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Posted: **Sun Jul 28, 2024 4:50 pm**

Onwards we go.

: Marked for where the sloped edges are going to be.

: Filed like so.

: Then rounded the sides.

: Then matched the bottom edge and corners to the insert.

: Then did a 1mm skim of filler on the top edge to close the gap up a bit and filled the top corners so they are slightly higher than the cut out in the middle.

: Filling and softening the bevel edges.

: On the back I filled the cut out I had done. Think I was following a picture of an earlier turret. I think that's flat on these later ones but happy to be corrected.

: A few pics.

: Finally that fiddly little thing is now ready to texture.

Posted: **Thu Aug 08, 2024 1:00 pm**

Thought I would share with you a small part that I am working on in-between a host of other things, seems to be that busy time of year. Anyway here goes with what I naively thought was going to be easy. Oh how wrong.

: The rear lifting eyes. Absolutely fine as they are but I wanted them upright and with more realistic feet.

: Started off by cutting and filing the base off and rounding the bottom of the legs.

: Then had these little angled blocks made.

: Then filed the bottom of the legs to 4mm diameter leaving lots of wiggle room as I didn't know the height required at this point.

: With the blocks attached to the deck, the hooks plug in like so.

: I am not going to pretend that was easy. It was an absolute nightmare filing them to that initial shape given all the angles involved.

: I could now work out the height of the feet and hook that was required.

: Marked for the height to be filed too.

: Filed height down and gentle curves on the ends and sides filed.

: Took a little bit off the bottom of the hook part legs and once happy with the final height bonded the hook into the feet ensuring it was at the correct angle. The part in line with the lifting eye is the grill support, for want of a better description.

: I had these made at the same time as the feet. Like the feet I had them made bigger than required because I didn't know the finished height and width required.

: With the final lifting eye height now known I cut and filed the top down to its correct height. I think I will reduce the width by 1mm each side but still pondering on that at the moment.Always better to stop and think as its easy to file off but not so easy to put back on.

: Initial blending between the hook and feet. Still a lot more filling and shaping to do but I'm pretty sure they will work out.The line I have marked is where the layers of weld will go up to hopefully. So much to think about.

: That is it for now but slowly getting there. Back soonish when they are completed.

Posted: **Thu Aug 08, 2024 3:32 pm**

Excellent work, regards simon manning.

Posted: **Thu Sep 05, 2024 4:10 pm**

Thank you for the comment Simon.
A quick update.

: I showed you a few posts ago the .50cal pedestal base. To finish off I had this top part made.

: Fits to the base like so.

: First marked up for filing the front corners off.

: Like so.

: Then rounded the top and bottom edges leaving the middle flat.

: Folded down.

: The .50 cal mount sits snuggly in the pedestal.

: That leads me to the rear deck where I am knee deep in mods. The round bit in the middle of the spanner. I didn't want to see that fixing and the round bit isn't high enough to get a retaining pin in it.

: As luck would have it the old pedestal is the same diameter.

: Drilled a hole through.

: The original hole size was correct for an m6 thread, so ran a tap down it.

: Then drilled out approx 6mm of thread to make it look like a tube.

: Then cut to length required and threadlocked a cut down set screw in.

: Little retaining pin out of a pop rivet.

: That was the look I was after. That's it for now. Lots to come on the rear deck mods over the next few posts.

Posted: **Thu Sep 05, 2024 5:30 pm**

Excellent details David. Very nice.
Bob

Posted: **Mon Sep 09, 2024 6:57 pm**

Thanks for the comment Bob.
Onwards we go.

: Started off by making up the grills to see what I had to work with. Impressive little sub assembly. I will be replacing the hinges with the bar set up and decided to add extra cross bars to the grill.

: Whilst waiting for the bits and pieces to turn up worked out the bolt spacing and marked out for drilling .

: Lots of old holes to make good further down the road.

: Then added a 2x6mm fake panel lip.

: There was a couple of spare bars with the grills so made up a little jig and made some handles out of one of them.

: Fitted like so.

