My Beaut Aussie Cent

[Stephen White]

Last offering for this weekend, the external fuel tank vent added. To complete the vent assembly, I now need M1 or smaller CSK Socket screws but they aren't readily available. Looks as though an old iPhone might have to take a hit, I'm sure there are some inside......





Regards

Stephen

[davidwilkins]

Stephen

Just been catching up on your fuel tank build, outstanding work. Your ability to try new building techniques and to master them to such a high standard so quickly is a real credit to you.

I just wish I had a fraction of your ability, again well done brilliant job.


Regards

David

[Stephen White]

Cheers David.

A bit more progress on detailing the external tank.

Completed the tank vent with the central disc and its mounting screws. These are smaller than M1 in size and should be csk socket but that size is unobtainable. So a knackered iPhone had to suffer - getting my own back for struggling once with all those tiny Apple screws. Now six of them are on the Cent. They're cross heads but I'm not complaining:





Then the mountings for the inf/tank telephone:





And a start on the fuel filler and gauge assembly:





More to follow. This is the bit I enjoy most, all the bits are one-offs and as the detail comes together, the overall effect starts to appear.

Regards

Stephen

[Christian Steinhauer]

Hello Stephen,

really a nice part. A pity that the tank has such a extravagant shape,
could be well suited for battery.

[Stephen White]

Thanks Christian, yes, seems a pity the tank is empty. Beer maybe? I needed some after realising that I'd failed to take note of an update from Allan Bowers based on some dimensions Paul Scott provided and made the filler housing too small. One pace back.... New piece done:



Then, the overflow pipe:





and the filler cap:



The story so far:



Regards and thanks for looking.

Stephen

[simon_manning]

getting more real every post! is that a pot of mig rust in the background i see,regards simon.

[Robin Hinson]

Beautiful workmanship Stephen, but Simon has taken you prisoner. Hands up!

[Derek Attree]

Hi Stephen
A true master class

Derek

[Stephen White]

It's taken me all morning but here's the cover story: it's Vietnamese red mud colour......



As recommended by a certain Spanish gentleman......

Stephen

[Iacopo Di Giampietro]

A feast for the eyes! Congratulations!

[Stephen White]

Hope this isn't too repetitive. Added the fuel gauge. Paul Scott provided a close up of the dial itself but when reduced to scale, the original was a bit blurred, so I created a dial on powerpoint (I knew it must have some use):









Regards

Stephen

[Fabrice Le Roux]

Clearly showing empty, only because you have not filled the old girl up yet?
Nice detail.
Cheers, Fabrice

[Stephen White]

OK Fabrice SQMS just arrived with the replen, so now she's got 75 galls on board.....





Your eye for detail is scary...

Stephen

[Fabrice Le Roux]

Stephen
You always provide a feast of detail to gladden the eye!
The yellowish colour of the dial in Paul's photo looked in part due to age and UV discolouration. Think white looks better, you can always add weathering to the glass later. Equally, the vehicles may have been in service for several years before deployment to Vietnam and the dials could have started to discolour. The question is how much?
Just the hinged recess cover to tackle next and all that lovely detail will be hidden again. Shame.
Looking forward to the next instalment.
cheers, Fabrice

[Stephen White]

Well, just when you thought it was safe to move on......

Sometimes something just doesn't look right. With such good reference pictures available from Paul Scott in Australia, I made the mistake of comparing the mounting for the fuel filler with the original. In this shot, the mounting for the filler and gauge look as though the top is parallel with the tank top plate ie not following the slope of the well.



Paul was able to confirm it:



Back to the drawing board in every sense, new mounting on the right with correct 5 deg slope:



Why bother? Good question, it's just that once I know something is wrong, it sits there waving two fingers until it's fixed. This way lie madness.....

For poor Allan Bowers in New Zealand, trying to produce accurate drawings, more work but at least he'll have the only true digital model of a Cent.

This looks a bit better:







The fuel outlet pipe coupling is also a hopelessly complicated shape:



Had the original Cent designers been using CAD, they may have arrived at a simpler design, easier to manufacture. With paper drawings, the cost of going back and re-designing probably outweighs the extra cost of making a more complicated part? Shows how design of complex equipment has moved on.



And yes Fabrice, still 75 galls on board, didn't run today....

Stephen