Comet No 50. Re-fit.

[AlastairCooke]

Mark,
Good weathering.

Alastair

[Mark Weddell]

Hi Tim,

Sorry no space available .
Nice to see Marc's ex-Comet out and about, did you enjoy he sausage?
Thanks for the comments.
Mark.

[Mark Weddell]

Hi Alastair,

Thank you for your comment.

Mark.

[Mark Weddell]

All assembled. I Need to run-up a mantlet cover which hopefully I will do next, also replace the tools with GS British pattern.

The periscope lenses are made from grey plastic.

The final weathering will be done naturally by outdoor running, through the odd puddle, dusty path, hopefully.

[Robert E Morey]

Outstanding paint and weathering. Great work on the brass details. Love the folding tables, shelves and benches in your shop.

Great looking Comet!

Best regards,
Bob

[simon_manning]

I am impressed, this is a great finish on Green which is a Hard color to get right, Looks the part, regards simon.

[Gary Richardson]

Hi Mark

You have done as fantastic job with the painting and weathering, really looks the part.

Regards
Gary

[Mark Weddell]

Thank you all for your comments.

[Mark Weddell]

Just as a comparison of colour (shades of green) and size here are some images of the Comet and the M5A1 Stuart 'Honey', in its guise as the reconnaissance unit.

[Mark Weddell]

Just a follow up. The only bit that I lost when the strip down was the M3 Wing Nut for the gun clamp.
Before I ordered a wing nut with 'Mickey Mouse Ears' I reviewed the images I had of the clamps on different vehicle's and the standard wing nut has ball's on the end!

I ordered standard wing nuts (think they are referred to as Cold or Hot forged) in brass and brass ball bearings, I filed the wing tips flat then filed in a radius to match that of the balls, then solder together.

Not exact match but I am happy with the result.

[Adrian Harris]

A wing nut with knobs on

Adrian.

[Mark Weddell]

Yes! I was surprised!!!

[Mark Weddell]

Mantlet Cover.
First off thank you to; Sasha for the loan of her Singer sewing machine and Steve for digging out his mantlet cover pattern which gave me a jump start.

Colour, I followed Mike Starmer here again, colour for canvas covers and other vehicle items is SCC2. I had been hording various coloured clothing, for this and other side projects, and I have a pair of Chino jeans that are a good colour broadly for the SCC2, slightly lighter and the right feel and look for canvas scale.

Chose to use the Jacques Littlefield mantlet cover as my model, with reference to other examples I have photographed.

Using Steve’s pattern as a template, the sides are the curvy bit, I remarked them out on dress makers squared paper, sides and front. The sides are handed, the left hand top is shorter that the right as it comes up, and flares out, to the top of the turret top edge.
Hole positioned for the BESA armoured mount, Barrel and gun sight cut into the front paper to check positions.

When I cut the material out, I left plenty of excess on the sides and top and bottom of the front. It’s surprising where it all goes.

Pined and checked the fit. Then sawed together. I tried as much as possible to follow the seem lines on the originals.

The barrel and sight collars were attached to the main cover using UHU glue.

The five top pockets are for stiffeners on the original, I have left the tops open so if at a late date I need to add stiffeners I can.

The top edge of the cover to the where the flat bar is, I opted to machine a loop and pass a rod through to secure the edge as I did not wish to undo the bolts on the flat bar. Also used this to stiffen the rear edges of the sides of the cover.

The bottom edge fitted with 1mm diameter stainless steel wire rope.

All done, I am happy with the result, the weathering will have to wait until later as black & white images do not seem to show up dirt and grim very well. So will have a look at 1:1 scale.

Next stop Tankfest, for a good run out.

[

[simon_manning]

Looks Good Mark, That refurb has come on a Treat, regards simon.