Mark IV No. 01 - "Kathleen"

[Adrian Harris]

Well, I've put primer to metal, so things are under way.

Many thanks to Chris for sharing his experience with the build

One thing I've noticed on the cab - there are more holes in the glacis (EK0123) and the bracket (EK0615) than in the cab roof (EK0124):

shown here arrowed on one of Chris's build photos.

Are these supposed to be blind or should I drill them out ?

I can see on later pictures that Chris has fitted bolts into these holes, so I'm guessing they were missed from the drilling plan. They do appear to be missing from EK0124 in the Section 9 exploded drawing.

Adrian.

[Steve Stuart]

Hi Adrian
On Bovington's Mark IV and Lincoln's Flirt the hole immediately above the vision slit is filled with a Bolt whose head size is slightly smaller than the Rivets.
Have I inflicted my collection of Mark IV photo's on you yet? If not, please let me know and I will send you a DVD of them. Equally if anyone else wants a copy please do let me know!
Congratulations on progress Steve

[Adrian Harris]

Hi Steve.

I've not been so inflicted yet

I'll send my address by PM.

Did you go to Sonning today ?

Adrian.

[Steve Stuart]

McMichael Radio Rally at Reading Rugby Club

Yes, I was at Reading/Sonning today, the Sun came out, a good day laid on by Brian!
Steve

[Chris Hall]

Adrian -

Welcome to the gang ! We're an enthusiastic lot, we Mark IV builders .....

Those holes .... I've no idea what I did ! I know that it was a right royal pain finding that extra strip - I ended up taking off the rivet heads with an angle grinder. So I probably did drill those holes out, but I can't recall for sure. Anyway, Steve's photos are an excellent guide - if in doubt, just follow history !

I've done a bit of light Googling on K (11th) Battalion of the Tank Corps. Currently, there's not much to tell. Looks like they were formed in very late 1917 (post-Cambrai) and equipped with Mark IV's, probably for training. They were involved in some of the Kaiserschlacht battles of March / April 1918 (the wonderfully Pythonesque "savage rabbits" !). They handed the Mark IV's back in June 1918 and, by August, were equipped with Mark V*s in time for the Battle of Amiens on the 8th August, and all the way through to the Armistice. Then they served in the Army of Occupation, not being demobbed unto 1919.

There are War Diaries at Bovington to be looked at, but they seldom say much about individual tanks. There are certainly very few named 'K's recorded. So there's absolutely no harm in calling yours Kathleen, probably with a name on the front horns. I'd skip a four-digit number, which seemed optional. You may wish to consider the red / white stripes, like Daniel's, or stick with a plain brown colour scheme. Finally, your gender options are still wide open - Hilda, which went in at Cambrai carrying Hugh Elles, was a Male ! And some of the Beutepanzers were Females with Male names.

Hope this helps. Good luck with the build, and keep us informed of progress !

Steve -

Looks like a fun show. There seem to be lots of different shows around during 'the season' - can I get on the list of invitees ? Pretty please ?

All the best,

Chris

[Adrian Harris]

Thought I ought to keep my build ramblings in one thread.

"Kathleen" has had her brow lift, or forehead tuck, or whatever the appropriate phrase is

Heavens I'm in so much trouble if the lady in question ever finds this forum

This was the easy part, five minutes with the angle grinder and Proxxon sanding wheel.

I fear getting the cab sides to fit the new profile will prove more difficult.

Adrian.

[Adrian Harris]

Oh my word there's a lot of real estate in this kit It took most of the weekend to sand and prime the outer frames. Not that it takes a long time but when you have to do both sides, and only have room to do one at a time on the bench, it gets a bit tedious.

This evening I sanded the first set of armour plates, and then etch primed the firsts side. Tomorrow I hope to get the other side etch primed and the second set sanded.

The sanding takes quite a bit of effort as the cutting process creates a pip on the edge of each hole, which I am removing with 120 grit emery cloth. At the same time, I'm sanding down the plate edge, to remove the burr which is sometimes formed there. Next I'm running over the whole plate with 240 grit wet&dry paper to give a key.

The last step is to rub the panel with Upol Slow Panel Wipe, until the cloth comes back clean.

Then it's on with the etch primer.

Adrian.

[Stephen White]

Sounds like a lot of work Adrian. A set of scrapers might make it easier.

IMG_2556.JPG (9.49 KiB) Viewed 9488 times

http://www.armortek.co.uk/Forum3b/viewt ... =34&t=5813

And here:

http://www.proopsbrothers.com/proops-en ... 4181-p.asp

£12 for a set of three. I wish I'd bought them a lot sooner, they're brilliant for removing burrs and high spots, seating bearings and bushes and smoothing mating surfaces.

All the best.

Stephen

[Adrian Harris]

Good call on the scrapers Stephen, I think I may have a set somewhere.

Once I get the pips off, the majority of the rest of the work is making a key for the paint.

Adrian.

[Adrian Harris]

Later...

Yes, the centre scraper in Stephen's picture did the trick, both in removing the pips and where there was a burr on the edge.

The current plates are receiving their application of etch primer, then it's onto the second run of side plates.

Adrian.

[Daniel Scholefield]

Good to hear you are making progress, painting is a long process but the end result is always worth it (unless you're me and have to do it again!).

[Adrian Harris]

> (unless you're me and have to do it again!).

Twice the fun !

I'm really taking it slow with these panels due to the cold - heaven only knows what the heaters in the workshop are costing me but hopefully it will be worth it.

Adrian.

[Adrian Harris]

18 months on and things are moving again.

With the cold and wet weather we've been having, I've set up a spray booth in the loft, so I can paint the smaller parts as I get to them.

I sprayed a lot of the panels during the hot weather last summer, but lost track of the order they would be needed, so I'm fully expecting to have to hunt for parts in the boxes as I go.

One thing which dawned on me today is that there is so much overlap due to the way the fasteners are installed that you end up having to build everything in one hit. For instance, the channel in which the tracks run is attached to both the inner and outer frames, and not only the outer but the armoured panels AND the angle iron which runs around the track run, so to get everything straight you need to have everything attached. Which will make this thing way too heavy to be building in the dining room table

Adrian.

[Adrian Harris]

Cracking on with the build but not much to show for it, apart from a load of primed parts.

One change I am making is in using new armoured panels for the female sponsons, using the mods highlighted by Chris Hall.

As the new parts are separate, rather than a wrap around piece as provided with the kit, I needed to thread the holes in the main upper and lower parts, so that I could attach all the different pieces. To do this I drilled out the holes provided for the rivets, and pressed in an knurled M3 brass nut, which is held in place with Loctite 603 high strength retainer.

Once this has been given a few days for the Loctite to harden off, I'll start fitting the new armour panels. Some will need to be champfered to allow them to but up nicely to each other, but looking at pictures of female tanks, there do seem to be noticeable gaps between the panels, which would have been welded in later times.

Adrian.

[Adrian Harris]

I've had to delay completing the sponsons as I ran out of M3 inserts

So, I've been spraying up the various internal and external panels. Now I have one side nearly completed, I can see where I have sprayed white which should be red oxide and vice versa

Whilst I correct those areas, I'm going to start on the drive sprockets and idlers and get them deburred etc.

I'm also going to investigate sealing the various gaps in the track runs, so that debris and moisture cannot enter the internal areas of the tank.

Adrian.