: The bits for the grills to sit on unfortunately weren't wide enough to get fixings in which I wanted to add.

: Made up some replacement ones.

: Checking the grills are level with the deck.

: Then made some handles out of steel.

: Tacked on the back and made good. Also plugged the inner hinge hole and made good as I won't be needing that.

: Extra bars arrived, thank you Monique. Filed the little cut outs in the corners.

: I think that will look neater where the bars end.

: Ready for final assembly. Back soon.

Posted: **Sun Sep 22, 2024 8:29 am**

A little more on the grills.

: Cleaned the outer frames up then a couple of coats of Zinga on the mating surfaces, don't want any nasty rust sneaking in there.

: Then fixed the two parts together to keep them square and spot welded all the way round.

: Dressed all the welds back like so.

: Then carefully filed and de burred the laser cut holes in the cross bars. It makes life a lot easier sliding the round bars through spending time on those.

: Then found a suitable chunk of flat plate and fixed the frame to it. Cling film along the top edge and bonded in the outer bars.

: Then added those two.

: Then slide the next bar up to its position with the glue on the round bars, you can just see it there . Each time pushing it into the frame until it had cured. I Used that 60 sec adhesive for the first time to give myself a little wiggle/panic time.

: Checking the cross bars are still straight as I go. They bend very easily and I didn't want the finished thing looking like a bunch of bananas.

: Added cling film for the final one so as not to accidentally bond the two parts together.

: Then two at a time inserted the bars in, popped it into the frame, wiped any excess adhesive of with cotton buds and had a cup of tea while they were curing. Then repeated until they were all in.

: About a dozen cups of tea later, all in and left to fully cure overnight.

: That makes quite a strong little structure once cured.

: Filled and flatted the spot welds, prepped and initial primer. Just got to clean the paint off the little bonding areas and fix the two parts together. Hopefully finish them off today.

Posted: **Sun Sep 22, 2024 10:18 am**

Hi David
Excellent job you are doing with the build , it will be a masterpiece when complete.
Keep up the posts as it’s inspiration for the rest of us.
Regards
Steve

Posted: **Wed Sep 25, 2024 8:59 am**

Thank you for the very generous comment Steve, I'm glad you are enjoying the journey. Given the incredible quality of the builds on here I'm not sure it will be in the masterpiece category. I shall just keep doing my best and see where it ends up. There is still a long, long way to go.

So to finally finish off these grills.

: If we go back to the beginning when I first built them up. I noticed when you pushed the cross bars in they were proud at the back.

: And level at the front.

: I wanted them proud at the front like that. So I measured the amount that was sticking out of the underside.

: Worked out what size shim was required, allowing for the adhesive thickness and cut some 2x2 shims.

: Loctited in like so.

: Another advantage of adding the extra bars is the top and bottom edges become fully bonded.

: Fixed back on the plate with cling film underneath and applied adhesive to the frame.

: And firmly pushed the inner part in.

: Checking its in level.

: Once cured, cleaned up and repainted. Nice and flush at the back.

: And proud at the front.

: A little preview of what I'm up to next. I have decided on the size of the bars and tube and used some scrap pieces to get an idea of the mounting block sizes.

: That's just a scrap trial piece. I can see it needs to be longer and thinner, I think. Anyway I shall be back when there has been some meaningful progress.

Posted: **Tue Oct 01, 2024 8:10 am**

A little update.

: Once I had decided on the final size of that pivot block I could position and mount the wrench.

: The original mounting point was drilled out to 6mm.

: Then marked for the cut out at the other end.

: Filed like so.

: Out of the piece I trimmed off the front mudguard, nothing going to waste, made a little bracket.

: Like so.

: That plugs in the underside.

: And comes through like that.

: Trimmed down and tapped the deck for some fixings.

: Then to fill the hole made up a little plug. That's a piece the same thickness as the deck and a piece of material the same thickness as the bracket.

: Fixed in place.

: It will require a tiny bit of filler between the deck and the plug at final prep.

: Wrench fitted.

: May only be a little part but pleased how that worked out.

