Comet A34 Scratch build

[c.rainford73]

Excellent it looks really nice. Yes.... Time is very valuable and hard to find

What are you going to fit for tracks and electronics Mr Wibbly?

Impressive tank

[wibblywobbly]

It seems that owners of Comets fit Panzer III tracks as they are pretty close in terms of design, although they are slightly narrower than the Comet ones. I haven't thought about electronics yet, I will plonk any old board in there to see how it runs before shelling out cash on a board and then discovering that it is only worth keeping as a shelf queen. It should run ok as everything is in perfect alignment, but there is no way of telling until I fire her up.

I haven't bought any tracks yet, I keep hoping that I can find one pair plus one run of tracks so that I can make up a longer pair that will fit the Comet.

Its only been whilst building this that I have realised how similar it is to the Tiger, about the same length, same size road wheels, same shape turret, similar upper/lower hull etc.

[c.rainford73]

Very interesting information about this piece of armour.

All the while I assumed it was a great bit smaller than the Tiger I.

Following along

[43rdRecceReg]

It seems that owners of Comets fit Panzer III tracks as they are pretty close in terms of design, although they are slightly narrower than the Comet ones. I haven't thought about electronics yet, I will plonk any old board in there to see how it runs before shelling out cash on a board and then discovering that it is only worth keeping as a shelf queen. It should run ok as everything is in perfect alignment, but there is no way of telling until I fire her up.

I haven't bought any tracks yet, I keep hoping that I can find one pair plus one run of tracks so that I can make up a longer pair that will fit the Comet.

Its only been whilst building this that I have realised how similar it is to the Tiger, about the same length, same size road wheels, same shape turret, similar upper/lower hull etc.

Interesting observations, Wibb. I can sense a spot of tank fatigue creeping in from time to time, as you try to overcome annoying hurdles. I know that feeling. I don't think this will end up gathering dust on a shelf, though. It has bags of potential.
The Cromwell is actually a shade longer (couple of inches) than the Tiger 1, while the Comet is almost a foot longer. There was a time that I though the Comet and Cromwell shared the same lower hull, as they look pretty much identical....at first sight. However, I think the Comet was based on an extended Cromwell lower hull/chassis that was needed to accommodate the 17-pounder gun, which needed a bigger turret ring (and turret) than the Cromwell could handle.
The metal suspension arms I bought from Chris Ludwig fit both the Cromwell and Comet. In fact, many of the parts are interchangeable. But his initial design for the Cromwell (echoing the Tiger 1 theme) made use of adapted HL Tiger 1 plastic arms. Incidentally, he (Chris) uses Pz IV tracks on his models. They look quite similar to the Cromwell type, and the Comet's too.

[wibblywobbly]

Tom and myself were having this discussion yesterday, he had his Ludwig Cromwell in front of me, and I could see that it was smaller than my Comet. I checked up when I was back home and sure enough, the Comet is indeed longer and wider....phew...!!

I designed and printed a couple more parts. This is about as fine as I can go on detail...there is a limit to what a 0.4mm print nozzle can do.

I also seem to have a bag of 15 Cromwell wheel centres....I wonder who might want them...

[43rdRecceReg]

I wonder too....
I like the gunner's side hatch you've printed there. I've had to make one for the Cromwell, and it looks ok; but yours has style. Of course, the Comet and Cromwell share many of the same components, including deck hatches, mudguards etc..
or I suppose you might call them 'tank furnishings'.
Have you looked at Chris's 75 page pdf. on his Comet? I expect you have, but if not, take a peek:
http://www.ludwigs-hobby-seite.de/Comet ... eitung.pdf

[wibblywobbly]

Those were quite easy, the cupola on the other hand is a pain. I designed one and printed it, over 2 hours, but there are some things that a 3D printer struggles with...so I am redesigning it so that it will print ok. I have spent most of the day working on the damned thing!

I haven't looked at Chris's manual, quite deliberately really, as there are quite a few differences between the two tanks, and I didn't want to be sidetracked. They look very similar, but hardly anything is the same.

[88-bait]

Holy moly, that's an epic scratch build! How come the big manufacturers havn't contacted you for a production run? Corgi OOC used my code 3 bus and coach mock ups for their production. Not that I was thanked though. I would love to have a Comet in my collection

[wibblywobbly]

The odd thing is that any of the big guns in the industry could produce British tanks. With their resources, access to blueprints and industry standard CAD systems, it would be a relatively simple thing to do. Ok, it has taken, and will take, a long time for me to design, print and test all of these components, but they could produce hulls with the mouldings already done? I have shoehorned HL gearboxes in there, but as I learnt last weekend the brass gearboxes are of a different design that allow the rear to be more accurate than mine is.

Even if they only sold the bare hulls and parts, and let us fit our own electronics and gearboxes, there would be a good sized market. The stock parts that I have used are all standard HL, so I know that their turret rings, gearboxes, turret rotation motors etc will fit. Barrel elevation will probably not be fitted as I never use it, and unplug it on several of my tanks, but it would be easy to install a servo. It already has a recoil unit in there.

Back to the build, I have done a cupola, I am not 100% happy with it, but it's close enough. Currently working on the hatches and the rear engine deck.

I guess that we can all hope.....

[AlwynTurner]

Lovely work Rob, the build is really coming together.

Following along.

Alwyn