Mounting the bogies.

[Adrian Harris]

I've just been idly wondering if it would be possible to thread the four holes in the tops of the bogies at M4 and use a bolt from the inside of the tank to mount them instead of the current M3 buttonhead fitted from below ?

The holes through the bottoms of the sponsons would need to be enlarged, but they could also be countersunk at the same time, making it easier to install things in the sponsons without all the bolt ends sticking up.

Has anyone already done this or is it a terrible idea ?

Adrian.

[Steve Stuart]

This sounds like a good idea, for new build. Retro fitting might mean that 4mm button heads to give a lower profile would be a useful idea. I have no idea how you would counter sink holes from the inside of a sponson aa there is so little space. Bering able to remove a Bogey Unit for repairs would be dead useful.
Steve

[David Battson]

Hi Adrian,
As a non Churchill owner. I can't quite visualise this, any pics?
First thoughts from me are how thick is the top of the bogie that you will be threading into ? If it's relatively thin aluminium you'll need to be very careful not to strip the thread otherwise you'll be back to square one - maybe add in some threaded steel rivnut type inserts?
Also if you wanted a smooth interior with counter sunk fixings and access is difficult for counter sinking as Steve suggests then maybe add in a secondary pre drilled and countr sunk plate(s) on top?
Easy how these idle thoughts can spiral into major projects!
David

[Adrian Harris]

Looking at Mick's build photos, the frames may only be 1 or 1.5mm thick, so probably not enough meat on them, unless you fitted countersunk rivnuts to thicken them up.

Adrian.

[David Battson]

Hi Adrian,
If you can't find suitable rivnuts, another alternative could be rectangular strips of steel a min of say 4mm thick, each with two threaded holes and positioned width wise under the front and back pairs of bogie fixing holes. Could be glued in place, but ideally held with countersunk rivets. Even more work. But that said, I'm totally with you on taking the extra effort to make these models as serviceable as possible - especially if like ours, they're going to be getting a lot of running at shows. I always avoid fixing in for good any part that I think may need to be serviced or repaired in the future.
David

[Gary Richardson]

Hi Adrian

It would definitely be worth the effort if building the kit from scratch. I would find it difficult to retrofit a solution as sponsons already have loads of mods for the applique armour and battery/ speaker supports both of which are using the inside space of the sponsons.
I did use brass M4 threaded inserts for the applique armour studs which could be silver soldered in place and milled flush on the bogie plate. These give quite a bit of useable thread, link for insert company below, they do steel fixings as well. Most are intended for wood, plastic but give ideas that are useful.
https://www.theinsertcompany.com/brass_ ... lastic.php

Regards
Gary