Churchill Mk3 number 67

[Gary Richardson]

Good morning

I have added all the countersunk screws to the mid deck but despite going through all my photos and books cannot find a decent photo showing the deck fixtures and fittings. I have a couple of reasonable photos of the Mk3 AVRE showing screws used on some of the mid deck. The rear line of fixings for the connecting strip to the rear deck are hex bolts and I have seen many photos showing this area as it is easy to access for photos. I think the problem is the exhaust system naturally gets in the way of mid deck views and hence photos. The back of the rear deck appears to have screw fixings so there was a hodgepodge of fixings used.
I will continue making the hatch stays but they will not be true scale fixings but close enough to add interest and be functional. If anyone has a photo showing the centre fixtures and stays of the mid deck I would be extremely grateful if I could have a copy.

Regards
Gary
Amendment 22/06/24
I have removed the two photos of my deck modifications as I have enlarged some of the deck photos and realised where I had put a row of countersunk screws they should have been hex bolts and the rear decks are held in place with countersunk screws. The confusion came about as there appears to be a row of countersunk screws just in front of the exhaust line ( with the hex bolts behind the exhaust) which I have added a third photo of below. Just to confuse things a bit more they appear to be part of the hatch but the photo isn't clear enough to be certain.
I am redoing the fixings for the mid deck and will add further photos soon.

Mk 3 AVRE photo courtesy of the Tank Museum

Mk 3 AVRE photo courtesy of the Tank Museum

Photo courtesy of the Tank Museum. What appears to be a row of countersunk screws. I will try and confirm when I go to Tankfest.

hidden screw line.jpg (27.5 KiB) Viewed 470 times

[Gary Richardson]

Hi all

I had to make a few changes to the mid deck after studying a couple of photos in more detail. The hinges for the four hatches are welded to the deck so I used a countersink to make the holes deeper. The heads of the screws are now below the top of the hinges and will be filled, filed smooth and have Milliput welds added. There are also quite a few holes required along the edges of the decks for extra screws which will need countersinking and dummy screws adding. I am toying with the idea of making my own exhaust system based on the photos of the Mk 3 AVRE. This would enable me to make a joint between the underside of the deck and the exhaust above using a compressed O ring to seal it and stop oil leaks, the deck can then be removed easily for maintenance.
Today I will also progress the wiring and fitting of the light system and find a place to put the switches and receiver.

Regards
Gary
P.S. please see previous post as better info came to light regarding the mid and rear deck fixings. New photos to follow soon

A bit more detail on the hatch stays.

Possibly make this using four studs from beneath the deck to allow an o ring between as an oil/smoke seal

[Gary Richardson]

Good morning all

Work continues on the mid deck, I have added some detail on the hatch stay holders which are located at the centre of the mid deck. All the parts are brass and bolt through the deck using M2 or M1.6 bolts.
The wiring is also progressing and I am fabricating a 40mm wide aluminium rail to go across the hull in line with the rear of the front deck. This will house the various switches and hold the receiver in place using Velcro strip. Ideally I need to shorten some of the leads from various components to tidy the wiring up but not wishing to invalidate the warranty that may be a task for later on.
This mornings task is to refill the countersunk holes at the rear of the mid deck and redrill to take hex bolts ( see amendment to notes on June 16th post), I will also mark out the dummy screw positions along the sides of the mid deck ready for drilling and countersinking.

Regards
Gary

Hatch stay holder

Hatch stay holder with added cover.

