KIT No. 98 BUILD

[Charles A Stewart]

Nice touch, Mick.

Cheers
Charles

[mick whittingham]

Charles, I've ordered that same speaker as you and copied the mounting method, I think you've hit on a really neat solution.

I'm looking for some square mesh for the front grille , the brass fret is not quite right.

Mick

[mick whittingham]

In the faffing about and not really doing much to the actual model category I have been playing with tools for the vehicle.
There are some toolkits on line that purport to be original series 1 accessories but I can't be sure.
I plumped for a few Britool open ended spanners and made up other bits and bobs to suit.
The screwdriver is a copy from the Web and looks OK.
I just need to mill a footprint type movable spanner next.
Anyone know what the jack should look like?

[mick whittingham]

Making progress with the radiator assembly.

I bought the same size speaker as Charles and it fits beautifully onto the radiator grille, so the sound comes out where it should.

[mick whittingham]

I'm all into tool making at present, it's something I can do in the little bits of time spare during Christmas.

I made a little cold chisel and centre punch to slip in my Landy tool box.

Pliers and that movable spanner next.

I have laid out all the parts for the body work and I can start planning out the modifications needed to follow HUE as best I can.

[mick whittingham]

Watching Zulu on boxing day is managed to sneak some parts into the lounge and put the rear bodywork together.
Fiddly with the M2.5 fasteners.
I can have a good look at the layout now and make some decisions about which fastenings I can hide and those which I will simply replace.
It's in my mind to bond all the panels together using an industrial adhesive that housebuilders employ to fix metalwork to structures. Then I can drill and rivet the panels while they are properly placed.

[mick whittingham]

Back in the workshop again I modified the front bulkhead piece to allow the eagle head windscreen hinges to sit flush with the front door pillar as they are supposed to. I milled out a step on either side and fabricated new eagle heads from thicker steel to allow csk screws to be used so they can sit low enough to be filled.

This obviously means the windscreen frame won't fit into the narrowed hinge spacing but the hinges brackets need modifying anyway so it's not a big hardship.

[mick whittingham]

A bit of faffing about and I managed to make two brackets that look a little more in keeping with the original screen.

I had to cut off the small hinge pieces from the frame and bolt on the new ones. This isn't in keeping but it does the job.

I'll make some proper hinge bolts with castle nuts in the near future.

[mick whittingham]

Christmas was a little late for me, I ordered a screwdriver set on line but didn't notice that it was shipped from China, or maybe Mars actually.

It arrived this morning, and although it's intended for folks taking mobile phones apart, it's pretty decent.

Powerful little handset and enough bits to tackle most miniature fasteners.

[mick whittingham]

I made a test piece of the windscreen hinges bolt today.

Just to see how it looks and see how the machining went in brass.

The little castle nut is a nice touch.

I will make two in steel next ready for the final build.

[mick whittingham]

I turned couple of bolts in steel and cross drilled them 1mm for a split pin, left overs from the Centurion tank track build.

I'm dividing mt shop time between making accessories for the kit and actually building it.
Trying to get the build sequence right so I can paint things without too much drama. Painting is not my strong point.
Mick.

[mick whittingham]

Continuing with the windscreen build I assembled the frame and hinges together and decided I wanted a nice clean front with no sign of the csk screwheads. So a deal of filling and sanding waste follow.

With my usual M.O. I decided I needed a mini sanding block to help with the fine sanding.

Bit of milling and drilling an I came up with a 2 inch x 1 inch sanding block with paper grippers at each end.

Works really well and was a worth while investment of an hour of my day.

[mick whittingham]

Windscreen frame is in primer so I'm back on the bonnet.

The steel windscreen supports are just plain steel so I sanded and lacquered them ready to fit.

The bonnet latches are an issue, four of them needed: two for the bonnet and two to hold down the folded screen.

I looked at ready made ones which are cast white metal. But I wasn't too keen on the look of them.

So it was "Let's see how on earth I go about making these things" time.

I thought about turning a button shape in brass and filing the shape, but that was a real faffing about job.

So I used some soft brass plate to shape a flat version of the handle, then sliver soldered a 4mm shank onto it.
I made a domed jig to bend the lobes and hook over.

Then turn a steel body and drill for the hook end.

Eh voilà: -----

Just the top and bottom bracket parts to fabricate now.

[Charles A Stewart]

Very nicely done, how are you going to hold them in place?

Charles

[Charles A Stewart]

Nicely done, how do you plan to attach?

Cheers Charles