Crusader III

[wibblywobbly]

You should have used a ladder.

[NickDonitz]

Having done a fair bit of card work I decided to move on to making the fenders and side skirts. Now when we battle it has been known for there to be a little contact or the odd accident so I decided that these would be made in brass to give the Crusader a little gravitas but also to allow for me to emboss the ridges into the metal. Basically each section was measured and cut then the swage lines were drawn on and then scribed in. This was done with the brass lying on a sheet of soft ply which allows the swage to form but also supports the sheet and helps prevent to much buckling. After the initial scribing I used an old dart to keep running up and down the line until the metal stretched and a grove the right size was completed the sheet buckles as it stretches so occasionally I flipped the sheet over and ran the scribe either side on the now raised line, with a little work the panel will flatten and a nicely develoved swage will result

[NickDonitz]

Once a panel was made it was assembled then the next panel cut and scribed, rather than make all the panels and then find id miss measured anything. Typically each panel is a different size and left and right sides are also different. No mass production principles employed here, bespoke tank making. All the joints are soldered up and the whole assembly is good and ridged.

[NickDonitz]

Just a few more shots of the assemblies. All the sheetwork pretty much finished all the bolt heads have to be added and a fair bit of cleaning up but im pleased with the result so far. Now having said and done all that for the rivet counters out there whats unusual

[NickDonitz]

Work next on the turret. ive designed the assembly so that the top of the turret will lift off the base all the recoil and elevation will be mounted on the bottom section so it will be easier to tweek

[ALPHA]

That's some dedication Nick...like the way you did the fenders ...the turret looks on the money

ALPHA