Early April Update

Well, after a couple of weekends living it up and doing family stuff we finaly have some progress!

Howard has made the turret support frame which incorporates the recoil mechanism mounted on the stout plate seen in the previous post. Last weekend I took the chassis over to Uckfield (still on the temporary electrics) for the trial fitting of the turret. Once again, things didnt work out quite to plan and poor Howard was seen to be giving me 'that look' again! Not going into detail but we have measured the hull top and turret and confirmed they are more or less right with the correct angles as well when we first got the model. So why the bloody hell doesnt it fit together correctly? lol We had decided where the turret pivot point was but when we mounted the turret it was found to be too far back and overlapped the engine hatch. This would have prohibited access to the switches and controls as well as looking wrong of course. Howard did some metal working jiggery pokery and lo and behold the turret rear sat just in front of the engine hatch, but..... the mantlet was far too far forward and stopped the drivers and radio ops hatches opening!!! We looked, we measured, we mused and we argued but eventually we worked it out, the curved turret front just behind the mantlet was too far forward. So... we cut it off, cut it down and hot glued it back on just to try it out and voila, success! Again, doesnt sound like much but that took most of the day :-( We also made a start on the flamvernichter exhausts, made from rainwater down pipe and 90 degree bends. Anyway, here's some pics.

 A view of the turret from the front. Note the mantlet's upside down! Not easy to see in this picture but the gun barrel is removable with one of Howards bayonet fittings.

 A rear view showing the disputed replacement rear sides!

Underneath the turret you can see the finished frame nicely filled and blended into the base of the sides. The turret is mounted on the traverse mechanism and this is held in the vice. To the left of the pulley is the elevation motor and above the stub of the gun barrel is the recoil arm.

 The engine hatch doing what it was designed for, holding the top in place.

Now the turret sits about right, just in front of the engine hatch...

 ...and behind the hatch panel.

 The turret mechanism mounted on its 30mm square tube post and viewed through the turret ring.

 The front of the turret with the mantlet removed to enable the curved front of the turret to be modified. You can see the trunnions for the gun barrel pivot and the barrel outer to allow the barrel to recoil.

 The view from above through the engine hatch showing the controls beneath.

 A close up of the turret traverse mechanism showing the three pin XLR connector built into the central spigot. This cleverly enables the electrical connection to be made and disconnected automaticaly when the turret is placed or removed from the tank.

The start of the flamvernichters! A lot more work to be done but a good start :-)

Hopefully more next weekend.