Tony M Posted December 23, 2012 Share Posted December 23, 2012 Royal Signals Ptarmigan Comms Wagon (Picture, Witham). Took 2 years to build starting with KFS's Bedford MK as the prime mover, everything else is scratch built. I'll be posting more pictures from start to finish. Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted December 23, 2012 Share Posted December 23, 2012 If that wasn't on a base you'd have said it was real! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neilie Posted December 23, 2012 Share Posted December 23, 2012 Beautiful work on this....look forward to more photos. It definitely could me mistaken for 1:1. Cheers, Neil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony M Posted December 26, 2012 Author Share Posted December 26, 2012 To get more info on the Ptarmigan Comms wagon (not just from memory & a couple of photos) a 400 mile round trip to MOD Sales, Witham was the order of the day & with over 200 photos, various measurments & KFS's 1/24 scale Bedford MK, I had everything I needed to start Project P, which was started prior to IPMS 2010 & finished the day before IPMS 2012. I started with the Bedford's flat bed first as the prime mover was from instructions & all the rest of the model was going to be scratch built & this was prominently made from Evergreen products, with a few other bits & pieces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
okdoky Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 Tony Thanks for posting up your build photos !!!!!!!!!!!!! Your build and painting makes this look so damned real !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Amazing attention to detail and can't believe this was your first !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You hit the mark on this one !!!!!!!!!!! Any plans for a second vehicle ,,,,,,,,,,,,,, maybe another comms or supporting role ?????????????? Looking forward to seeing more All the best Nige Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony M Posted December 27, 2012 Author Share Posted December 27, 2012 (edited) People may not believe it was my first build, but anyone can eat an elephant…….in small pieces. That’s all I done, built each bit, one step at a time, then put it all together, not realising how big a job I took on? I got the idea for the paint job from one of the lads in the Sqn. We lined all the wagons up, masked them up & as he was a professional paint sprayer, he came along & sprayed the whole fleet & it looked better than hand painted jobs. Mast The masts are Scam 12 (12 meters high) fully extended. The main body of the mast is made from evergreen square tubing but when I tried to use the round tubing for the sections that extend, I found that the plastic was too thick & I couldn’t put the required 7 sections together. I then turned to brass & because the brass tubes are thinner, I was able to slide 7 sections together & slide the larger section into the square evergreen tube. Spacers were put into 2 of the sections so the mast is posed with two sections raised. In reality, the mast would have been extended to full height then ‘height & gains’ would be carried out to reduce the height of the mast for concealment whilst keeping the strongest signal. The holding brackets for the vehicle mounted mast were fabricated prior to fitting to the back of the box body. Next project……Ptarmigan Triffid/Radio Relay FV439. KFS is bringing out the FV432 next year, I’m researching the FV439 at mo as we never dealt with the armoured side & the 432 will be converted (hopefully?). Tony Edited December 28, 2012 by Tony M Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony M Posted December 28, 2012 Author Share Posted December 28, 2012 (edited) Triffid Radio Banks (Triffid plant has 3 leaves, Radio banks has 3 Radio Freq heads per bank, hence the name Triffid). All the sections of the three Triffid radio banks could all be removed, however, when the inner skin of the box body was installed, I put the radio banks in to test fit them to then realise that I’d made them 1mm too wide (each radio bank) so I had to remake all three radio banks so they were 3mm overall narrower in width. Edited December 28, 2012 by Tony M Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony M Posted December 28, 2012 Author Share Posted December 28, 2012 The spray job.... I used Halford's spray primer on everything. I spent more time cleaning the spray gun than actually using it & it was only 2 weeks prior to finishing the project that I found out that acrylic paint was water based (not like enamel), so I could've cleaned everything with water rather than acrylic thinners (that I used sparingly) lol. But then again, I was sold acrylic thinners when I first started & if you don't know otherwise? & no doubt......I've still a lot to learn? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
