Vince's Tiger 1 late variant 2017

[Vince Cutajar]

Thanks Tom.

I have just now finished gluing the rod ends with JBweld.

Vince

[Vince Cutajar]

Barrel cleaning rods finished. That's another one off the list.

Next started work on the tow rope and cleaning rod clamps. This is a bit more involved so I worked on just one of them to see how it looks. Used a 2mm eye bolt on one side which can be swung outwards to open the clamp.

Re-worked the hardware on the other side. Instead of the 3mm button head screw I used a 3mm hex head screw. I machined the head down to a 5mm diameter and reduced the height to 1mm. I also made a thick washer which goes under it.

If I decide that I like the end result I will do the other three during the weekend.

Vince

[Vince Cutajar]

Finished work on the tow rope and cleaning rod clamps. At the moment applying paint to them. Have to remember to get some 2mm flynuts for them.

A couple of days ago I learned something new about the Tiger 1 MGs on Glen's thread. Last week I learned something else about the turret upper spare track link holders (http://tiger1.info/EN/Turret-track-holders.html).

I was always curious about the use of the U shaped handle on these holders. It seems that these are not handles but are used as a locking mechanism for that particular holder. At the moment I am investigating if it's possible (practicable) to add this feature to my model. Who knows, I might avoid having to screw the spare track links to the turret.

Fingers crossed.

Vince

[Ivano Costantini]

Hi Vince,
then you drilled the reserve tracks? I have to attack mine, and I'm undecided on how to do it. Should the holes on the tracks be threaded through the screws?
So they are closed .
Thank you very much. Ivano

[Vince Cutajar]

Ciao Ivano
Io sarò cercando di rendere i morsetti superiori funzionali come la cosa reale. Non l'ho ancora fatto.

Se questo non funziona allora non avro' alcuna opzione, ma di perforare le tracce di ricambio e avvitarli dall'interno della torretta come altre persone hanno fatto.

Quando proverò metterò il risultato qui.

Vince

"Hi Ivano
I will be trying to make the top clamps functional as the real thing. I have not done that yet.

If that doesn't work than I will have no option but to drill the spare tracks and screw them from inside the turret like other people have done.

When I will try it I will put the result here.

Vince"

[Ivano Costantini]

Grazie, aspetto il tuo lavoro.
Ti auguro anche una buona pasqua. Ciao! Ivano

[Vince Cutajar]

I have been banned from the workshop!!

Before my wife left for the UK she asked if I could stay at home and keep company an old, grumpy, sick cat. Fortunately for me (and the cat) I had at home all the components required for an experiment I wanted to do.

I wanted to see if it's possible to work the recoil mechanism using a stepper motor instead of the kit supplied gear motor. My idea to use the stepper motor is that I can tell it to turn 360 degrees and as such I can remove the micro-switch that was/is difficult (at least for me) to adjust.

The initial concept was to trigger the microcontroller using the existing other micro-switch and the servo, but as I progressed I thought that it would be nice to use the signal that was meant for the servo as the trigger. In so doing I would be able to remove both micro-switches and servo. I quickly discounted this second idea as I thought that it was way above my pay grade to implement it.

Fortunately Adrian encouraged me to give it a shot and I think I have cracked it.

I am using the following:

• Arduino Uno

• A4988 Stepper driver

• Bipolar Stepper

• 20 lines of code

Suggest to reduce the speaker volume before you run the video.

[youtube][/youtube]

Have to admit that it is looking promising.

Vince

[Vince Cutajar]

Made a tentative attempt at a control box. Only thing to add is a smoke fluid filler port but to see where best to place it I have to wait until the workshop curfew ends and I have access to the Tiger.

Vince

[Vince Cutajar]

I haven't been idle but it's one of those phases where one does a lot of minor things and there is nothing to show for it. Today I finished a custom made filler port for the smoke unit that goes with the control box.

Today I also received the last bits for the round hatches but I will wait and finish the control box and wiring before starting on the hatches.

Vince

[Vince Cutajar]

The plan for this weekend was to finish off the tank's control box and finish tidying up the wiring, but after a while there was a hiccup in the plan. I realised that I still don't have a CTEK XLR three pin adaptor for my charger and as such I don't know which pins are used. So I ordered the CTEK XLR plug and when it eventually arrives I can find out which pins are used. Hiccup no.2 was that the charging lead supplied with the kit was too short for me, so I need to buy longer cables. I think I will buy 1.5mm² wire.

So instead I cleaned up the work table from all the mess in preparation to playing with the round hatches. During this clean-up process I came across the turret spare track top catches. Finally did something about them. Used a 2.5mm brass pin and glued it in. Drilled a couple of 1mm holes going through the brass pin and made a U handle from 1mm brass rod and this is the result.

The U handle is not glued in. The angle of the holes is such that when the handle is inserted the clip cannot move upwards.

This modification seems to work. It holds the track in place and the clip does not spring upwards releasing the track.

Vince

[Robert E Morey]

Those look great Vince. Mine are the white metal version - I need to put the handles in them in same way. I screwed the track link to the turret so as not to rely on the clip to hold the link. The white metal ones are not quite long enough or strong enough to hold the link by themselves. Looks like the machined clips are an improvement.
Best regards,
Bob

[Vince Cutajar]

Thanks Bob. The machined clips are part of the 2017 Tiger 1 kit.

Vince

[Vince Cutajar]

Today I received the CTEK XLR plug that I want to use and found which pin is positive and which is negative. With this information I could wire it in the control box to finish all the wiring of the control box. Did a bit more tidying of the wiring and now I can say that all the electrics is finished.

Vince

[Steve Norris]

Vince
That’s a very neat electronics control box you have got there.
Can you tell me where you got the battery isolation switch from ?
Regards
Steve

[Vince Cutajar]

Hi Steve

Thanks for the compliment. I got it from eBay:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/401542333641

Vince