

 

 

Next I started to add all the surface stuff...

 

 

 

 

 

All this sits right up front...

 

 

The E-brake...

 

 

 

Now I have to flip this over to get to the other side...

 

 

 

Once I got the basic details added, it was time to add the cooling fins...

 

 

 

Now I have to try to mount this thing into the frame.  I had to figure out two mounting brackets and then do a test fit...

 

 

 

With a few adjustments, the fit went well.  A lot more detail to add,  the oil pan...

 

 

 

 

 

Things are going well with the build, but a bit slower than I anticipated, just because of all the stuff to build.  

 

I'll be back with the wrap up of this transfer case/gear box...some time soon.

 

Later All.

[JeroenPeters]

Wow... do me a favor and post a photo next to a beercan. The LSM way to give a good size indication.

 

respect.

[Wingco57]

Geezz you really a challenge regarding your scratchbuild work. I love it how you break down these complex shapes into the simple basics. Very inspiring.

Cheers

Cees

[crazypoet]

I look forward to each update as you go - this is great work.  I second the beer-can request, if only to show that you have the occasional bit of "refreshment" while working this beast!

 

 

[RichO]

Thanks Everybody for your nice comments.

 

  I think I have wraped up the Transfer Case, at least as far as I need to for now.  So just some quick photos...

 

 

 

 

 

This is were the side brace mounts are placed...

 

 

Freshly primered Transfer Case...

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have four Differentials to build next.  These are small but with a lot of parts, and some tricky geometry.

 

' Glad you looked...Thanks

[RichO]

Thanks for looking Everyone.

 

  I have been thinking about the wheel /tire situation for a while, so I decided to try to get the tires under control. Problem was, I lost control of the tire situation and got runned over by 'em.

 

I got the real smart idea of building the tires out of car and wood. No problem there. Let me show you what happened...

 

Drafting out the tire base shape...

 

 

 

Enough rings for nine tires, two each...

 

 

The next thing I did was cut a bunch of Balsa spacers for inside the tires...

 

 

 

Next was cutting all the strips of card to build the basic shape, and to add layers for the tire tread curve...

 

 

 

 

Everything was going great up to this point...

 

 

I began to get a sick feeling... There is no frikin' way I going to cut out 2224 individual treads for these tires!

 

  I finished the one I was building and will use it as a master for resin.

 

 

 

 

...more later.

 

Thanks, RichO

[RichO]

Thanks for looking at this guys!  I'll post the beer can soon for you.  I don't do alcohol for refreshments (allergic).  I have what the Britts call "Mother Mahony's royal recipe".  It's all good tho, as long as the modeling continues.

 

Be back soon'

 

Rich

[RichO]

Hey Everyone,

 

  I left off with needing to build the four differentials for the drive line.  These little things have turned out to be a nightmare to figure out the geometry and how to go about rendering this thing.

 

  I have had a miserable time trying to find photos of anything down inside the frame of the beast.  The best reference I have believe it or don't, is the plastic part that Trumpeter has produced for the MAZ kit.

 

  The card reference was somewhat simplified in its design.  I ended up using the card pattern for the parts and just sort of made stuff up as I went as to the final shape.

 

This is the card reference and the Trumpeter kit part...

 

 

The parts for the eight U-joint end mounts...

 

 

This is those part mounted together...

 

 

I next had to come up with some sort of spacer...

 

 

Looks like it might work...

 

 

This is about half of what I need for one differential. I have to finish building this one unit, then one more with this pattern.  I have to flip the patterns for two more the opposite direction.

 

 

 

 

Be Back Later...

[RichO]

Guys, Hey

 

  The construction of the four Differentials is now complete.  These little things where a pain to build.

 

To finish this part of the build I had to complete the Drive Shaft Input Collar.  I first cut parts from a large straw that I found.  It just happened to be the right diameter.

 

 

 

Once I got the collar mounted, I had to build the Connection Flange...

 

 

Once I had that mounted into place, I mounted the side Axle Mounts.

 

 

 

 

The last thing to do for these items is to bolt everything together, and primer.  Four new Differentials...

 

 

 

I'm not sure why these little things were such a pain to build, but I managed to struggle through.  Next up to build are the mounting collars that hold all this to the frame.  These are not to complicated to build, but have to be custom build for each location.  I have already build the two for the Transfer Case.  I now have four more to build to hold each of the Differentials.  These mounting collars also hold up the Gear Boxes that I have already built.

 

I'll be back with the construction of the mounting collars...

Rich

[GusMac]

These and the gearbox look great under a coat of primer. Amazing tutorial to watch this.

[RichO]

  The construction of the mounting supports for the Drive Train is finished, and now it's time to move on a bit.  But first...

 

  The mounting supports are the pieces of hardware that secures the drive train to the frame.  This consists of four supports along the frame to suspend the drive line and keep all the components centered and secure.

 

  The red arrows point to one of the four.  You can see that this support has several parts, but is basic nuts and bolts.

 

 

However the Model-Kom parts are extremely basic in shape... I sketched a quick plan of the parts I will build, more like the top photo...

 

 

 

Cutting the parts and starting to add the details...

 

 

 

At this point,  I found a photo from a Ukraine junk yard that showed, I still have some more details to add to the individual components.

 

  I have to go back and add a fill tube for oil to the two gear boxes along with two drain plugs.  I also have to add fill plugs, drain plugs, lifting/rigging eyes...a bunch of small items that I missed the first time through to the differentials...but all the work is starting to look like a complex motivation system...

 

 

 

 

I will now add the missing details and then it's off to the Drive Shafts.  I have five to build,  all different lengths.

 

  That's it for now,  be back soon.....Thanks All

Rich