Firefly 008 build

[John Wiggins]

Hi Mick

It's all packed away, until our son goes back to London, on Tuesday.

Then all the major panels are being moved to my pottery studio, for etch priming! The beloved, who is a descendent of Gengis Kahn, forbids me and spray cans of paint coming any where near the house! She has conceded to allow me to build the Firefly in the extension at the back of the house, but she drove a hard bargin. I have to decorate our bedroom (there is no deadline....... As yet!).

Merry Christmas

John Wiggins

[michael hilton]

Hello John.....well done, the female of the species can detect ' paint spray ' at one hundred paces.

Tread softly....kind words and deeds. All may be achieved.

Time is on your side.

Appy New Year.....Mick

[John Wiggins]

Hi

Back in production!

Completed the bogies, after lots of filing.





Can't cpmplete the final one, one of the radius pins is too short .



Thanks for the advice Adrian.
Need to radius the dif case, next, then start priming all the major panels!

Regards and a Properous 2012 to all Armortek owners, and staff.

John

[John Wiggins]

Hi

Can anyone tell me the scale size of the strip that holds the sand shields onto the tank?



Thanks in advance, John

[Adrian Harris]

John - the radius pins should be flush with the front face of the bogie - not sure if that gives you enough to play with on that short one:

DSCF0160.jpg (72.63 KiB) Viewed 3744 times

Somewhere I have the dimensions of the strip, along with the spacing of the holes, but I can't seem to find it at present

I know the strip is actually made up of three or four separate pieces along the length of the tank.

Adrian

[Adrian Harris]

A few more pictures relating to the sand shield strip:

From the front of the Bovington Crab M4A4:

DSCF4495.jpg (80.43 KiB) Viewed 3740 times

[Adrian Harris]

From the rear of the Bovington Crab:

DSCF4492.jpg (87.1 KiB) Viewed 3740 times

[Adrian Harris]

And this one should allow you to work out how deep the strip is and how far apart the holes are. This is from the Bovington Firefly:

Sand Strip.jpg (78.23 KiB) Viewed 3739 times

[Adrian Harris]

And these two should allow you to work out how many holes there are along the side of a Firefly...

DSCF4539.jpg (122.3 KiB) Viewed 3738 times

DSCF4543.jpg (111.19 KiB) Viewed 3738 times

If you - or anyone else - would like the hi res versions of these then please drop me a PM.

Adrian.

[John Wiggins]

Hi Adrian

On the drawings I have (1/35th scale), the strip is in three seperate lengths. I think I have a photo of the side of the firefly, so, hopefully, I can count the holes in the strip!
I have left the radius pins protruding, so I can dismantle the bogies for painting.
I have to say that vertical volute suspension, is a bit crude, not Marks, the origional Sherman type. Glad I did not have to go to war in one, must have been uncomfortable!

Thanks for your help.

John

[Adrian Harris]

I've not been in/on a VVSS based vehicle but they do seem to work quite well on the model.

I guess it was mainly expedience for the service crew.

Q) Lost a bogie to a mine ?
A) Unbolt the old one and bolt on a new one

Q) Lost two bogies on one side and don't have a spare ?
A) Just unbolt one from the other side, swap the return roller to the other end and replace one of the damaged ones.

Adrian.

[John Wiggins]

Hi Adrian

I think I was posting as you were uploading the photos! Thanks for the pics, especially, the one of the strip on the Crab. Makes things clearer. Just need to decide on the thickness of the strip.

Regards
John

[Adrian Harris]

I think they're probably about 1/8th inch in real life, so scale thickness would be pretty thin - 0.5mm or so - but that would end up like having a razor blade running along the side of the tank

Adrian

[John Wiggins]

Hi

Another question!
Just started to etch prime the main body parts, I'm cleaning them with methylated spirit, is this ok?

What was the colour of the inside of a Sherman?

Thanks, again.
John

[Derek Attree]

Hi John
I used hot soapy water (Flash) and a scotchbright pad on all alloy parts as it gives a slight key as well.
Then let the parts dry naturaly so you dont build up static.

Derek