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I don't own a Sherman, but I was knocked out by Nick West's video on the gallery. Two videos of his Sherman moving and firing, and one even has a spent shell ejected from the turret side port! Wow! How'd you do that, Nick?

HI DOUG GLAD YOU LIKE THE VIDEOS OF MY SHERMAN I TRANDE A HAMSTER TO EJECT THE AMMO PS [NICK]

WHAT TANK DO YOU HAVE DOUG PS NICK

Hi Nick,

I've got the Tiger you can see on the gallery under my name. It's the early edition model Armortek released about 2 years ago. The archive gallery has more shots of it under construction. Wish I'd thought of using trained hamsters, as I could have saved a lot on Option 2.

Nice Sherman, nice videos!

Nick
Great video.
Hope the hamsters have got ear defenders and receive proper rest breaks.

Derek

HI DOUG YOUR TIGER LOOKS GOOD DO YOU HAVE ALL THE OPTIONS IN THE TANK SMOKE AND GUN ETC..... PS NICK

Hi Nick,

My Tiger has all the Armortek option 1 and 2 components, Vince's hull MG remote servo mechanism, and a keyless switching system to turn it all on and off without touching it. I don't really have the MG servo mechanism working perfectly yet, but I haven't really spent any time working on it other than installing the servos and control cables. To be honest, I'm waiting for a better dome casting, and then I'll get the MG mechanism squared away. The 88 firing mechanism works, but I haven't put any live blanks thru it, as I haven't been able to find anybody in the US who supplies them. The UK source can't send to US customers, except with a prohibitively high tariff of some sort which would need dozens of US customers to amortize. Don't have any animatronics installed to wiggle crew members or eject shell casings. That's way beyond my expertise and probably budget as well.

So, are you ever going to give us a shot of your shell ejection hamster?

Nick,
Your hampster is very well trained, what do you feed it? and what's his or her name? Is he or she married with lots of little hampsters running around. Have you any spare ones? I could use a couple of very small hampsters in my sdkfz 222 to handle the little 20mm used rounds. If they could also be trained to smoke dead Scotchman's socks in a pipe we would not need to buy Option pack Three.

HI PATRICK HAMSTERS SHOULD NOT SMOKE SCOTCHMAN"S SOCKS SEE THE MOVIE. PS NICK

HI DOUG THERE IS A MOVIE OF COLIN shell ejection hamster DOING OVRETIME NICK.

Hi Nick

Thanks for the inside look. The mechanism looks so simple I would imagine that lots of other Sherman owners could duplicate it if they want to go to the trouble. If the Tiger had an ejection port, I'd be thinking seriously about putting your idea to use, but if the Tiger had such a port, it's been a very well-kept secret.

Your smoke generator definitely pumps out lots more exhaust than the stock Armortek unit. Perhaps you might want to show the rest of us how you did that, too!

Nick

Outstanding! Well done! Love the shell ejection.

So how soon will the rest of your trained hamster troops be ready for sale?

I could use one or two for my Panther. It would look good with a spent case getting tossed out the rear turret hatch.

Tim

HI DOUG WHAT BLANK AMMO CAN YOU GET IN THE .U.S. YOU MAYBE ABLE TO SLEEVE EACH CHAMBER TO TAKE A BLANK CARTRIDGE YOU CAN GET IN THE .U.S. LIKE A 44 MAGNUM. BLANK CARTRIDGE. PS NICK

Well, Nick, that's a very interesting idea you propose, and it's the first time I've ever heard of it. I feel fairly certain that Armortek will take a strong position against this practice, as I would imagine the mechanism and firing chambers were not tested with this sort of non-black powder alternative. In fact, I would be interested to hear what Armortek do have to say about it, since the total lack of appropriate blank ammo available here in the US is a serious problem. It's perhaps surmountable if you're an ammo reloader, but if that's what is required, I think perhaps potential buyers should know that before purchasing the firing option. What do you say, Gill & Mark?

Doug

We are sorry about the blanks situation in the US. Canon Mania were originally full of confidence and said that they would be delighted to supply. Unfortunately they have proved to be less than reliable, and we can longer get a response from them. Geometrotec can supply the US but the shipping cost is very high for a small quantity due to the tight regulations. One option you have is to get get together a group order and then distribute privately. Perhaps one of you knows a good ammo supplier over there, that could do this on your behalf?.

Sleeving the chamber down to take a smaller blank is perfectly acceptable. The unit is more than capable of dealing with this. You should, however design such a sleeve so that live rounds can not be loaded. If you would like to send me details of the blank that you would like to use, I would be happy to design and publish a suitable sleeve.

Mark