[Steve McEvoy]

Certainly coming on nicely Gary. Love the detail. Just invested in a small milling machine so hopefully will be able to make some parts with a bit more accuracy.
Steve

[Gary Richardson]

Certainly coming on nicely Gary. Love the detail. Just invested in a small milling machine so hopefully will be able to make some parts with a bit more accuracy.
Steve

Thanks Steve.
I find I use my milling machine much more now, it was a great purchase. I have recently started using 2mm end mill bits which are great for small detailing if used carefully. A good quality engineers vice makes a big difference as well.
Enjoy your milling machine and I look forward to seeing the parts you make.
Regards
Gary

[Gary Richardson]

Good morning

I got a bit distracted yesterday as a friend gave me a large bag of aircraft grade metric nuts and bolts. They are all used but 90% are in very good condition and range from M2 to M12. Most are M4 so very useful but it has taken me hours to go through them all and put them in the fixing draws.
I did make progress on the electrics and should have the switch and receiver holder completed today. I also added fuel pipe clips to the smoker tubes to ensure I didn't have the same problem as when the Tiger was leaking baby oil.
Its going to be a good day for spraying so I must crack on.

Regards
Gary

Taking no chances this time

[Gary Richardson]

Good morning all

Yesterday was a good day, I sprayed lots of parts which dried quickly in the sun. I have completed the switch holder across the hull and almost completed the electrical installations.
I hope to make some more progress on the decks today and ideally get the undersides sprayed white after doing the final hatch fittings. I have visitors coming to see the tanks this afternoon hence writing this a silly o' clock . Time to crack on.

Regards
Gary

Aluminium angle added across the hull

Switches installed with access via the mid deck hatch

12V regulator and receiver controlled nano switch for lights added

Receiver attached with Velcro.

[Gary Richardson]

Hi all

As I was at Tankfest yesterday I took the opportunity to check out the mid deck on the Mk3 AVRE and Mk4 Churchill. I had mentioned previously I thought there was a line of screws in front of the exhaust boxes towards the rear of the mid deck.
I can confirm on the AVRE there is a line of slotted screwheads running across the mid deck following the front line of the exhaust boxes. The same was clearly visible on the Mk4.
Interestingly the Mk3 AVRE used slotted screws along the sides of the mid deck, where as the Mk 4 has hex head bolts.
The photo shows:
1) the approximate line of the slotted screw heads
2) the Mk3 screw line along the sides and Mk4 hex head along the same line.
I took some photos which show the screws more clearly and can post them if anyone if thinking of adding the detail.

Regards
Gary

Mid deck detailing, screw/bolt types

[Gary Richardson]

Hi all

I have added the line of slot headed screws in front of the exhaust boxes. They are my approximation of the correct position given that there is a wide strip of steel between the mid deck and rear decks on the full size not present on the model. I have also started to make my own exhaust system and have reshaped a tube to get the oval profile of the full size boxes. The rest will be trial and error until I get something akin to the full size.
The hatches have had the stay brackets added and are now functional which will be handy as the charge leads will be under the front right hatch and the various switches under the front left hatch.

Regards
Gary

I added a line of screws forward of the exhaust boxes

A nice little detail that works.

[Gary Richardson]

Hi all

I have been making some parts on the lathe to allow the mid deck and exhaust system to be removed easily while disconnecting from the smoker flexible pipe. The connection consists of two brass fitting that go onto a brass pipe with an O ring in between, there is still some minor fettling to do so the O ring has minimal compression but forms a seal. The lower of the brass parts will have two brass 'wings' with studs that will go through the deck. The top brass fitting and 90 degree bend will have the two holed boss and square four holed fixing point much as the real thing. The studs going through the deck will go into the boss and be secured with a couple of nuts which in turn will compress the O ring.
Well, that's the theory The photos should help explain what I have done so far.
To get the pipe to sit vertically I had to file away part of the steel pannier which obstructed the bottom of the groove. If you are building a Churchill and haven't finished attaching the panniers it might be worth doing the same as it pushes the clear pipe at an angle.

Regards
Gary

Two brass fittings with an O ring

Still some work to do.

File the pannier where the groove is.

[Steve McEvoy]

Looking good Gary. I found with the exhaust using the diameter pipe supplied the smoke wasn't very visible as it tended to just drift out. The way I overcame this was by getting some small bore plastic pipe and pushing it up through the original which gave more pressure and the effect was much better. Looking forward to seeing it later this month.
Steve