Cromwell Mk 4 1:16 scratch build Ludwig kit

[maxmekker]

Nice and detailed tread man, thanks for sharing

[43rdRecceReg]

Another angle:

Gun in depressed state ( I know the feeling..)

Having determined that there should be room to the right of the gun to rig up the elevation servo, it's time to create a support tray for the battery, MFU and other electronic bits.

Battery tray shaped to fit tank floor

That battery is surprisingly heavy, and needs a solid support to keep it from moving under battle conditions ( ). In a way, though, the weight of the battery will act as a counterweight for the motors and balance the suspension out.
I tried fitting the chief components before, to ascertain their optimum placement (re: length of connectors etc.,), and whether all the bits I wanted in there would fit. The tray is a result of all that.

Battery and MFU tray in place

The Tank's vitals in their optimum positions

Putting these vital 'organs' in the right place, is a bit like an exercise in Tank anatomy, or transplantation
Next stage here will be to connect all the wires up, as well as the servos. Double sided tape will hold the speaker, Clark board, and Tarr units in place, apart from the bonded- on bits of tray support that is. (Bar between motors and Tarr, for example..)
Now..back to those life maintenance chores, made made difficult by faulty pedal extremities (right ankle, left foot ..) Bummer.

[PainlessWolf]

43rdR&R,
That is excellent work on the mantlet redo and engineering work to make sure that everything would elevate\depress. The components in their hull layout are clean and orderly as well. Superb work! Following along.
regards,
Painless

[tomhugill]

She's looking very good sir! I would say it's worth considering a bigger speaker so the Clark can reach it's full potential, look so like you have space!

[43rdRecceReg]

Thanks, Max, Tom and Painless. One thing about this Scratch building lark, is that it really fires the brain up.... and then burns it out, if you're not careful! Sometimes it seems like the challenge of trying to devise a gun that fires around corners... (been done, I know..but); or powering
a hot air balloon with a collection of hairdryers! Then there's the 'perpetual motion machine'... still needing some inspired original thinking
Miniaturizing JBL studio speakers to fit in a 1/16 tank would also be quite a trick too..... For now, the cheapo Taigen one will have to do...

[c.rainford73]

Absolutely stunning work. I think the inside is as wonderfully designed as the exterior. Such a well though out build all around.

[Dr Phibes]

Just been catching up on this thread 43rd and you have certainly made substantial progress! And I would add some superb scratch building and fabrication. It is really good to follow your journey through this experience, and as you take the time, as you have, to explain the techniques you use in over-coming the many issues that arise.
I agree with your appraisal of the Asiatam recoil unit - my brief contact with this unit was less than favourable and, in addition, the Clark servo recoil just works so much better.
Looking forward to seeing this amazing British armour 'up and running'

[43rdRecceReg]

I've been catching on some neglected chores, and domestic spring cleaning. After this enforced pause, the Cromwell has now finally reached a point where the exterior- that is the build itself- is largely complete. Apart from a proper coat of paint, weathering, decals etc., I only need antenna bases for the turret. I have just tackled the headlight shrouds Painless commented on. I based them on the Bovington Cromwell. Details follow below. I also got around to
tackling the distinctive rear features of the Cromwell, including the towing hook and Smoke Discharger units. Then there was the First Aid/ Infantry Telephone box to fabricate.... Hmmm.,.. for the dyed- in- the- wool rivet counter, or obsessively fastidious sort, a project like this is never truly finished. Luckily, while I'm something of a perfectionist..I also know when to quit if I'm ahead:
Here's the hook I needed to magic up:

Hooked on the hobby..

Then the Field telephone unit/First aid box, and smoke dischargers illustrated in this HMSO publication on the Cromwell, I acquired lately. This book also tells you how to service and drive the real thing, although that's not strictly relevant in a world reduced in size to 1/16, it's still interesting.

Cromwell Mk IV Rear of the Year.

Here are the lamp shrouds I mentioned. They're fitted in this pic. How I managed that follows below.

Lamps wearing Bovington style shades

Then the rear bits in place:

Cromwell's distinctive butt.

Right, well, to make the shrouds I took an old CD marker pen which just happened to share nearly the same diameter as the lamp. I cut a section out and bonded it to some thin styrene, which formed front lid, when I cut it out later.

Right hand shroud

The left hand shroud differs from that on the right. It has a sort of eyelid, with a set of metal lashes. I made this with a section of right angle styrene. The 'lid' was cut straight, while the section at 90 deg to it was cut in a semicircle to echo the shape of the lamp. I then bonded it to the lamp with epoxy; ditto for the right hand unit. I had to use epoxy as the lamps are metal PZ 3 models.

[43rdRecceReg]

Tackling the smoke dischargers was going to be tricky, but not nearly as challenging as the Hook. I think the hook took in excess twenty component parts to complete.
But first, the Smokers:

First stage of Smoke unit build

Dischargers bonded to spare styrene

I bonded the units to some thin styrene. Bonding them works better than using clamps sometimes, especially when the base the parts are bonded to is to be incorporated into the unit...as in this instance

Getting boxed in..

Box elements in place

[43rdRecceReg]

Getting the dimensions for parts in scale models, is one of the trickiest parts of a scratch build....but an interesting challenge. I downloaded blueprints, and while I couldn't get a decent one with the rear projection I wanted, I could approximate the respective dimensions of the phone unit, dischargers and hook. Again, as before, I measured the rear armour plate (110mm immediately below the 'Normandy' Cowl) and then resized the
downloaded image on my Mac so that the rear plate there was also approx 110mm on the screen. All I had to do then was use a (plastic .. Of course..) ruler on the screen to get the dimensions I needed.
This is how I began getting hooked on the Tow hook creation:

Tow Hook base

Flange for base

Base bonded together

Now, to rough out the hook enclosure and pivot. I used my trusty mini sculpting curved router chisels for this:

Forming hook enclosure profile

The problem with photographing styrene is that it's so white- really too white for proper white balance. Och well, it's always good to look on the bright side, so the saying goes.

Roughing out the Toucan shaped hook

Bit of tidying later..

Posterior parts ready

This exercise was, of course, a retrospective account of this particular stage. Gary (Max U52) had a retro thread some while ago that worked quite well. Indeed, it used to be a common movie narrative technique: to go from the end back to the beginning. Still, I think I prefer to build the tension with a forward looking account
More later.
It's the electrics next, and the troubleshooting phase. I'd like to think there'll be no glitches, but a broad swathe of varied experience, witnessed on the board, here indicates otherwise!
TTFN.