Easy Eight No22

[Robert E Morey]

Your mods to the parts are outstanding! Great work!
Bob

[David Hartwell]

Hi Bob,
Many thanks for your comment, much appreciated.
Dave.

I thought I would share with you some of the progress on the turret over the next few posts. Still lots to do but slowly working through it.

The pivot pins wouldn't sit flush due to the curve of the casting preventing the shoulders of the pins from coming through the pivot blocks inside. Ground a little bit out so they fit flush.

I saw some photos of those blind holes so added them. They will be handy for holding the pins whilst doing the nuts up.

Made a little tool.

There wasn't enough thread to use full height nyloc nuts so went searching. I dint even know they did reduced height ones. Luckily only needed two as they are titanium.

Then marked all the way round and rounded off the sharp edge.

Then made some elevation stops. 1/8x1/4

Not sure about adding the blocks to the turret yet, still pondering.

They will be blended in at final prep. Now for that gap. I didn't like seeing all the bits inside through that.

After doing some measuring found a right angle piece would fit without clashing with anything.

The fixings will be filled eventually.

That is fully lowered position.

And fully elevated. I have trial fitted all the elevation and recoil components, all works fine and nothing clashes.

No more gap.

[David Hartwell]

Blocked the raised angle bit off the turret like others have done and drilled some new holes for the lifting eye.

New position and angle.

Then bent the two on the mantlet to follow the turret angle.

Decided to alter the back ones so they were square to the turret, rather than angled.

New position and angle.

The tubes that go in the mantlet were replaced with ones that have a small radius.

The copy of the front m/c gun that I showed you earlier on.

Fixed with a little grub screw each side.

Will probably blend them in when it comes to prep time.

[David Hartwell]

The periscope armour.

Drilled 2 new holes all the way through.

Then filed down to the tip of the new curves and rounded each corner. You can just see the marked curved line.

Like so.

Filed the top off.

The start of the new top.

Marking out the underside slope.

Left myself some wiggle room by not filing to a finish yet just incase it moves slightly when I fix the top on. It will make sense further on, hopefully.

More filing to the top side.

I shall add the small round edges to the raised section last.

First 2 fixings added.

Then filed the top to match the bottom.

Final 2 fixings added. The underside of the base will require blocking to get that lip level with the the turret.

Tapped the original holes for the new fixings.

Making the little raised ring that I have seen in photos.

Will need the drainage cut out in the middle of the back. Rounded edges added to the raised section of the top.

Then finally finished the underside of the top with a curved edge to simulate the pressed steel look meeting the sharp corner of the base.

[Robert E Morey]

Great eye for detail - very impressive modifications! This will be brilliant model.
Keep at it.
Bob

[Liam Mahoney]

I will second that Bob, I think the bar is well and truly lifted!
Fantastic work.

Liam

[David Hartwell]

Thank you Bob and Liam, very kind comments.
Regards, Dave.

[David Hartwell]

The mudguards were started some time ago but I couldn't finish them until the main hull was together for the final time. So going back in time this is how it all started.

I wanted the side rails to go full length, that's lengths of 1/8 x 1/4.

Extra fixing points added.

Then after lots of photo studying worked out where I wanted the joins in the mudguards and cut them into 3 pieces.

Middle section. The little holes on the outer lip were added after counting them on a real one and working out the spacing,

The cut off rear section from one side becomes the front on the opposite side and the same repeated on the other side.

Then ordered another pair of mudguards to get the same profile and cut sections out of them for the new rear pieces.

Joining plates were spot welded to the ends of the middle section.

Extra fixing point added to the rear of the middle section.

Front section cut and shaped, swaged the end for the front mudguard to sit level on.

Cut and shaped the rear ready for bending. Also made the fixing plates you can see on the lower main sides. That was the point where I stopped until the hull was completed.

So to the future or present day, the side rails fitted.

Then the middle section. I decided to start with the rear mudguards first which I have been finishing off today. Hopefully add that part tomorrow.

[David Hartwell]

Folded the ends of the mudguards down to the same angle as the ones supplied with the kit. Then made the fixing plates which are attached to the underside of the rear panel and the pannier floor.

Ends folded on the rear mudguards.

Cutting and folding etc. The corner join on the right hand one welded and dressed back.

Marking out for cutting.

The left one isn't welded as the little pipe will be coming through that corner.

Marking out for the cuts where it meets the lower side plates after drilling and fixing them.

Like so.

Then trimmed back the return section of the mudguard.

Attached the same as the fixing plates. Then marked and cut the outer edge and marked for the holes and rounded corner.

All fixed on.

Good job that lots out of sight, very industrial looking. Think I will change the upside down ones for button heads.

Just a few pics from various angles.

Just need to decide what diameter pipe I need for the left hand one. Think I had best get this lot off and painted before the rust sets in. Then onto the front ones. Really looking forward to that, not.

[David Hartwell]

So while I am busy on mudguards, quite happy to share with you some of last winters projects. Hopefully of interest. The stowage rack. This is going to be quite long over several posts, hope you manage to stay awake. I decided to make it fully functional.

The original components. First the outer hinge holes became the slot for the folded down bits.

Slots cut and the cuts done ready for the bends. They will be done at the end when I know what angle I need.

Then a section filed flat each end on the little upturn.

