Comet A34- Ludwig kit

[Son of a gun-ner]

Fantastic Roy

I so need one

[43rdRecceReg]

Fantastic Roy

I so need one

Thanks a lot, Mick. First, I think, you should dip into that monumental Aladdin's Cave of Sherman parts you've amassed, and assemble yourself a nice Firefly!. I'm very glad I finally got around to building mine, after procrastinating over it for almost five years I even have a Firefly barrel somewhere you could use.

[Son of a gun-ner]

I have a few firefly barrels already, but thanks for the offer Roy
I recently bought a Tamiya Achilles kit, and will be undergoing negotiations with Will for a 16th turret

Got to have all those 17 pounder variants

[43rdRecceReg]

Will need a tutorial on that jumper in cn6 please mate, I have a similar task to put one in a StuG

Somehow, I forgot to check the archives for discussions on the TK 6.0 series connection issues, before launching into 6.1s territory. There's some useful stuff there.
Anyway, I'd figured that all I had to do to get the new HL recoil unit working would be to connect the servo cable up to the servo recoil terminal CN7 on the 6.1s (same on 6.1) MFU. Without instructions, it seemed the logical place for the two-pin JST from the microswitch fitted to the unit would be the CH6 connector, as a microswitch is shown as integral to it on the circuit diagram. That's where the microswitch from an Airsoft gun would go. Well, I tried it and got a big...nothing. Seemingly dead as a dodo.
So I tested the recoil unit's servo, with the 'manual' option on the tester:
Gun in battery


Gun recoiled and hitting microswitch

I found the recoil unit to be in tip-top condition, and ditto with the microswitch on which I'd used a continuity tester (make/break)
Then I began to think that maybe the internal circuitry in the MFU was incomplete without the 'Launch Flashing Light' LED (LED 1) and Emitter bulb (CN15) connected up. In old airsoft circuits, they were often linked in series. Knock one out, and they all went.
Then watching Stanlley legions videos on giving the TK 6.0 series the 'smoking barrel' feature, I noticed that he used a jumper on the CN6 terminal. (Stanlley's videos are so useful, I'll away him an extra couple of 'L's in his first name: Bravo Stanlllley! ). All I did was to take a stock two-pin JST (Red/Black), cut and joined the wires, soldered them, and put a shrink insulator on them. With the jumper on CN 6 ( I suppose a two-pin servo binder, often supplied with a new TX/RX combo would also work, probably.)
everything suddenly worked. So, apart from the jumper, I'd left the two-pin microswitch (from the recoil unit) disconnected, but had plugged the emitter in. I figure the emitter is in series with the recoil. The two-pin from the recoil microswitch is, as I discovered, intended to connect to the four-way terminal block supplied with the barrel smoking unit. Thus, the recoil unit microswitch triggers the smoke, and not the recoil. Timings for the recoil itself are obviously managed internally via firmware. Hope that helps.
In essence, to get the new alloy recoil unit to work on the 6.1 and 6.1s, you: connect the recoil's servo unit to CN7; put a two-pin jumper lead on CN6 and the emitter unit/LED to CN15 (for all I know, the recoil might still work without the emitter connected, but I've not tested it). A further observation: the complete set of wires supplied with the TK 6.0 series, doesn't include a suitable Infrared Receiver cable and terminal for the 6.1 and 6.1s. The ones supplied have three-pin JSTs on them, designed to fit the Tk6.0 amd TK60s. They won't fit the 6.1 and 6.1s as these need three-pin servo connectors, and JSTs are just too large to fit onto the terminals. If you're planning to fit the receiver, you'll have to graft a three-pin servo onto the receiver cable.

[HERMAN BIX]

Boom !!, your tutorial worked a treat.
I have the system working as it should, if looking a bit ugly.
Now for the mechanical side of things.................for a change, fitting this lot in a StuG with a saukopf mantlet to the fancy recoil unit will be the challenge !!

[43rdRecceReg]

Boom !!, your tutorial worked a treat.
I have the system working as it should, if looking a bit ugly.
Now for the mechanical side of things.................for a change, fitting this lot in a StuG with a saukopf mantlet to the fancy recoil unit will be the challenge !!

So glad to have been of service, HB!. One of the many plus points of being on RCTW is pooling experiences (good and bad), and lessons learned. I fitted a saukopf to My Asiatam StuG IV, having made my own trunnions to accommodate the Taigen/Asiatam style recoil+ elevation unit. It probably would have worked a treat, but I got so fed up with the warped resin upper from Asiatam (and the unprintable language it generated), that it's been relegated to the shelves for now.
Here's a reminder of that abortive struggle. On reflection, though I was quite pleased with the Saukopf and trunnion arrangement.
viewtopic.php?f=23&t=24453&hilit=Asiatam+StuG+IV
The new alloy recoil I used here would have been a better choice for the StuG IV, as it's designed to work with the side operating elevation units that HL's fitting to more models, and is now the default one fitted to the StuG 111 now.

Anyway, do check out the thread for a few things to do, perhaps- but certainly some things not to do.

[HERMAN BIX]

Great reminder matey, thanks for the gentle prod !
I'm sure I will get it, but its not likely with the latest H/L offering by the looks.

[43rdRecceReg]

This Comet is pretty well finished. I still have to make a new partial gunsight, having broken the all-too-fragile printed one four times. Before that final fix, I think the Comet deserves some tools and the long, bladed track tool, that resembles a hockey stick. It's fitted on the right side panel of the engine deck.Cromwells have the same fixture, but it looks a tad shorter than the one mounted on the Comet. For inspiration, I used these two shots:


This is my effort- a mix of styrene and brass (waste sprue from an Aber kit):



I've also fitted 6mm magnets to the wheel hubcaps. The problem is, the axles are clearly made of an alloy without the requisite amount of steel in the mix, to hold the caps securely. Thus, they're okay for posing purposes, but could easily be detached in the garden. So, the wheels will be uncapped for outdoor manouevres.
Magnetic hubcaps: