Armortek

As all the engine deck parts are finished and painted I started assembling the engine deck. When needed, I am using a clock winder for the square headed bolts. I am using size 4. A long nose plier will also do but I think the clock winder protects the painted square headed bolts better.
It did not take too long to encounter a minor hiccup.
The hole is too close to the engine deck support frame so the nut cannot be properly tightened. It would not have made any difference if I left it like that but being me I made a 3mm thick spacer so that it can support the nut and washer.
Vince

Finished assembling the engine deck. It came together nicely.
Still need to do the tow rope brackets (waiting for some screws to arrive), the fire extinguisher (needs painting and decal) and change the bolts of the air intake to one size smaller head (still need to order those).

Now I need to focus on trying to assemble the rear mudguards.

Vince

Now I need to catch up!

Kind of a late post regarding the mesh on the rear deck. Looking at some old photos it appears that crews might have fabricated their own solutions.

I took some galvanized steel mesh and used JB Weld to make it appear as a field fix. Crude looking but perhaps more realistic??

(The turret is facing rearward in the photo, in case anyone noticed). cheers... Tom

Thanks Tom.

Vince

Finished work on the tow rope brackets that go on the engine deck. As I was at it I also did the front tow rope brackets.
A little fettling was required to remove the stiffness in opening and closing the brackets. Changed the flynut bracket hole and made it a slot for ease of operation. Made also a brass sleeve to hide the threaded portion of the screw.

All they need now is a lick of paint.

Vince

These are such an improvement on the old bits of bent steel

I like the idea of the brass tube. K&S I presume ?

Adrian.

Adrian

The sleeve is made from 3.5mm brass drilled 2.5mm in the centre.

Vince

I have fixed the rear mudguards that I am still working on to the rear plate and now I can think of attaching the jack brackets and supports to the rear plate. Used the plywood template I had made and using homemade transfer punches made from the shanks of a 3mm and a 2mm drills I marked the position of the holes.
I could not use a through hole for the right bracket as there was a bracket on the other side. So I drilled a blind hole and glued a brass sleeve with a 3mm tapped hole. Did the same thing for the handle clamp. Glued a 3.5mm sleeve with a 2mm tapped hole in a blind hole. Also I needed to use some spacers under the inner supports so that the jack would sit on them.
Vince

The project has stalled a bit because I cannot decide what to do next. Apply zimmerit or bench test the electronics. Decisions, Decisions.

Last time when I finally fitted Steve's jack I thought I had finished with all the bits and pieces of the rear plate, but today I realised that I still have to fit Steve's convoy light. I totally forgot about it. So today I started painting it before fitting it.

Today I also made my first attempt at applying zimmerit. Last time I was at the laser cutters I managed to obtain for free a piece of flat plate which was being scrapped. Lucky me. So using this flat plate as my test bed I proceeded with the zim experiment. I am using pre-mixed wall tile adhesive and just wanted to see how easy or difficult it is to use. I also want to see if it can be easily painted.
That patch took less than five minutes to do but as I said I was not looking at any precision, just seeing if it is doable. Now I will let it dry and then apply some paint and see how it goes.

Vince

p.s. Happy Xmas to all the followers of this build saga.

Vince, I think it looks great!

I used Bondo automotive body filler, which comes as a two-part hardener/epoxy. It's designed to apply to either bare or primed metals. Once it hardens, it can be sanded, painted, and so far, it's very durable. I mixed about one part to two hardener-to-epoxy, which gave me about 20 minutes of maleable material to work with. I let it set up overnight before painting with a primer.

I'll be interested to see how the tile cement works. Some adhesives become brittle, especially when exposed to very cold temps. But for this application, you should be fine.

cheers... Tom

Practice makes perfect. If you can’t decide what to do just start doing either one. It will become clearer what you need to do. Whatever you do keep moving forward!

Thanks Brian and Tom for the comments. After I finish this experiment (and if it is successful) I intend to practice a bit in properly applying the material to simulate the zimmerit.

Vince

Hi Vince
I’ve used tile adhesive on my Tiger, It’s quick, easy to apply and gives an acceptable result. It’s also easy to paint. I’d post some photos but haven’t a clue how to!
Phil.

Hi Phil

That's good to know. Thanks.

If you want to post a photo, click on "Attachments" which you will find under the "Post a Reply" window. This will display an "Add files" button under it. If you click it an explorer window will open so that you can find the photo on your computer.

Vince