Then mig plugged all the holes.

And dressed back. I still need the two outer ones at the moment for lining up the top hinges. They will be plugged further on.

All the hinges I use were made from off the shelf ones. I cut that part out and then made each part from that. Finally reaming the two parts to take a standard pin.

Spot welded on, they will be cleaned up as I go along. Holes drilled and tapped in the top edge of the rear panel where I want the upper hinges to be.

Checking its still square when folded together.

Made a small plate under the hinge to replicate the ones welded on the real thing that the hinges bolt too. Would have liked four fixings in each but not enough room, so its two.

The top brackets were a little tricky. I didn't want flimsy bendy things, so this is what I came up with. Two bits of U channel machined to a nice fit.

Then cut and filed at the angles I wanted.

Finally spot welded through the sides. The upper side edges were rounded to simulate a folded bracket.

Then one half of the hinge aligned and spot welded on.

All nicely aligned. The rack will be spot welded to them further on.

Slots added for the clamping fixings.

Corresponding slots added for the clamping studs to stick through and the outer two holes plugged and dressed back. For those of you that are still awake, part two to follow.

[David Hartwell]

Part two.

The pivoting clamps. Same as before cut the hinge bit out.

Then the middle bit was made from these bits. Hole drilled and tapped, threaded stud made out of a screw. Then the thread adaptor filed round and finally reamed out for a standard pin.

And spot welded on.

The threaded bit will be cut to length once I know what that is.

The wing nuts will be reduced in size as we go along.

Checking alignment, etc.

Then made some fake rivets. Drilled the button head off and tapped them, then made the other half out of cap heads.

Fitted like so with washers between the joints so the paint on the arms doesn't get ripped off the first time its operated. Bottom rivet fitted the opposite way round to the top two like the real thing.

Checking clearance. After the threaded button heads are loctited I shall fill to create the little dome.

The assembly hinged up. My plan is to fill the underside of the hinge brackets so its just a flat surface, I think.

Checking the clearance with the grills in the up position. Part three to follow.

[David Hartwell]

Part 3. The rear panel clamping blocks.

Pivot blocks made.

Threaded pivot bits made as before.

Fixing holes drilled and tapped.

Carefully positioned and attached.

Finally the returns can be folded back to match the blocks.

Clamping with wing nuts.

Enough clearance once undone for it to raise without clashing.

Middle fake rivet loctited and filled for the little dome look. The other two will be done on final assembly. Just enough room left in there for a coat of paint.

Filed the wing nuts as small as I could. I haven't done the cleaning rod holders underneath yet because I didn't have any clear photos of what they looked like. I have since found some and understand how they work etc. So part four will be here as soon as I have made them. Hope it has been of some use so far.

[David Hartwell]

Had one of those lucky finds when I was looking for something else.

One of those tools for sliding markers on cables.

Squashed the hollow end slightly to make a small oval

Then filed a little flat section parallel to the oval end and drilled and tapped some fixings. The tapered end will be cut off further on.

Trial fitted.

If you read the rear mudguard posts earlier on you may remember I left the left hand corner unwealded because it would be cut out like so.

Pipe fixed in.

Fixings.

Tapered section was cut off and a curved end filed. Not really sure what else to do to it underneath here.

After that slight distraction I can get back to what I was doing.

[David Hartwell]

A few more little mods from the archives.

This was covered by many quite a while ago. The 4 little slots machined in the correct place on the turret floor.

Then an oops moment. The first time I pushed the cap head bolt in the hole a little mangled up shim thingy came out the other end.

The hole is a nice fit for a 1/4 pivot pin. So had one made along with a couple of spacers to reduce the generous sideways play. Drilled the holes in the bracket to match the one in the actuator.

Fitted like so.

Tested, nice and smooth.

The turret vent. Started by cleaning up the casting.

Blocked the circle bit flat rather than two slopes so it fits level in the back of the turret.

For those that may be inquisitive a 6mm radius leaves a 6mm wall thickness by 5mm deep. Any deeper and you will see the hole it fits in.

And 3mm off the top.

And had that little cylindrical insert made.

I think the rear bottom corner is still in need of some re- shaping, a little thought required.

[David Hartwell]

Carrying on with the turret modifications. In the last post I showed you the replacement pivot on the elevation actuator mount, onto the other end.

Ran more thread down the bar so I could fit nuts on the inside of the brackets and had the E clip grooves added.

Couldn't resist getting another two of those reduced height nyloc nuts for the final assembly.

I can now lock the bar in place at the same width measurement as the base of the mounting brackets keeping everything nice and square and use precision shim washers to reduce the sideways play as much as I require and the same at the bottom pivot. By reducing as much play as possible at all these points I found it reduced the amount of elevation play in the barrel.

All tested works fine. The 4 nuts on the mount will be changed for locking nuts on final build.

I found the barrel recoil mechanism was perfectly functional but allowed for rotational play in the barrel. I figured that would cause the muzzle brake to sit at weird angles. So I took some accurate measurements and had various parts made. The bit that screws into the barrel I had the internal sides machined square, they were curved, so the spacers would sit flush against them. Left a tiny amount of wiggle room so I could shim on final alignment.

Tested, works fine and it has virtually eliminated the rotational play. Really pleased. That is it for this week, have a good w/end all. Dave.