Gary's 17 Pounder

[Gary Richardson]

Good morning

Yesterday I collected my 17 Pounder and Armorpax upgrades and I would like to say thanks to Adrian for the hospitality and showing me the one Dave Dibbs had built and also the Pheasant. Beautiful detailing and a real inspiration.
I have always wanted to add a cannon to my collection and the 17 pounder is a great kit. The upgrade parts are very well detailed. I am not sure when it will get started but it can be done during the long winter months when it is a bit too cold to work in the garage.
Once again, thanks Adrian, especially for loading it into the van .

Regards
Gary

[Steve McEvoy]

There's no stopping you now mate!

[Donald Suttie]

Looking forward to this build,i was tempted with this sale myself but ill have to finish the other Armortek kits i have first

good luck Gary

Donald

[Gary Richardson]

Good morning,

I will keep this build fairly simple as Dave has already done a fantastic build some years ago. I will be adding the Armorpax extras as I go progress.
I intend to prime and top coat each sub assembly and will be using the same SSC15 mix of paint I am using on the Churchill.
So here goes
My first job was to start building the brake details which will be Araldited to the stub axle ( lovely detailed parts Dave). The wheel assembly started at the same time, I may use a matt varnish over the Tamiya top coat to add hardness and give me a base for the rendering, dirt etc.
The axle tree has been assembled and I may use a 0.1mm shim on the pivot or just apply a small coating of Rocol where you can see the rubbing marks
as I am not sure if the two parts are meant to be in contact when the gun slews. I suspect not, in which case all the weight is on the pivot bolt and I will add shims.
The slew and traverse gearboxes have been assembled and I did use shims and a bit of fettling to get a nice smooth action, Rocol was also applied which made them even easier to rotate. They have been primed and I will add photos later.
I must say a big thank you to Monique for supplying a couple of parts that had gone astray, I know Armortek have tens of thousands of parts in their inventory and it would have been time consuming to locate them. It was very much appreciated. Hopefully they will arrive today as the post here has been somewhat intermittent of late.

Regards
Gary

Detailing parts for axles.

Trail hitch assembly

Wheel hub detailing

Wheel assembly

Axle assembly

[Steve McEvoy]

Cracking on with it mate, looking good so far. Bit of a break from the Churchill and the bridge?

[Gary Richardson]

Cracking on with it mate, looking good so far. Bit of a break from the Churchill and the bridge?

Hi Steve
It's an ideal project for me at the moment, no heavy lifting involved . I really enjoyed building the gearboxes and getting them nice a smooth, plus I enjoying doing detailing as you know. Still doing some work on the AVRE but the turret work will have to wait a while longer
The bearing retainers arrived today so I can get the 17 pdr wheels completed tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing the Leo and the bin you made.
All the best
Gary

[Gary Richardson]

Good morning

I have made a bit more progress on the 17 PDR. The spade assemblies are complete after a couple of modifications were made. I used countersunk screws instead of the button heads to attach the assembly to the trail arms as the 30mm bolt near the top of the spade was hitting the button head so they wouldn't latch. I also enlarged the middle groove on the latching pin to realign the latches for improved operation.
I have added the Armorpax parts which replace the stock kit parts and am impressed with how well Dave moulded the parts. Very little fettling was required. The 17 PDR needed some of Dave's bling so I have now got some shells with various warheads and a couple of tow ropes, again very well made, Cheers Dave.
I am enjoying this build and finding it very satisfying to see it coming together, well done to Armortek on a great kit. I may have to source a limber as they were used for braking when the gun was being towed.
Next step is the trail arms, lots of hole drilling required for all the additional handles. I have used Araldite to fix the moulded parts as I find superglue unreliable especially when parts are tiny.

Regards
Gary

Some fettling was required for correct latching

Pleased with the detailing on these.

Should have ordered four shell cases, doh.

[Gary Richardson]

Hi all

I would like to thank Chris Hall for providing a limber to go with my 17 PDR. It has the Armorpax extras and there is very little for me to do other than touching up the interior paintwork. The limbers were used to provide braking rather than carrying ammo as the 17PDR shells were too long to go inside.
I am working on the 17 PDR shields and once the last couple of handles have been attached I can topcoat them and assemble them. The trail arms are also being cleaned and will need drilling for the additional handles. The araldite worked well on the front shield and the handles are rock solid.
I will add photos once the topcoat has been applied.

