Churchill Mk3 number 67

[Gary Richardson]

Good morning

Just a photo showing the top coat being applied to the turret, this is a Mike Starmer mix of Tamiya acrylic paints to achieve the SCC15 used on the AVREs when upgraded before D-Day.

Regards
Gary

SCC15 Topcoat applied with a wide angled air brush

[Gary Richardson]

Hi all

I finished top coating the turret this morning and while I was on a roll decided to get the turret lid welds done. As usual it is done with Milliput with the welds imprinted in lines going along the seams as per full size. The electrical tape ensures there is a minimal gap and is easily removed once the Milliput has set by pulling from one end. The tape thins as it stretched and pops out. I also finished making one of the drivers hatch brackets that holds the hatch in the open position. I used a magnet on the underside of the deck and M2 steel bolt through the bracket bottom. This works really well and the hatch stays open even when I give the deck a good shake.
See you at the open day.

Regards
Gary

Lid held open with bracket and magnet

Turret lid welds

[Gary Richardson]

Good morning

A quick update regarding the turret welds. After letting the Milliput harden the tape was pulled until it stretched enough to come free. I did a little bit of trimming with a scalpel to ensure there was a slight gap between the welds and the turret roof.
The welds were red oxide primed and top coated. I am now working on completing all the hatch detailing but may have to wait until after Tiger day at the Tank Museum as I need a few more photos to confirm if the drivers rear hatch also had the curved lid latch like the one I made for the front section. I suspect it will have but it is difficult to see on the Mk4 example without hanging off the walkway .

Regards
Gary
P.S. Can anyone confirm if the cupola was welded to the turret top, the few photo close ups I have are not clear enough to see what type was used.

Top welds completed.

[Vince Cutajar]

I'm not expert on the churchill but do these help:

http://mapleleafup.net/vehicles/cac/croc_06.html

http://tank-photographs.s3-website-eu-w ... ngton.html

They sort of look different from yours.

Vince

p.s. Now it dawned on me that you are doing a Mk3 and the ones i found are later variants. Sorry.

[Will Roberts]

Hello Gary,

I have many photos of Mk III and Mk IV turrets and no evidence of any welds around the cupolas. My Bovington pictures are too large to upload here but if you want them send me a PM with your email address. I will see you at Tiger Day seeing as we are always bumping into each other.

Regards,
Will.

[David Battson]

Hi Gary,
I'm no expert, but wasn't that hatch unit/cupola supposed to rotate ? so no welds, though some seem to have a close fitting outer ring welded to the roof to protect from bullet splash.
David

[Gary Richardson]

Hi all

Thanks for the replies concerning the cupola. Research is ongoing but I am leaning towards the cupola being able to rotate. Although I have some photos of the Mk4 on the cast turret I want to make sure about the cupola on the Mk3 welded turret as on the AVRE.
Thanks Will, I look forward to seeing your photos. David, a bullet guard makes sense, perhaps that's what I can see in the old photos.
Vince, no problem. even on the Mk3 turret it may have been altered in 1944 when the AVRE conversions took place.

Thin Leather:
I have found a company that can supply A4 size pieces of leather in various thicknesses and colours. I have ordered a sheet of 0.5mm thick tan coloured calf hide to use for the hatch head guards. I will post photos once it arrives and I have made a padded guard.
The company is Leather4Craft based in the UK.

Regards
Gary

[Gary Richardson]

Hi all

With the recent few days of warm dry weather I started putting the top coats on the tracks. I wanted a brown finish which will allow the metal to show through as the tracks wear. The paint is from Railmatch and is called Frame Dirt, I was talking to a friend of my who makes model railways and he mentions the paints saying the truck frames always end up with a dirty brown colouration. As British tank tracks tend to have a bronze brown colour to them I thought I would try it out. They also do a lighter brown which may have been better but nobody had any in stock.
I will add further layers to make them look used with plenty of mud effects.
I have not made much progress on the Churchill decks as the new Guide Dog puppy is taking up a lot of my time and I am also building a new pond...nothing to do with the Bailey Bridge release

Regards
Gary

First coat of Frame Dirt

[Gary Richardson]

Good morning all

The Churchill build is going slowly but I have made some progress on the battery and speaker positions. I have made up aluminium rails which use the existing pannier bolt holes to stay in place. The batteries and speakers will partially reside inside the panniers leaving a decent amount of space in the hull for the other modules. I will spray the bearers white so they are not so intrusive and the speaker plates will have Velcro strips at the rear with grommet mounted bolts and wing nuts for the centre fixings.
The batteries are held in place with threaded M4 rods and a bar at the top. This installation leave enough room for the turret turn motor and means the front hatches can be used for switches etc. I will add more photos once it is all painted and installed.

Regards
Gary

Battery bearers and speaker plates

Just needs painting and fixing in place

[Steve McEvoy]

Coming along nicely Gary. Finished for Ruishton?

[Gary Richardson]

Coming along nicely Gary. Finished for Ruishton?

Hi Steve

I will certainly have it running for Ruishton, I will not have it finished though. I am hoping to have the decks and turret fitted but doubt if the mortar will be ready as I have yet to start on that. The new guide dog puppy Avon is taking up a lot of my time and I have been building a pond while the weather has been good. The battery rails have now been top coated and test fitted. I am pleased with how much space it has created by using the area inside the panniers. I should be able to get the other modules between the speakers and batteries so I will start routing the wiring and switches today.

Regards
Gary

[Gary Richardson]

Hi all

After a couple of minor tweaks I have the power module situated between the speakers. I am using Velcro to hold it in place as this worked well on the Tiger and makes it easy to remove.
Just a couple of photos to show the progress so far. Next step is the audio module location which I want to place near the exhaust/rear deck hatches so I can access the volume switch.

Regards
Gary

Batteries and speakers fitted using aluminium rails.

Simple solution for retaining the batteries.