ELEFANT FERDINAND TANK GUN MOUNT 1/16

thingiverse

I designed a recoil system for my 1/16 scale Elefant model, and it's working pretty well so far. However, I noticed that the lateral movement could be improved upon; there is some slight rotation due to the position of the lateral servo barrel mount. To improve this, I think it would be better to use an OEM-style mount instead of a cast resin ball. The elevation is achieved by applying force against the castle roof, and to prevent the barrel from moving excessively, either add weight to it or install a spring-type force inside the castle. This recoil system was designed with Tamiya-style barrels in mind; however, you will need to add a rear barrel extension and some brass tubes for everything to fit and slide smoothly. The Tamiya barrel already has a brass tube and rear extension epoxied to it, which then slides inside another brass tube. This entire unit is then epoxied to the recoil housing. This recoil setup could be adapted for use in other tanks as well. I mounted the servos low down so that there's enough clearance on the roof. For more details, check out my YouTube video and other related videos on my channel. The recoil mount was specifically designed for Spektrum S500 size servos. You'll need to sand, file, or angle the edges of the servo mounts in order to 'pop' the servo into place sideways after feeding the wire through the mount. The servos are mounted so that they maintain even weight around the midline of the barrel and hang down slightly to prevent rotation. If you use an OEM-style mount, then you won't have to worry about barrel rotation, and the recoil part of the setup can be installed sideways. Note that the barrel is not tightly bound to the 'gun recoil guide.' Instead, a single 3mm screw (the black one) passes through the gun recoil guide and into the barrel side through a 3.5mm hole. To get a good fit between the gun recoil guide and mount, you'll need to gently sand down three sides of each surface for a minimum amount of wiggle room to achieve smooth barrel action.