Flak 36 recent addition

[Jerry Carducci]

I believe my relative obsession with the chain hoists has finally come to an end. There's an odd latch on the support beam of the originals
that I believe is used to prevent the crank shaft from sliding back to its initial position once the chain hoist is readied for use. in the deployed
state it impacts a raised flange on the crankshaft.

I wanted to recreate this tiny thing and make it functional. I believe I've done that. Once again my old man manual dexterity was tested. Even in 1/6 scale these bits are tiny. Again made of steel, silver brazed. For each latch it required 3 even tinier pieces to be joined. Several times during final fitting
my initial brazed joints didn't cut the mustard and parts went flying, I believe in the end though I got it done and short of using a scale hammer on the parts they should be up to task. Whenever I do something like this I'm tempted to attempt casting the parts but that is essentially making them twice, once as a pattern and again as a cast part and for 2 pieces needed the decision is pretty obvious...Needle files to the rescue. Only bad part is as always the first attempt is ok and having learned from the first the second is better in all aspects but hopefully most observers won't even notice them. I'd stared at my photos so long that to leave them off would have left the chain hoists virtually denuded of detail which wouldn't do at all. My approach to attaching them so they'd work was different than what I thought I could see but again 9 out of 10 casual observers won't notice.

Now I'm hoping I can prepare all these bits for painting.

I was able to contact Tim Catton regarding some of his remaining detail sets so I await those eagerly. THere'san instrument coupled to the quadrant I'll have to make but coupled with these detail sets I think that will be it.

I need to change the recoil cylinder brackets to eliminate the auto loader holes since the version I'm working up wouldn't have had it. I want to change the cable reels as this stands out but I think I'll defer those as they should be relatively easy to swap out even after the model is reassembled. The key her is to decide how I want to make the reel side plates as well as it what material.

I do believe I'll take a short break from this so I can assemble a new PC the guts of which I've had laying around for several months now.... time to get these off my kitchen table!

Jerry

[Jerry Carducci]

I was able to get in a little preliminary painting of some of the parts for this model. I've begun to reassemble the gun and cradle to prove out
some new parts I made. I already uncovered shortcomings of one and revised it.

I should have tried a test fit of the gun to the carriage before I painted it all. The two parts designed to slide on the rails of the carriage, the breech ring itself and the forward support slide (CF0314) on the rails pretty well individually although both needed some attention to do so. However when all the gun parts are assembled they bound up with a fair certainty. (This was the case when I first received the model- it was solidly bound up.) I assumed it was an alignment problem of some sort as I made very sure that none of the screws on the underside of the gun assembly were they themselves not binding anywhere. I noticed that the rear of the breech ring scraped on the carriage rails and that prompted me to consider that the entire assembly was canted slightly towards the back due to the front support (CF0314) having a slight higher profile than the breech ring. To the end of alleviating this I mounted the support and with a boring head set to the barrel diameter shaved about .030" (.76mm) from the diameter to effectively lower the front of the gun assembly. This had some positive effect but still the binding persists. With the forward support being as slight a part as it is I decided not to remove any further material. I reasoned that a free sliding assembly may not be as desirable when the gun is elevated so I've decided to leave it as is and proceed.

I will be waiting until more of the model is re-assembled before touch-up and final painting. I have just today received several of Tim Catton's superb upgrade kits and will set about fitting these. Still further parts remain to be made and I've since decided that I will at least begin to address the cable drums. I realized that instead of making entirely new parts I could begin with the drum parts as issued. I disassembled the drums taking the side plates and removing the dished feature. These I heated to a cherry red and flattened them in my 20 ton hydraulic press. Once I was satisfied with their 'flatness' I made a mandrel to hold and align all 8 disks so I might operate on them. Not quite certain what level of detail I'll add to them.These are rather a side project.

I'll continue to plod away here...

