H1 Hummer
This model was inspired by a visit to the Detroit Auto Show in 1996, where AM General were exhibiting several HMMWV’s (High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, later to become known as HUMMER) on their stand, one of which in the raised position, enabled us to walk under it, reminding me of an ambition to model a full independently sprung four wheel drive chassis.
It was only Lesley’s forethought to have my Meccano shipped to the USA that made this project possible!
The chassis was modelled to 1/6th scale from diagrams in the vehicle service manual.
Model features are:
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Powered by E20R electric motor.
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Four wheel independently sprung suspension with upper and lower control arms and heavy duty coils springs.
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Inboard front and rear differentials,
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Five speed and reverse manual gearbox.
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Inter-axle differential.
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Drop centre reduction geared hubs.
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Rack and pinion steering.
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Ackerman steering geometry with toe-in, castor and camber.
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Opening doors and hood.
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Lifting, towing and crash-bar mounting points.
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6½" Goodyear wrangler tyres.
The original Hummer is fitted with Torsen type geared torque biasing limited slip differentials, which led to a sub-project in designing Meccano versions but these were too large to fit the Hummer.
Another sub-project was to emulate the prototype automatic transmission by designing and making a Ravigneaux type gearbox, which was fitted into the Hummer model.
At this time the drive was changed to a 12V DC motor under Radio Control.