SimonBrown
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Everything posted by SimonBrown
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Well its looking like some enforced leisure time is coming...so...its time to think about dusting off the torpedo motor restoration. I put things on hold for a while as life and work got in the way. Its quite reassuring to know I will have something to keep me busy if needed. One nagging issue has been kicking around for a while. Some of the inlet manifold threads are fine, some are less so. When undoing them some of the plating peeled off, and being nickel (I think its nickel) it galled up the threads badly, leaving some a bit rough you could say. Here's what they should look like: And here are what a few look like: Sub-optimum, that one. The thread is 1 5/8" Whitworth fine - 20tpi. A rare thread if there was one. Finding a die nut has proved difficult - I set up an Ebay alert to see if anyone offered one for sale...not a sniff...there was/is one in Australia and I might just have to bite down and buy it if a local one cannot be sourced.
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Well I suppose anyone with an L60 or K60 Multi Fuel (sic) engine might be on to something and more future proof than the rest of us? I'll get my coat...
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AFV432 - Underwater GPS and Measurements
SimonBrown replied to SimonBrown's topic in Tracked vehicles
Finnish company. See here: http://deep3d.co.uk/2020/02/04/accuracy-defined/ And here: http://deep3d.co.uk/2020/02/10/from-here-to-there/ -
Hankley Common Atlantic Wall
SimonBrown replied to SimonBrown's topic in Archaeology - WW1 to the end of the cold war
By applying a little cunning and guile to the set of data I shot back in December I managed to get the entire western section to build into glorious 3D: https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/hankely-common-atlantic-wall-extended-bd6a8a1d0ed145f6b533f06b9eb1b47f -
AFV432 - Underwater GPS and Measurements
SimonBrown replied to SimonBrown's topic in Tracked vehicles
Many thanks for these. Once the latest model has finished running I will check the actual vs model values. -
AFV432 - Underwater GPS and Measurements
SimonBrown replied to SimonBrown's topic in Tracked vehicles
Yes! Thank you... -
Many of you will know I'm into a) armoured/tracked vehicles and b) underwater photogrammetry. I also err towards doing stuff with accuracy and for topside models I like to use GPS to drive the accuracy and location of what I scan. Up until now underwater GPS has been, to put it bluntly, a bit problematic. Radio waves don't penetrate the water and us divers can't use it. Until now. Last week I was working with the Finnish manufacturer of an underwater GPS positioning system. Its a seriously good bit of kit - still beyond your average diver but very cost effective. Anyway, I ended up scanning an AFV432 hulk. I have scanned it before, but did it again using the GPS feed to locate the cameras and scale the model: https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/vobster-quay-afv432-3d4821a40fe44b4283068062a3a0e9eb I could do with verifying the scale/size of the model - some check dims work out to be plus/minus 3% or thereabouts - but does anyone have a 432 close by and wouldn't mind running a tape measure over theirs for me?
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The Cold War Museum
SimonBrown replied to paulob1's topic in Battlefields, museums, monuments and memorials.
Done and supported with my thoughts and reasons as to why this museum should exist. -
Churchill tank hull recovered from the South Downs, Sussex
SimonBrown replied to Nick Johns's topic in Tracked vehicles
Chunk of armour with hand for scale. This welded chunk is by the entrance to the pit and has taken a few hits in its time. Missed the big chunk near the brow of the hill. Whilst fully respecting its not much to go on...any guesses what this section is from? -
The Cold War Museum
SimonBrown replied to paulob1's topic in Battlefields, museums, monuments and memorials.
This is good news. Best of luck with the application. Being relatively local it will be great to see the museum up and running. The Chieftain will always be a work in progress... -
Churchill tank hull recovered from the South Downs, Sussex
SimonBrown replied to Nick Johns's topic in Tracked vehicles
This would fit - someone had been digging and uncovered part of what looked like armour that had taken a hit from AP. I really must take a ride out that way soon and see what's there. -
Churchill tank hull recovered from the South Downs, Sussex
SimonBrown replied to Nick Johns's topic in Tracked vehicles
Duplicate! Doh. -
I needed to test something for photogrammetry and rather than scan my garden for the nth time I nipped over to the Hankley Common Atlantic Wall. This is just the mid section: Hankley Common Wall in 3D If and when I get time I will scan the rest of it, plus see if I can't find and scan some of the other remains lying on the common.
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Been busy working on a 3D recording project and the 1940s pillboxes make a great test subject. Its a bit techie, but does have a lovely 3D model and ortho photo (be sure to zoom in) of a pillbox sunk into a Bronze Age barrow: Pillbox in a Bronze Age barrow The location of this pillbox is on a pretty flat plateau. The barrow, rising up all of a couple of metres at most, provided some banked earth protection.