[Jerry Carducci]

Moving forward on this project. I wanted to get the entire carriage reassembled but realized (as if I ever really forgot) that there is much to do
on this section of the model. As I've probably said I will draw the line on what I will add but not quite there yet.

I'd begun working on the bogie cable drums but I didn't like the way they were coming out so I've decided to begin over. This time I sent off for some perfect sized pre-cut (oh the luxury!) aluminum disks. So while those are finding their way to me I decided to look at the direct fire sight mechanism as well as the guns quadrant.

I began placement trials of Tim Catton's upgrade bits which will really enhance things. Sadly he only had 3 of his parts sets but they seem to be the more impactful ones. Additionally I was able to get some of his photo etched scales which will really help.

As I poured over photos of the direct fire mechanism I think I finally mostly noodled out how it works, mostly, Not really having a lot to go by save photos of original guns and the work of others here (namely Uwe Gerstenmayer) I have come up with my own interpretation of some of these parts. I made a decision as did Uwe that I wanted my direct fire mechanism to be functional. So I set about doing that the best I could.

I want to say I have only myself and my own poor abilities to blame for any shortcomings seen in these parts!

I used a Boston gear worm gear pair; a double thread gearset. I happen to have a number of them and the size was perfect. As I finish this mechanism I will try to remember to take photos of the guts. It is mostly made of brass. I made the base for it separately and that part is silver brazed for strength and also for when the time comes to join the two I'll be using lower temperature solder which should leave the base joints alone.

Clearly I still need to trim the output shaft where the sight base is mounted- which I'm trying to work out the size of relative to the rest of the unit. I don't really have a good measurement of this yet so I'll likely approximate. It will be removable to should I find a more appropriate version I could replace it.

It would be fabulous to find a 1/6 scale Z.F. 20E gun sight some where....

I also made the quadrant frame and pointers. The quadrant and pointers are brazed steel. Not exact but once painted should look the part. I thing everything needs fine tuning and final shaping. I hope within a few days to have this all completed and connected so I can move on to the other details.

I'm looking forward to getting this project done so I can attach this to my Sd.Kfz. 7 and enjoy the spring....

Jerry

[Jerry Carducci]

Some cleanup remains on my direct fire apparatus but it's very nearly there. I have to rework my turnbuckles as they restrict travel a bit but
that's not a great issue. As it stands I get about 85% of full range travel but that shouldn't be difficult to remedy.

I soldered the base to the gearing assembly which was quite trying but proved to be far stronger than I'd imagined. At one point I
had to resort to brute force to free up a stuck part and everything held true whilst I did my best to try to break it free. So I'm grateful
for that...

I mounted the assembly to the carriage side plate made a few more connecting bits and a connecting rod. I was pleased as punch that it worked
perfectly first time save for the aforementioned travel issues. I still need to make the mounting plate for the actual ZF 20E direct fire sight.

I tell myself I'll take a break but I know better. I do have to spend some time making a pattern so that I can cast 2 aluminum arms needed aboard the
Hornet for our project to rebuild the torpedo doors of our TBM avenger... It should prove a nice break when the weather permits casting...

Added one photo that reflects the latest update to this mechanism. Made a few modifications and added the base plate for the optical sight although not quite certain of the dimensions. Made of steel. brazed. I now have a full range of motion so I consider this complete save the extensions to the re-enforcing bits below on the carriage walls. Really would be nice to have a 1/6 scale scope to mount....

Jerry

[Jerry Carducci]

Progress made on remaking some of the hardware on the folding cruciform arms and added the leveler pad wrenches. Need to make final adjustments and add chains etc. Need to adjust the spring loaded stake retainers, possibly I may wind new springs. I made the hardware from mild steel, silver brazed.

One of my stakes is badly warped and cracked; it isn't possible to mount it in the revised mounting hardware. It almost looks as if the zinc alloy
used failed as it it was affected by zinc 'pest' or rot- a condition brought about by contaminants in zinc alloys that cause it to self destruct a few years after manufacture. I'm going to attempt making a replacement. It's a little thin to attempt aluminum casting however I won't rule anything out. I can defer this until later.

