Churchill Mk3 number 67

[Gary Richardson]

Mate that's looking so good. Been playing with my mill a bit, made some working latches for the bin on the Tiger and now working on some tool holding brackets for the Churchill. Not up to your standards but I'm having fun experimenting. Have managed to break 2 1mm bits so far but that's down to my lack of experience and being heavy handed. Onwards and upwards.
Regards
Steve

Hi Steve

When you come here on the 20th you can have a look around my workshop as I am only a 5 minute walk from the recreation ground. We can swap ideas. The 1mm bits definitely need gentle handling and I tend to go for tungsten carbide bits for the smaller sizes . I bought a micro drill adaptor which is a mini drill chuck and can hold 0.4 - 4mm bits. You break a lots less bits as you can manually 'peck' drill. I also find a tiny drop of WD40 helps.
Unfortunately the weather has stopped me test driving the Churchill but hopefully it will brighten up soon.

Regards
Gary

[Steve McEvoy]

Thanks for the tip Gary. I promise I will keep my hands in my pockets when I visit you.!!

[Gary Richardson]

Good morning

The Churchill had its first outing yesterday and performed well, turns were easy and traction very good. The only downside was turning on grass which seems to be a common problem with our tanks that others have mentioned. Forwards over grass was fine, but turning sharply is hit and miss.
I still need to check out the transmitter programming as it had a bit of a runaway as I reversed it onto the trolley lift table. Everything was at neutral but the tank decided to drive forward, luckily I managed to get the stick back and stop it falling of the table before switching off the receiver. I checked the failsafe options and they were all set to neutral although the receiver was still on so that's not really relevant, I had a similar problem with the Tiger where it went backwards on its own and I ended up modifying the Churchill model I was adding for the Tiger which works fine. As I have the original Tiger model renamed for the Churchill it looks like there is a bug in that program. I will delete it and copy the working Churchill model and rebind the receiver.
At least it will be running for my village fete
I am happy that I sprayed the tracks with Frame dirt as now they have some wear they are starting to look good, I will add dirt, dust etc later. The tracks have 74 links and the adjusters are right at the back so full adjustment is available. They were very tight to get connected and I ended up using rope and twisting it with a stick to pull the links together and put the pins in. I have quite a few removeable pins located in each track which have M3 threads at one end so I can withdraw the pins with a simple tool I made. A small amount of slack has developed after 15 minutes running time and the suspension is bedding in.
One thing I extremely pleased with is the sound the tank makes while driving, everything squeaks and rattles just like the real thing. Once I turned the audio on it got even better. My neighbour was amazed how good it sounded.

Regards
Gary

[David Battson]

Hi Gary,
That's looking very good. All those extra details are really shining through, well worth the effort. Look forward to seeing it at a show.
David

[Gary Richardson]

Hi all

Todays task is to complete the collars and deck connections for the exhaust system. I bought a 3mm pointed tree reamer to add lines around the double collars so they look like two parts. It seems to be working well and is easy get a fine line with the reamer in the mill.
I will also drill the eight holes for the exhaust bosses in the mid deck, then I can add the stay fittings and get the deck sprayed.

Regards
Gary

Using a 3mm tree reamer to add centre lines

Nearly done, will have surfacer/rust added later

[Gary Richardson]

Hi Gary,
That's looking very good. All those extra details are really shining through, well worth the effort. Look forward to seeing it at a show.
David

Hi David
Thanks, I really appreciate your kind comments. I am hoping to get to a few of the shows, it's first official debut will be Ruishton fete on the 20th but I am looking into going to Cobbaton but not sure yet if I can do both days as its been a busy time with the Guide dog puppy Avon. Fingers crossed.