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Very much depends on size, complexity and location. This one took about 8 minutes to shoot the 224 images, 30 mins to sort and prepare for processing into 3D and then about a half day of computer time to actually process. Underwater is an altogether different amount of time, varying from days to months to get the final result. Can be done for less time, but compromise will always be accuracy, level of detail etc.
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Well, in spite of not finishing the rebuild of the 21 inch 8-cylinder radial torpedo motor I seemed to acquired a second example... This one is 18" in diameter and comprises of the motor, driveshaft and rear prop guards. It was lifted from the sea years ago and all the ferrous parts have corroded to dust, but the bronze castings are under the crud: 18in Torpedo drive train Judging by the presence, design and material of the prop guards this one is likely to be a very early example and possibly an air-dropped variant - the kind of thing used by Coastal Command or hung under a Swordfish. Equally, it could have been from a destroyer or MTB and we do have the wreck of an MTB in Weymouth Bay. I'm very unlikely to get the time to clean this one up and leaving it sitting on the drive is not going to happen, so I may be tempted to part with it - if there are any takers?
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In no way can this be described as a military vehicle...but it is a defensive structure so hope its of interest... I'm working on a project that is demanding a lot of testing of new techniques and methods, and the outcome of which is a level of accuracy and detail that has pushed some boundaries. Its all techie stuff so I won't bore the pants off everyone but basically it involves embedding GPS data into the image at time of capture. This will explain in part why the 8-cylinder torpedo engine has taken a back seat and gone quiet. Anyway, needing a subject to test on my thoughts turned to using the pillboxes that line the Basingstoke Canal as a reference and here you go: Type 24 Pillbox There are many examples tucked away in hedgerows fields around here, serving as a reminder of a battlefield that - thankfully - never was.
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Seeing this dug into the memory banks... I worked on a modified AFV432 project at RARDE Chertsey a long time ago. The K60 engine had been removed and a 6-cylinder Cummins unit with variable geometry turbocharger fitted to the crew compartment. The driveshaft ran forward into the steering box...right past the driving position. The tank shop foreman insisted we made up a guard that would retain the driveshaft in event of any failure of said shaft. It was a very substantial hooped bracket. In due course the driveshaft did fail whilst the engine was under max load...had the guard not been there to restrain it the damage to the driver would have been described as "life changing injuries" as it flapped around unrestrained. Looking at that driveshaft running across the hull and its proximity to the drivers legs triggered this memory...and if you have not already done so...do please consider a guard or restraint to limit how much damage the driveshafts could do in the event of a failure. Apologies if its already in hand, but it would be remiss of me not to share this experience I think.
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Churchill tank hull recovered from the South Downs, Sussex
SimonBrown replied to Nick Johns's topic in Tracked vehicles
Agreed. Slab Common used to be (might still be...not been there for a while) full of hulks used to practice recovery I believe. This hulk was not there, but in an unusual location one would not normally associate with armour in the modern times. So I will take a trip over there sometime I think. -
Churchill tank hull recovered from the South Downs, Sussex
SimonBrown replied to Nick Johns's topic in Tracked vehicles
This entry caught my eye: MkVII Bridgelayer Recently unearthed south of Bordon Camp in Hampshire In very poor condition but possibly to undergo a comestic restoration to provide a gate guardian. Does anyone have any details on this? About 10 years ago whilst out mountain biking on the lands near Bordon I came across a small hole dug into the side of an earthen mound. In the hole was a large section of steel armour, possibly with a suspension mount, that featured the kind of hole only an anti-tank round can make when it does its job. I had forgotten all about that until reading the above...I must go back and investigate soon. -
Diameter and pitch of the prop would be my first check.
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A chance to scan an Alvis Scarab/Acorn into a 3D model arose this week when I paid its owner a visit: Alvis Scarab/Acorn Charming little vehicle with a great history. The same owner has the Series III Carawagon and the results of scanning (for fellow forum member Robin) that will be processed and published soon.
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There are three of these vehicles on the SS THISTLEGORM? I know it doesn't help much...they are in 25m of water, are in Egyptian waters and a massive tourist draw to 1000s of divers... But if I can scan it - and there is every chance I will be back there - then I'm happy to help if I can. Whereabouts on the vehicle are they fitted? Failing that, I could scan the existing pump into 3D and then mirror it in CAD?
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Duplicate post...
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Hagglunds Bv206 - Buying and Owning/Operating
SimonBrown replied to SimonBrown's topic in MV Chatter
Gotcha. Good to know and thank you.