My attex 8x8 military trainer

[LarryW]

Oh man you can do it! You have great advise here. Give it a whirl!

Race, thanks for posting the tip on the yellow and little black abs for a similar color. Good idea! That back right corner of mine was cracked and it did get bigger.

[Duck89]

Stick with it marshgunner! With some determination combined with the advise from the knowledgeable people on this site, you can do it no problem! You don't see a lot of those tank trainers around it seems, so you have something unique. Good luck!

[smooth_oakislander]

Looks like a nice project you have there keep us posted how its going.

[marshgunner]

Hey thanks guys for the pep talk on getting to work on it. I really did not want to get rid of it but after seeing it sit for a few months I just lost some intrested in it. But if I do let it go I will keep everyone in mind.

[marshgunner]

I was staring at the rear damage of the trainer today and trying to think out how to repair it and noticed that their is a mold line on the back half of the tub. So I was thinking if I could find a useable lower tub I could cut along the mold line and use from the back two axles rearward and use the good tub section to replace the back half of the trainer. I have not looked at a 6 wheeler tub to see if the mold line is in one of those to.

[hydromike]

There's no mold line on the 6x6 Attexes. You can use a cheapie laser level to project a straight line to mark and cut on if you want to go that route. I'm still mentally tossing around the idea of cutting up some bodies to make a nice yellow 'Trainer some day. Its just that last few inches from a third body that has me stumped.

[marshgunner]

I knew I could not be that lucky to have the mold line on a 6x6. Just a little thinking out loud.

[Stonewall]

There's no mold line on the 6x6 Attexes. You can use a cheapie laser level to project a straight line to mark and cut on if you want to go that route. I'm still mentally tossing around the idea of cutting up some bodies to make a nice yellow 'Trainer some day. Its just that last few inches from a third body that has me stumped.

What about just grafting in some sheet ABS, then covering it up with Racerone3's glass mat/goo technique?

[Duck89]

...cutting up some bodies to make a nice yellow 'Trainer some day...

Now that something I would like to see! That would truly be one of a kind!

[marshgunner]

a few more tank crack photos

DSC00062.jpgDSC00069.jpgDSC00063.jpgDSC00066.jpg

[hydromike]

Oh baby...

You win, Marsh. She's been hammered right into the ground, but it CAN be fixed! It might be that an upper body graft isn't such a bad idea after all. Once you start tacking it back together and get the overall shape back to what it should be, I bet it'll look like less of a daunting project. My hat's off to you for even contemplating another one back. The 'Tanks are 40 years old, this year....

[racerone3]

That is by far the worst I've seen, but like Mike said, if you are up for the challenge, she can (and should) be saved! Good luck, and please keep us updated as you progress.

[marshgunner]

The pictures don't suger coat anything it is that ruff so it will take a while unless I can find a 6x6 body doner.

[brushcutter]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]8208[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]8209[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]8210[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]8211[/ATTACH]

Man that thing is busted down! It looks to be a daunting project for sure, but well worth the effort. I couldn't help but think, as I looked at the pics, how could ya put this together and be sure it would hold? Here are a couple of thoughts that you've probably already considered. What if you pulled everything up as close to the original shape as you could get it, and coated it with a release agent, separate the halves, then cover it all with a couple of layers of fiberglass? Then you could remove this after it hardened, and you would at least have a mold which you could mold a new top and bottom from if other things didn't work out.

My next thought was to use this, which I'm sure you've probably also already thought of.
WEST SYSTEM | Plastic Boat Repair - Kayak Massacre

Gotta go for a bit, but look at this, it's KEVLAR epoxy just about bulletproof Gorilla Hull
I know the guy who invented this, and several boat owners who have it. These guys run their boats over sandbars and logs into the backwaters of TBR to get into areas where the average boat AIN'T going, and they've never busted it yet. Anyhoo... there are a couple things for you to mull over - like ya prolly don't have enough to think about with a project like this one layin in your shop...

[goldhunter_2]

marshgunner I mite have a lead for you on a donor body sending you a pm