There a bit more work to be done on the cruciform then it's back to the carriage.

Jerry

[Phil Woollard]

Keep it coming Jerry it's a very interesting project! I wish I could contribute.

[Jerry Carducci]

I don't usually show progress of parts while they're in the 'ugly' development states. Normally I'll 'pretty' them up a
bit before letting anyone see them... vanity? Here is the latest bit warts and all.

I'd imagine it's obvious I don't strive to make every piece of any given model in exacting detail; basically in effect taking a
full size thing and shrinking it to whatever scale is needed. Everything I do is just an interpretation of what I see; sometimes
I get it spot on sometimes I run out of glue and patience at the same time...

This thing is steel, silver brazed. Two challenges: making the odd shaped hole for the box and making the offset in the surrounding plate;
I think I did better of the hole than the offset but when cleaned up it should be ok. I generally silver braze as much as possible/ practical
and then use soft solder to fill it and allow for better appearance. Rather the way some coach builders used to make vehicle bodies... The stowage
box part is just held there by friction fit at the moment- haven't fixed it in yet. Again this is totally sans cleanup...

I'm beginning to think I might actually finish this model.

I usually listen to music in my shop while doing this work. I stream a Baroque music station- Otto's Baroque out of Switzerland all over my house actually.
They just played 'La Musica Notturna delle Strade di Madrid ' - Night Music from the streets of Madrid by Boccherini and I felt it was time to call it quits for tonight... Back to watching Seven Samurai!

Jerry

[Phil Woollard]

It's all fascinating stuff Jerry " warts and all" just look at my posts! I have to show the workings out, a bit like old school mathematics at school. I'm not to selective with what I show but when it's a work in progress the viewers must realize it is just that, we don't have the luxury of cnc machine's miraculously producing perfect parts in minutes, we have an idea a vice and some tools.

[Jerry Carducci]

Made progress adding a few details to the carriage; specifically most all the detail bits I purchased from Tim Catton. Made a few minor
changes to suite my installation methods; namely added screws to hold some components tof=ether that were previously bonded with adhesive.

Fortunately my hands pulled through steady while threading numerous 00-90, 1,2mm, 1,4mm, 1.6mm and 2mm holes. I recall have an uncontrollable sneeze once that overtook me so rapidly I didn't have time to remove my hand from a tap wrench. Much harsh language resulted.

I always feel I've just scratched the surface with regards to details on this model but I can say it looks a bit better than when I began...

Anyway now that I've more electrical components mounted I'll need to add some wiring- electricals without wiring just won't do....

Til next time.

Jerry

[Gary Phillipson]

Great stuff Jerry keep it up

[Derek Attree]

Hi Jerry
Really enjoying this rescue mission.
Keep posting

Regards

Derek

[Phil Woollard]

I agree great stuff. Could I ask you Jerry or any one else that knows , what is the wheel base of the flak please? Ie the distance between the axle centres when its all together.
Phil

[Jerry Carducci]

I agree great stuff. Could I ask you Jerry or any one else that knows , what is the wheel base of the flak please? Ie the distance between the axle centres when its all together.
Phil

Phil normally I'd jump at the request for that information but I'm afraid my model is in such a disassembled state at the moment it will be some while
before I'm able to reassemble it to take that measurement. However once I do I'll be more than happy tp send you the spec.

Jerry

[bryan massie]

I agree great stuff. Could I ask you Jerry or any one else that knows , what is the wheel base of the flak please? Ie the distance between the axle centres when its all together.
Phil

Hi Phil

The answer to your question is precisely 74cm

Bry.

[Phil Woollard]

Jerry Phil Dawe has the same problem, sorry to hijack your thread mate.
Bryan you are a star thankyou.