Easy Eight No22

[Adrian Harris]

That's a very nice subtle texture

And hiding the gap between the bush and the mantle makes a big difference to the look of the piece.

Adrian.

[David Hartwell]

Thank you Adrian,

That took about six little squirts into the lid of the can to do that. In terms of the cost of one can that is a lot of coverage you can get out of one can. I'm probably not the only one that has that bad habit of leaving little bits in the cans lined up on a shelf, good way to use them up.

Regards,

Dave.

[Marco Peter]

Looks mighty real! What do you dab it with? Or... Did I read it correct and you sprayed the stuff from pic 2 in the lid of the can?

[David Hartwell]

Hi Marco,

In picture two you can see the brush I used to dab it on. They are from my local hobby shop, a set of different sizes and shapes. The bristles are quite stiff, not like super fine artists ones. I didn't spray it onto the mantlet. Hope that helps.

Regards,

Dave.

[Marco Peter]

I meant to ask what the substance in the cup is but I guess I know now.

[David Hartwell]

So back to the tracks.

Pin grooves finally completed. I must admit I did slip off the end of the pin whilst grinding, probably due to lack of concentration or just completely lost in the monotony of it, on a couple of them. Thank you for the speedy replacements Monique.

Even worse with about 20 to go my trusted Dremel threw its hand in. That had certainly done some work over the years. So that had to be replaced.

Needed to order longer grub screws and found these rather nice matt black stainless ones so decided to order the shorter ones as well. Think I need to get out more talking about grub screws.

I decided to try something else on the links. I didn't like the painted finish, that were in the earlier post on the tracks. I visited my local Anodising company and had a chat. That was quite an interesting conversation to say the least. Can you imagine asking the boss of a company that prides itself in top quality finishes for a dirty matt black finish and don't mind how rough it looks. So I had two done as a test as shown.

He did warn me that not all castings will take the initial dyeing part of the process and the colour may vary. They are like a dark charcoal colour. I'm sure not to everyones liking but I actually like the finish.

Even though I had already done all the initial filing here and there I did a final check that they all pivoted freely. Then dropped the rest of them off this morning. A bit of a gamble perhaps, I hope there's no issues further down the road, we shall see. I will update when they are done.

[David Hartwell]

Whilst waiting for the track links to be done, which I picked up this week, decided to work out the electrical stuff in the turret.

Decided to mount the recoil module on the plate. Started off by making a bracket.

For the unit to sit in.

Then wrapped the cables and P clipped them using csk fixings.

Thought I would try the heavy duty velcro to attach the module and a tie wrap, just in case.

A bit more added.

Using one of the studs for holding the turret on for that p clip.

Then drilled and clipped the cables in the turret. The bits of tape are just reference markers for where it all went when I take it all apart.

I have added a p clip to the bit that screws into the barrel to keep the cable away from the pivot.

Started off by rounding off the edges where the cable will go so it doesn't get damaged.

Then filed a little flat on each side of the curved surface.

Clip fitted like so.

Cable clear of the pivot.

Underside view of fixings.

Easy to plug in the turret cable plugs etc.

Enough room to get my hand in and do up the retaining butterfly nuts. Think I am happy with that, might use the heavy duty double sided tape rather than the velcro, plenty of time to decide. Now take it all apart and sort out the paintwork.

[David Hartwell]

So back to the tracks.

Checking the links still pivot freely, yep pleased with that.

I needed 7mm long grubs for the outer fixings and I had already bought 8mm long ones. So made a filing jig.

1mm washers between the pieces of bar. Then fitted the grubs and locked them with nuts.

Then removed the top bar.

Lots and lots of filing then dressed the leads and ran them through a die nut.

Interesting finish these have got. Sort of pre weathered completely by accident.

And we are off, assembly time.

This seems never ending.

Getting there.

One down, deep breath, one to go. Think I need to find a distraction.

[David Hartwell]

Decided not to give in and find something else to do and built up the other track.

Then touched in all the filed down grub screws.

Think they look better rather than the shiny metal on show.

That is it another part of the puzzle completed. Hopefully all the time spent on them will pay dividends further down the road.

[David Hartwell]

So having worked out plan A for the internal layout, hopefully the last thing to be installed through the rear deck hole will be the speaker boxes and speakers. So decided to start there.

Off the shelf angle with an extra bend added.

Threaded inserts added and attached to the boxes like so.

Then fixed to the underside.

Lock nuts will be used on the final assembly.

Csk screws used.

I needed the speakers to mount on the outside of the box but the cut out is too small, so had to enlarge them.

Before and after.

They now fit that way.

Boxes fitted.

Hex fixings used.

So now I can fit the boxes through the hole and a quick check to make sure the speakers would go in.

Onto the speaker fixings. M4 nut plates and csk fixings. And some cross heads.

Nut plates fixed like so.

Finally speakers fitted. So hopefully if plan A works that is what it will be like under the rear grills.

[David Hartwell]

A little bit more on the turret.

Decided to simplify the turret periscope.

Started by cutting a lid out of a piece of plate and marked for the angled edges.

Filed like so and guide holes drilled. This is going to be fixed. Maybe get a bit more adventurous in the future and attempt something a bit more elaborate, we shall see.

Had some pieces turned.

Just one hex fixing so it will be easy to remove in the future.

Positioning the fake lid.

Fixed with csk screws. They will be filled at prep stage.

Underside.

Topside.

Providing I can drill and pin those tiny feet, which I am struggling to even see, I think I will go with those guards.

[David Hartwell]

Just a little update on a couple of parts I showed you on here earlier that I have now completed.

As usual I can't take the credit for the machining but had that piece made.

Fits in there.I left the option to space it forward or fix directly to the back.

Csk screws used.

Really pleased how that came out.

Thanks to one of the members on here pointing me in the right direction I got the little black screws I was after.

You may remember I said the original springs were to weak. Finally after a ridiculous amount of time spent searching found springs with the wire thickness I was after and the diameter almost exactly the same as the other ones.

Cut to length required.

It took a lot of warming up to break the bond and get the old springs out.

Then away they went to have a tiny bit taken out.

I saw some photos of another disc under the base so I had these made to replace the ones that came with the kit. Not sure if its correct but I quite like the look.

Still bendy but much more force required.

And now they return nicely to the upright position. That is it for those, into the growing paint queue.

[David Hartwell]

Rather than waste what was a complete wash out of a Bank Holiday, I decided to make up the tools.

Drilled a hole in the hammer head then filed the shaft to match.

Then drilled and pinned the shovel and axe.Even though the pick axe parts are mounted separately I shaped the shaft to match the head.

Dry test fit, then loctited the three that needed joining.

Drilled and pinned through the hammer head after it had cured.

Tiny bit of filling required.

That's them done, into prep and paint. Think I enjoyed the day more doing them rather than slogging away in the garden.

[Martin Donnison]

How do you guys put so many pictures up at the same time. I have an iPhone and can’t seen to reduce the size of the pictures. I can only put one picture up at a Time.


Thanks Martin.

[Sean-Armortek]

How do you guys put so many pictures up at the same time. I have an iPhone and can’t seen to reduce the size of the pictures. I can only put one picture up at a Time.


Thanks Martin.

Not sure exactly on iPhone, ive never owned one, but if you search your app store for something along the lines of 'image size reducer' you should find something that'll compress the file size without making it the size of a postage stamp. Most of them can reduce several images at once.

Then just attach all your images to your post, which you should be able to highlight and upload multiple images simultaneously.
Then click the 'place inline' button that appears after it's uploaded and you can position the images around your text to suit.

Hope this helps