BC312

For those lucky to own a Sherman or Stuart tank or any other form of tank here is a video that could help you out of a tricky situation. Has anyone tried any of the methods shown. 

Yes i go every year when i can. You'll have to give me a guided tour of your fantastic machine. I saw it last year but there was no one to chat to about it. Great bit of kit.

Are you at the Overlord show this year with the Valentine.

Thanks guys, much apreaciated.

Sounds a stupid question, just need the size for scaling. Brengun bogie wheel diameter with rubber rim.

There is a compass binnacle in front of the driver. I assume the turret moving round with the main gun swinging over the driver compartment would affect the compass magnetic field. 

Thanks again Alastair, do you recommend a certain maintenance manual that would be handy ton help strip down and assemble these bogies, i am sure theres a general manual covering the range.

Thanks Alastair for the info very helpful, wasn't sure the going rate, i assume you can get bearings  etc to service these. I have seen mentioned that the rubbers on the bogie wheels  can be renewed when they perish. Is this a process where you buy the rubber rim and fit it like a tyre or are they vulcanised on at a factory or workshop. 

What the going rate for a Brengun carrier suspension unit with two wheels and the small  top track wheel just out of curiosity.

Research work, project home work.

Anyone know the size of rivets and bolts used on the hull and turret plates of the Vickers light tank VI and tanks in general from 1936-41.

Just that small bit weighs a ton. They look like 2 pounder AP hits

With a replica, it depends what type of replica you want to do, there are many option bearing in mind that you are not going to war with it or you are going to run the guts out of it once its built. So you don't have to use thick armour plate just mild steel plate and not as thick as long as the original construction  is strong enough ie the hull and wheel stations are to a standard as not to fall to bits. As for the interior detail you don't have to do too much detail as long as the outside is spot on but that depends what you want out of it. Or you can do a faithful original.

The hull turret and fabrication work needs to be put on CAD so the parts can be cut out with a water jet cutter, laser or plasma thus saving time than doing it by hand and a pile of cutting discs years later. All the cut parts will be like a airfix  kit that needs assembling. You can rivet as per original, the holes pre cut in the CAD process or you can weld in place and use cosmetic rivets as  with Guy Martins WW1 replica. 

With the wheel station it means replicating the amount of wheels you need and suspension bits shocks you need which can be used from modern day vehicles which will be hidden from view and perform better than original plus the weight of the total build will be less as you don't need  thick armour plate which is kinder to the wheel stations and track. The road wheels can be cast aluminium or you can fabricate from steel a much stronger replica wheel. The tracks would be on the tricky side but not the end of the world, there are many options for that. Power and transmission is endless, find a reliable easy to maintain engine and box or  you can hunt for an original Liberty and go down that route, you have quite a lot of options for the power section.

The original spec replica will take time over a replica that plays the part but on spot on on cosmetically that is a shortcut in construction time plus with both options, modern technology cuts build time by huge amounts. The biggest problem is finding the original drawings or you can spend time taking measurements from the original, back and forth to Bovington, that if they allow you near with a tape measure and they now charge £1 per minute to look inside when i last asked a few weeks ago.

I would love to have a go at a A9 but would need heavy lifting gear during its rebuild and build a shed as everything weighs a bloody ton, even that small bit of plate we saw the other day, that was a beast. Did you find what you was looking for the other day after you left.

There is a lot of blown hull parts, i think from a Churchill at the entrance to the pit and one big chunk along the road to the mast on the brow of the hill. 

14 hours ago, Waterworks said:

Thanks that's perfect, can you tell me the thickness of the sheet steel used on the grip plate ?

 

Are there 3 sets of 3 holes equally spaced around the tube ? 

 

 

yes they are. The thickness on the grip plate should be the same.

The original sizes will be in inches imperial so what looks 6mm or near would most probably be 1/4 inch 6.35mm etc etc

Thank you very much, i will have to arrange something to pick them up.

How is the Covenanter project going.

Slab common had real gems in the past, like Cromwell tanks, Brengun carriers, Comet, etc etc. Weavers down at the back of Longmoor camp had two massive demolition pits, one filled in years ago but the place is littered with bits of tank armour wheels etc. The used to blow up tanks to test charges and armour and most probably see if it was feasible to repair at the workshops at Bordon. God knows what went into the filled pit.

Recently a couple of years ago the cadets were digging in at Weavers down and came across a metal lump in the ground and found a Churchill tank buried along with others in various states which Bovington took some away, the remaining they didn't want they just reburied. There are loads of vehicles buried all over the place. I have been approached to help find  lost tank over Longmoor but heard no more. 

I bet there are many Covenanters buried all over the place yet to be discovered.

I am after an example of a Covenanter or Crusader link.

Sorry i am thinking of other things when i wrote the last post. Just read the reviews on these books, looks like i am going to be spending some money. 

The technical history series of these books looks very good, what are they like.

I believe the practice of using alloy was stopped as it was needed to make aircraft parts. 

I was reading up on RAC range procedures 1942 they used a white and blue chequered flag as a action flag to show that a tank is loaded or about to be unloaded. Something nice to find.