okdoky Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 The spray job.... [ATTACH=CONFIG]70840[/ATTACH] I used Halford's spray primer on everything. I spent more time cleaning the spray gun than actually using it & it was only 2 weeks prior to finishing the project that I found out that acrylic paint was water based (not like enamel), so I could've cleaned everything with water rather than acrylic thinners (that I used sparingly) lol. But then again, I was sold acrylic thinners when I first started & if you don't know otherwise? & no doubt......I've still a lot to learn? Tony If you still have more to learn ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, I am going back to train spotting !!!!!!!!!! That detail and finish is award winning mate !!!!!!!!!!!! I wish I had half the talent to get that sort of exactness !!!!!!!!!! I struggle to get the small bits looking as neat and tidy as you have !!!!!!!!!!!!! And my my fine detail painting stinks !!!!!!!!!!! Looking forward to the rest of the build blog posts !!!!!!!!!! Nige Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timbo Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 The spray job.... [ATTACH=CONFIG]70840[/ATTACH] I used Halford's spray primer on everything. I spent more time cleaning the spray gun than actually using it & it was only 2 weeks prior to finishing the project that I found out that acrylic paint was water based (not like enamel), so I could've cleaned everything with water rather than acrylic thinners (that I used sparingly) lol. But then again, I was sold acrylic thinners when I first started & if you don't know otherwise? & no doubt......I've still a lot to learn? Nice work indeed mate..!!! For cleaning acrylics you need the spray cans of foaming cleaner, these work really well with acrylic paints, water is too much like hard work. The normal spray cleaner works well on enamel but is not so good on acrylics.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robin craig Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 Have you ever tried low temperature (ie winter) windscreen washer fluid for cleaning the airbrush? Over here the winter minus 40 spec type it has a lot of alcohol in it to stop it freezing, cleans real well. R Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony M Posted December 29, 2012 Author Share Posted December 29, 2012 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony M Posted December 29, 2012 Author Share Posted December 29, 2012 Coax There are 3 drums of coax & they are made from brass & soldered together & there is 20 parts to one drum. Each drum holds 2 coaxes & these are ½mm Kynar Insulated Wire wrapping wire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony M Posted December 29, 2012 Author Share Posted December 29, 2012 Tony If you still have more to learn ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, I am going back to train spotting !!!!!!!!!! That detail and finish is award winning mate !!!!!!!!!!!! I wish I had half the talent to get that sort of exactness !!!!!!!!!! I struggle to get the small bits looking as neat and tidy as you have !!!!!!!!!!!!! And my my fine detail painting stinks !!!!!!!!!!! Looking forward to the rest of the build blog posts !!!!!!!!!! Nige Believe me, I'm still asking 'novice' questions & still struggle with stuff, so I think you'd better go back to 'train spotting' lol I wouldn't say it was 'award winning', didn't even get in the top 5 at the IPMS show this year, but thanks for the compliments anyway. At times doing this project was mind numbing to say the least, especially the repetitive stuff & god only knows how many small pieces I lost picking them up with tweezers to hear that infamous 'ping' to realise I'd lost the piece, to then make new one. My next project is even more of a challenge, I haven't seen one in the flesh. Some of the radio equipment is the same, so I'm just going to redo them (hopefully better), the rest, I might end up boiling my head? Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
okdoky Posted December 29, 2012 Share Posted December 29, 2012 That Coax drum looks amazing !!!!!!!!!!!!! Would love to see that in close up and get a better idea as to how those tiny parts all went together !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What forms the hub or centre of the drum ??????????? And what does that then sit on ????? Great seeing the build now after seeing the finished model !!!!! Makes me want to see more again as you reveal each bit !!!!! Nige Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony M Posted December 29, 2012 Author Share Posted December 29, 2012 That Coax drum looks amazing !!!!!!!!!!!!! Would love to see that in close up and get a better idea as to how those tiny parts all went together !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What forms the hub or centre of the drum ??????????? And what does that then sit on ????? Great seeing the build now after seeing the finished model !!!!! Makes me want to see more again as you reveal each bit !!!!! Nige If you look at the pic of the wagon (above) you'll see where the coax sits, behind the cage. Here's the close up of the coax drums. The hub is the small tube, everything connects to that. The 'u' shaped pieces connect one ring to another, the 6 small bars connect 3 of the 'u' pieces to the hub. The 3 semi circle pieces are bent over at the ends & are connected to the inside of the 'u' pieces at every 2nd one, these divide the drum into 2 for the 2 coaxs. Hopefully this is helpful? I will be making another pair of coax drums in the not too distant future for my next project. I will take close up pictures of that in stages. Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony M Posted January 1, 2013 Author Share Posted January 1, 2013 Near side rear of box body, under hinged door. This is where you have the: 28v output, Don10, SHF, RF meter & HF quad cables connects to the vehicle. Again, evergreen was used with various thicknesses of wire & rod. The box body is doubled skinned to allow for depth of the connections from the outside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neilie Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 This is absolutely first rate modelling! The detail is amazing and the Triffid radio bank and cable reels are totally awesome. Keep the photos coming. Cheers, Neil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony M Posted January 3, 2013 Author Share Posted January 3, 2013 Everything can be removed from the Bedford prime mover & returned back to its original state or converted to something else. 3.5 KVa Onan Generator (Genny). The frame was constructed from brass but was a problem as I needed more than one pair of hands to put the parts together. I made a jig, which I did from scrap evergreen parts. This enabled me to make the frame & solder the parts together with relative ease, also, when it came to making the frame for the second genny, it was exactly the same as the first. I found a block of plastic that was used in jewellers for mounting jewellery on. I cut two pieces out & filed them into shape which was easier than trying to make the part. When made the two gennies were then mounted onto a genny cradle that could slide either way when mounted onto the vehicle. This was set with it slid out position & exhaust fitted for display. Gennies test fitted to cradle with jerry cans in their holders. Clear plastic is from the jewellers plastic block that I found. Batteries are fitted between the gennies & plumbed in using both red & black 1/2mm cable. Cradle test fitted which can be slid out either side. Even under the rear of the genny (see picture of real genny above) the mesh is in place, which can't be seen on the model when finished. Gennies are finished & even the fuel lines are plumbed in & securing door for the fuel cans are in place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
okdoky Posted January 3, 2013 Share Posted January 3, 2013 That is very precise building there Tony !!!!! Where did you get all that scale tread plate ??????? Nice to see the working parts you built in too !!!!! Surprised you not fitted a couple of speakers in it and lights for an all round sense explosion !!!!!!!!! Looking forward to the next installment !!!!!!!!!!! Nige Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony M Posted January 3, 2013 Author Share Posted January 3, 2013 (edited) That is very precise building there Tony !!!!! Where did you get all that scale tread plate ??????? Nice to see the working parts you built in too !!!!! Surprised you not fitted a couple of speakers in it and lights for an all round sense explosion !!!!!!!!! Looking forward to the next installment !!!!!!!!!!! Nige Thanks Nige The tread plate came from KFS (http://www.kitformservices.com/photoetch/CHEQUER_.jpg). You're 'surprised' I hadn't fitted speakers/lights, however, it has already been suggested to me (as my next project is a Ptarmigan Trifffid/Radio Relay FV439 & has some equipment the same as what I've already done) to use fiber optics & LEDs to light up the radio equipment & internal lights. . This project was my first model build, now the next one needs to be lit up, people don't want much (thanks Howard) lol. Gives me something else to get my teeth into. Tony M Edited January 4, 2013 by Tony M Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RecyMech Posted January 4, 2013 Share Posted January 4, 2013 Its your own fault Tony, you made this one look such a breeze consider the 'first time modeller' aspect that I thought a little extra challenge was in order:cool2::cool2: You know you want to H Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony M Posted January 4, 2013 Author Share Posted January 4, 2013 Its your own fault Tony, you made this one look such a breeze consider the 'first time modeller' aspect that I thought a little extra challenge was in order:cool2::cool2: You know you want to H I thought you might pipe up & squeak Howard lol. As for it being a 'breeze', I wished? Project 439 has started, it's gunna be slow, but it's started. Your challenge 'will be' included & parts ordered & remake of other parts, I hope, will be made better, with a lot of luck? Keep me in the loop as & when the kit is close to becoming available & when scratch built parts get made I'll send ya pics..... Tony M Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony M Posted January 4, 2013 Author Share Posted January 4, 2013 Grid Reflector After working out what the shape was (a circle bent over at the sides), I worked out the size of the diameter & I turned to my tool box for a socket that was of the same size. I heated the 2mm brass rod & wound it around the socket. The same was done with the 1mm brass rods & cut to the required size. Trying to bend the brass rod cold meant that the rod would try to spring back to its original shape. Trying to solder the 1mm brass rods into place with a 1mm gap in between each rod was problematic as if I wasn’t careful, when soldering one rod, another rod would come loose. At one point half a dozen 1mm rods came loose through overheating the 2mm rod. ½ mm holes were drilled using a hand drill & I probably broke half a dozen drill bits in the process. Putting a drawing pin in the end of the hand drill saved me from working holes into the palm of my hand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
okdoky Posted January 4, 2013 Share Posted January 4, 2013 Have you got a background of mechanics and micro engineering ??????? That aray is so precise !!!!!!!!! I would have been tearing my hair out when the first bit of metal sheet had probably bent and split at the first touch of the drill bit !!!!!! And the soldering is so tidy !!!!!!!!!! Nige Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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