Armortek

Hi Guys

Now I have a assistant I have some time to produce new projects. I am working on all the photo-etch artwork for the Blowtorches, Sd222 Grill, Tiger 2 Rear Mudguards, Stug III Parts, Lock Ring for Muzzle Brake and MG AA Mount Bracket for Gurtsack .

The T34 tow rope production was some what successful so I have decided to make the Tow Ropes for the Centurion. The pictures below are of a prototype I have made to see if it will be worthwhile putting into production. I am looking for tentative orders for these.

I have found three different setups for the tow ropes. I may produce all sets, but still have some research to do on the brackets for one of the sets. Maybe some out there can help me.

These tow ropes were bound together using thin wire rope, a very time consuming thing to do. I think I have mastered it to where they look okay. Hope to improve with practice.

The following pictures of the prototype have been made up in Photoshop as I did not want to bind all the wire on two complete tow ropes. I think you get a good idea of what they will look like once in production.

Singe Tow Rope Tow Rope is about 24 inches long, but I have to confirm this length.



Double Tow Rope with link.



Close up of tow rope ends and joins, the tow eyes are not the correct shape as the real ones had a unique shape which I will have to make and cast. I have used off the shelf thimbles to produce the prototype.



Close up of wire binding.



Complete set for Centurion with rear fuel tank.



Complete set for Centurion without rear fuel tank. There is also a set that fits a Centurion without the fuel tank, which has similar brackets to hang the tow cable on the rear hull, however I have to do more research to find out what the main center bracket looks like. The rear side cable hooks are similar to the side cable hooks in this set.



Centurion with rear fuel tank and tow cables.



Centurion without rear fuel tank and rear hull brackets.



Centurion without rear fuel tank with rear hull brackets.



Estimated prices for the sets. The cables will come fully assembled as shown. These set will not be offered as kits.

Cent01. Tow Cable Set for Centurion with Rear Fuel Tank Estimated Price $200.00

Cent02. Tow Cable Set for Centurion without Rear Fuel Tank and Rear Hull Brackets Estimated Price $180.00

Cent01. Tow Cable Set for Centurion without Rear Fuel Tank with Rear Hull Brackets Estimated Price $200.00

Around a third of the estimated prices is for the time in binding to cables, I estimate each pair of cables is going to take about three hours to assemble. It took me an hour just to do the three bindings on the prototype, there are 12 bindings on a complete set..

Please e-mail or post here if you are interest in ordering these sets. Delivery may take over two months.

Regards
Mike

Mike

How refreshing to see aftermarket parts for tanks other than the pussycats. They look good.

You might enjoy reading this thread:

http://pub30.bravenet.com/forum/static/ ... 2&cmd=show

There are a few amusing few heated debates on the net about whether Cents with the long range fuel tanks had a longer tow rope. Some believe there was only one standard length. It does seem that if there were two different lengths, they had the same part number. I have the Illustrated Parts Catalogue but unfortunately it doesn't include CES items. I'm not sure there was a third type - your last photo is one of the pre-production batch, which had features which were not carried into the production marks.

Incidentally, crews avoided using the stowage hooks on the exhaust shrouds for the obvious reason that the tow ropes became too hot to handle in an emergency.

Regards and hope to see you at the Open Day.

Stephen

Mike

Looking again at my notes, there is another thread here:

http://pub30.bravenet.com/forum/static/ ... =show&cp=2

The tow ropes on the Australian LR Cents measured recently are 9.6m and the original ropes are referred to as tow ropes 30ft (ie 9.1m).

Stephen

It may just be early days for most Cent builders but, including mine, Mike Stannard has had just 3 enquiries for these ropes. He is unable to produce them profitably without at least 10 orders.
Any more of the 50 owners want one?

Well said Kevin. Mike is going to produce the correct antenna bases and for anyone thinking of fitting the episcopes for the commander (x8), operator (x1) and driver (x4), Mike's Tiger periscopes are a perfect fit and shape. I'll post some pictures of the driver's periscopes soon. Regards. Stephen

Hi Stephen. Yes, bases ordered. Forgot about the 'scopes, so I'll be back on the email before package is posted!
Cheers