Regards
Gary

[Chris Hall]

No problem, Gary - glad it’s gone to a good home !

Chris

[Gary Richardson]

Hi all

Managed to get a bit more done on the 17 PDR. It took quite a bit of fettling and adjustments using the mill to get the cradle to slide nicely. I kept getting aluminium spools despite spending hours using fine wet and dry to get all the edges curved and surfaces polished. In the end I had to mill the slide and redo the curves.
Next was the cradle nose which needed the holes drilling to locate the Armorpax bling. Very nice....
The trail arms have been sanded to remove any tarnishing and degreased with Upol. I will try and get the holes drilled for all the handles. If anyone has any photos that show the handle/tool holder positions on the trail arms I would love to see them as the ones on the build forum for a walk around appear have vanished.
Things may slow up a bit as I am very busy with puppy sitting and numerous collections at the Orchard Centre in Taunton as well as our Guide Dog pop up shop. If you are in the area come and say hello.

Regards
Gary

Lots of great detailing parts, cheers Dave.

[Gary Richardson]

Hi all

I have now finished attaching the additional gun sight parts and I like the result, it's a lot more interesting to look at. I will add the additional parts to the barrel cover next along with the associated welds, then prime the sight so it can be bolted onto the cover frame.
The carriage and slide have been etch primed and undercoated after several attempts. The air in the garage was so damp the paint kept bubbling up even after the heater was left on for an hour beforehand. The lathe and mill had a coating of surface rust yesterday despite being treated a few months ago. Still it could be worse, five cars were floating in the village lane after storm Bert hit.
I will add a thin washer behind the larger brass wheel on the sight as it doesn't look correct being flush against the casing.

Regards
Gary

[Gary Richardson]

Hi all

The sight has been completed and given a top coat of paint. I am now getting the breech underway. It took a bit of fettling to get the breech to open and close smoothly, what I didn't account for was the extra weight of the Armorpax bling . Having already glued the cap in place it makes adjusting the spring tension a bit tricky. I can move the move the rack down another tooth where it engages on the cog but a slightly stronger spring would have been a neater solution.
The add on parts look very good with some nice fine detailing, I have to say this is a very enjoyable kit to build.
The cradle and slide have also been completed and painted but I need to get the trail arms done before fitting them in place. I have to mark up and drill all the locating holes for the handles, tool fixings etc.

regards
Gary

[Gary Richardson]

Good afternoon

Having finally shaken off a cold I made some progress with the barrel, gun cover and breech. All have been primed and top coated and will have a coat of matt varnish added once the top coat has fully hardened.
The barrel had to be sanded with 800 wet and dry to remove machining marks, it was too long to fit in the lathe so I hand sanded it. It was degreased with Upol and had an acid etch primer added followed by red oxide.
The shield brackets have been cleaned and primed and the front shield has been top coated. I was going to assemble the shields and fix them in place but I have decided to get the trail arms finished first. That will allow me to put the wheels/brake assemblies on and will counter balance the barrel.
Just out of interest I put the 17 PDR barrel on the Churchill, it looks awesome. Will add a photo once the paint has hardened.

Regards
Gary

Carriage and cradle

It is quite a long barrel

Breech assemblies

[Steve McEvoy]

You have been busy mate, it's looking awesome. You will have to bring it with you when you come over. Be great to see it for real. Well done.

[Gary Richardson]

You have been busy mate, it's looking awesome. You will have to bring it with you when you come over. Be great to see it for real. Well done.

Hi Steve

Thanks mate, I will bring it with me next time I see you, looking forward to seeing the Leo as well. I will put the wheels on this morning after I have sprayed the wheel bolt heads. I have to glue Dave's brake assembly in place at the same time as screwing in the stud axles. Unfortunately you can't attach the brake assembly beforehand as it fouls the gun frame when you try to screw the stud axle in. I have scribed a line on the stud axle for TDC
so should be straight forward now.

All the best
Gary