Jerry Phil Dawe has the same problem, sorry to hijack your thread mate.
Bryan you are a star thankyou.
Not quite that disassembled but close. I find that I have to re-work certain bits as I go due to unanticipated conflicts with added bits and existing bits. Some of the modifications were done by previous builders but without explanation as to why. Once I see it the reason is clear but instead of doing a thing once I end up reworking something at least once. The latest is the mounting for the fuse setter; while it looked good where it is as it is I realized
that it protrudes a few millimeters out from the carriage side and won't allow the folding cruciform arm to lock in place. New mounts and fitting to the side plate are in order. A minor nuisance but it needs doing.... I thought of cheating on this one and making a new locking plate/arm to allow
a slight longer distance but ehh, no it would decidedly look 'wonky'. That won't do at all.
I worked out better mountings for the fuse setter; mountings that hold the unit closer to the carriage side and will allow the cruciform arm to be locked into travel configuration.
Wanted to see roughly how several of the major bits would go together so here's a few shots of preliminary fittings; carefully angled as to not reveal the pip cleaners holding everything together(!).
Hopefully in the weather continues to improve I can prime and top coat some of these bits this week.
My Flak begins to look like... well a FlaK! Still much to do and touch up is needed; time to pick out an airbrush, move the model into subdued
sunlight and find all the missed spots- there are probably more opportunities to miss a spot with this model than just about any other I've worked on.
Many things are yet to be made. The mains electrical box contraption needs doing. and that electrical junction on the cruciform base- I already started it but I wanted to at least partially reassemble everything . Some paint made it where paint shouldn't and needed scraping so parts would fit or move properly.
I'm going to let this thing sit for a while so the paint can fully cure and I can work on the bogie assemblies.
Pete is fed up with all those big fancy outdoor birds dive bombing the window. He’s decided to take matters into his own claws. He’s requested ‘special’ training….
Since I've reassembled most of the main components of the 88 I've moved on to the bogies.
Spent some time making the locking mechanism for the mount engagement hooks. ( technical name??) These actually came out decent and work a treat.
Practical also, should help avoiding dropping of the gun while moving it; darned awkward when showing off one's modelling hobby.
I should know better that thinking I was done, or nearly so, with the gun mains. While admiring how well everything was working and looked I realized the the elevation mechanism had gone on strike and was refusing to raise or lower the gun.. At first I thought what the heck can it be hung up on? Well it wasn't really hung up on anything. The modification I'd made to the elevation worm wheel let go. I'd put a tiny soft (key words soft and tiny) steel pin to keep the worm wheel locked to its shaft. The gear, shaft and pin had other ideas; the pin sheared off at the junction between gear and shaft. How rude!
Next was how to fix this. I thought immediately of simply silver braising the gear to the shaft and thought better of that due to the effects the heat required would have on the gear. So decided to try a variation on the pin idea; basically a bigger pin. In fact a Woodruff type 202 key. The gear and shaft section where it mates is odd for a Woodruff key but I thought I'd try it anyway. I decided to make the key slot straddle the shaft with the center of the
key cut at the point where the shaft transitions from the smaller to larger diameter requiring I grind down excess key material behind the worm wheel.
I'm going to try this version. Hopefully the larger cross section will hold up better.
Since I had to disassemble the gun anyway I used the opportunity to attach the various photo etched scales to parts of the machine; the quadrant, the direct fire mechanism and the windage rotation counter. Also I'm trying silicon rubber to finish the assembly of the fire direction and fuse setter gauges.
I'd found that the fire control operator's seat mechanism didn't allow for the seat to be folded down out of the way of the outrigger when folded for travel so I've made a new base that supports this. The 1,7mm taps that I'd been waiting for arrived later yesterday so I was able to use them today to finish the seat base/mount.
Many little details still to be added or made for the bogies and a few things I'd like to add to the gun itself. For now I have the bogies reattached and most everything where it should be. I need to revise the travel lock and as I mentioned various small electrical bits, clamps, tools and the like. I'm eager to move on to my next project but I won't let this one sit as is either.
Not sure if I was alone in my desire to get the chain hoists to actually work in remounting the gun to traveling configuration. My first attempt in operating the rear bogie chain hoist resulted in the same failure as I encountered with the elevation gear: the small pin I'd used to pin the worm wheel to the shaft failed in exactly the same way as before and I repaired in as I did the elevation gear: I replaced the tiny pin with a woodruff key. Second attempt to operate the chain hoist resulted in a failed attachment I'd made to attach to the lift hook on the cruciform leg. I brazed together a lifting ring from ~2.5mm steel wire. This held in my third attempt and I was able to raise the rear of the gun successfully with the chain hoist and lock it into traveling configuration. I think I can see the next point of failure although I don't know how long it will take. Either the zinc bevel gears, which are of poor quality will fail or the chain links will stretch to the point of failure. I will look for better gears and may consider brazing the chain's link ends together to prevent them from opening up. Probably a silly thing I know but I rather like most of the challenge to get these hoists working.
I'll post more photos from time to time as I finish the remaining bits and the final touch up and paint work...