Posted: **Wed Oct 09, 2024 6:29 pm**

Slow but steady progress.

: Started with a 10x10 bar and cut some pieces for the main blocks.

: Filed to length required.

: Then drilled all the holes and tapped one of the 2mm fixing holes, that will be a dummy. The other one will be drilled through the deck when everything is lined up.

: Then marked all the way round for the fake join line.

: Carefully scoring all the way round with the sharp point of a file.

: That was a trial piece I did to see what it would look like once painted.

: Then marked and filed the top surface down to the height required.

: Fixed on like so. Those are only temporary hex fixings, really don't like the look of them. Something else to order. The button head is holding a little temporary plate underneath to keep the grill level at the moment.

: Made a cutting and filing block for doing the tubes.

: A little clamping screw to hold the tube in place.

: I can now file them nice and square.

: Started with a 6mm piece at the top.

: Then the rest will be 5mm. All of these will be bonded to the inner pivot bar. A little shim washer added to stop th tube binding with the block.

: And the same the other end. Now I have them in place I can get the measurement for the sloping bits that attach to the grills. Back soonish.

Posted: **Thu Oct 17, 2024 6:35 pm**

Just a short post of a little part.

: Whilst busily making the angle pieces I came up with an idea for the supports on top of the back panel. So started with a 6mm plate.

: Cut and filed two pieces to the size I decided on and then drilled a 5mm hole.

: Then cut a tube piece just slightly wider than the plate.

: That will be going in there in a minute.

: Then marked for the cut out.

: Cut and filed out.

: Then drilled the holes for m2 tapping size. The outer two will be for fixing to the back panel, the middle is tapped for a dummy fixing. Then loctited the tube in just proud each side.

: Once cured blocked each side level and scribed the fake join line all the way round.

: Think that looks quite realistic.

: I will drill and tap the back panel once I am happy with the rest of it. Back to the sloping bits.

Posted: **Tue Oct 29, 2024 3:32 pm**

A bit more progress.

: Decided on 4mm plate. Cut and filed except for the length as I didn't know what that was at that point.

: Then drilled for the inner bar.

: Then drilled and tapped for the grill attachment points.

: Then marked for the little slopes underneath for the deck clearance.

: Filed like so.

: Checking that they open without catching on anything.

: Also checking that they are still level and square. Glad that initial part went ok.

: Then it was decision time as to how long to make them. 3 bars worth or 4.

: Decided on 4. Marked up and filed the slopes. Then measured between the sloping bits and the pivot blocks and cut the sections of tube to fit in the gaps.

: Fitted like so.

: Starting to take shape.

: The next job is to 638 all these parts together then I can file the ends to match the tube so it looks like one piece, hopefully.

Posted: **Fri Nov 29, 2024 9:59 am**

Filler caps. I wanted to make these nice and functional as there is going to be things underneath all of them, more on that later. So a few little mods.

: Started off loctiting a washer on the pivot blocks then filing to match. That stops them binding on the decks and chewing the paint off.

: Then I needed a 2mm deep counterbore, 4.5mm diameter in one side of the block the handle goes in.

: As I didn't have a bit that size just used a drill bit. Not ideal but did the job ok.

: This was a trial piece to see if the idea would work. Drilled a piece of 3mm bar and fitted a 3/64th rivet in it.

: That fits snuggly in there when pushed in.

: Then filed a little slot, like so.

: Just enough clearance for the rivet head.

: Then once it is through the handle can be rotated and locks in place.

: Then made a little collar, like so.

: Once I had proved it would work into production.

: I used 638 on the collars and rivets.

: Replaced the pins with clevis pins and split pins.

: Opens and shuts nicely and the handle is locked in place.

: All done.

Posted: **Sat Nov 30, 2024 5:25 pm**

Just a little bit I finished this morning.

: The rear bullet guard. Absolutely fine as it is but I wanted the top of the U shaped piece a bit wider.

: I couldn't think of a way to alter the part so did a couple of drawings and cut one out as a pattern to see if it was what I was hoping to achieve.