Regards
Gary

[Donald Suttie]

Just read through the post above the last one regarding getting tracks together and a trick i have used on my tiger is to use a couple of large cable ties
you can really torque them up to get the tracks to close,insert the pin,and snip off the cable ties
it saves a lot of frustration as i had a nightmare the first time trying to hold everything in place by hand

all the best
Donald

[Steve Stuart]

For those whose tracks are not painted and suffer wear and tear plus the odd break, slip jaw pliers have a good traction and mechanical advantage for bringing tracks together, especially when in the field!
Steve

[Gary Richardson]

Good afternoon

I made some more progress with the exhaust system today. The front boss connections work well forming a seal between the smoke pipes and the exhaust system. All the collars have been machined and tapped, the copper t-pieces adjusted to height match the 90 degree bends and three of the bosses have been step drilled out to 17mm. The next job is to mill the bosses to the correct profile.
I have also added detail to the Besa MG. I made an aluminium body for it based on photos of the one I saw at Tankfest, not sure if it is entirely accurate but most of the detail is hidden by the gun carrier.
Started at 6:30 this morning so guess its going towards beer o'clock....Cheers.

Regards
Gary

[Robert E Morey]

I love all the details on your Churchill. Its looking fantastic!
Keep it coming!
Bob

[Gary Richardson]

I love all the details on your Churchill. Its looking fantastic!
Keep it coming!
Bob

Hi Bob

Thanks for you kind remarks, I think detailing is one of the things I like best about building the tanks.

Regards
Gary

[Gary Richardson]

Good morning

Yesterday I deleted the existing Churchill model from the Taranis transmitter and copied over the Tiger model. After rebinding the receiver all works as expected on the trolley with the tracks jacked up. Too busy today with puppy sitting Avon so I will do a ground test tomorrow so its ready for the Ruishton village day this Saturday. As you can see this is a work in progress but it might be interesting for the public to see a tank being built.
I had a problem with the rear deck plates sticking up above the level of the rear plate so ended up bending the joining strip down the centre line until it all lined up.
I have also filled in the gap between the two middle hinges for the hatches on the mid deck. On the AVRE at Bovington the hinge is a single piece with two arms for the hatch attachment. I used car filler then profiled it to match the hinge shape. Welds were then applied using Milliput.
The hatch stays work very well and I like the detail they add to the mid deck. All the extra screws have been added so it just leaves the exhaust system to be completed which I hope to finish next week. As I am building a bespoke exhaust system the kit holes in the mid deck have been filled in. The covers will be fitted as per full size using the studs on the collars and four brackets on the sides of the exhaust boxes. the boxes rested on what looks like shallow troughs welded to the deck so I will repurpose/reshape the kit strips and add two more.
I haven't sprayed the turret roof yet as I am still contemplating building a new cupola with periscopes as per the full size AVRE, this depends on how I can fabricate the large parts on my small lathe. Should have bought a larger lathe
Well, I am off now for the arduous task of playing with a puppy, somebody has to do it

Regards
Gary

One piece centre hinges on mid deck

[Steve McEvoy]

Looks great mate, looking forward to seeing it at the weekend. Please can you book some sunny weather for us!

[Gary Richardson]

Good morning all,

After a short break I am concentrating on the exhaust system again. This is proving a bit of a challenge as the boss alignments are slightly different from each other. A CNC mill or 3D printing would have made it a lot easier. It is starting to come together though, I just do one at a time with the front pair now milled to the correct profile. They still need the edges rounding off and the studs, nuts etc adding.
I took Steve McEvoy's advice and added an oil trap at the top of the brass connection point which also narrows the smoke outlet, this will hopefully stop any oil residue being blown into the exhaust system and onto the deck while allowing the smoke to come out under higher pressure.
I am pleased with result for the double hinge for the deck hatches which adds another level of detail.
After seeing the difference the LiFePO4 batteries made to the Tiger I will be changing the ones in the Churchill when I have the decks and turret finished.

Regards
Gary

Exhaust connection point

Copper bend will be reprofiled with epoxy steel

Its getting there

[Steve McEvoy]

Very nice work Gary. Going to look great when it's done.