Hi,
The following 2 posts are for the weapons and associated electronics, including a short video of the weapons in action at the end.
In similar fashion as my custom builds of the part year, the recoil unit is home made, consisting here of a 9mm aluminum tube with a slot on both sides for an M2 bolt with pull rod connector linked to the gun barrel.
- RC 1/16 Churchill Mk III - Dieppe Raid 1942 - Build
Close up of the recoil area. After a polishing and a good work out to make sure the recoil is perfectly smooth, it is greased and made ready for installation on the turret. The secret here is to make sure that the bolt is perfectly at 90 degrees with the barrel, ensuring that when the rod is pulled, the barrel recoils strait and is not pressured on a specific side that would create more resistance.
- RC 1/16 Churchill Mk III - Dieppe Raid 1942 - Build
The recoil unit is installed with an eMax servo. It is small, clean and efficient. There was a time when i would purchase a 3D printed unit and try to fit it in... With small turrets, it was a real problem and taking way too much space anyway even when it fit. This home made recoil is real simple and cheap. I think vendors could make these metal recoil units matching various barrel sizes instead of their one size fits all 3D printed bulky plastic.
- RC 1/16 Churchill Mk III - Dieppe Raid 1942 - Build
Elevation unit, kept real simple.
- RC 1/16 Churchill Mk III - Dieppe Raid 1942 - Build
The 5mm LEDs are drilled into their lenses to match and plug into the alumimum overlay tube of the fiber optic of the Besa machine guns.
- RC 1/16 Churchill Mk III - Dieppe Raid 1942 - Build
Overview of the final turret electronics arrangement; Main gun recoil, elevation and flash with Besa coax machine gun flash.
- RC 1/16 Churchill Mk III - Dieppe Raid 1942 - Build
Turret rings are prepared for turret rotation
- RC 1/16 Churchill Mk III - Dieppe Raid 1942 - Build
It is made of the internal roundels part previously cut, glued together. also providing a good weight at the bottom of the turret. Notice the decreasing sizes matching the inside diameters of the layers of the outer turret ring. This was done for the purpose of holding the turret in place when the bottom of the turret is installed on its base.
- RC 1/16 Churchill Mk III - Dieppe Raid 1942 - Build
It is inserted from below after a good greasing and manual testing.
- RC 1/16 Churchill Mk III - Dieppe Raid 1942 - Build
The internal side is equipped with a metal rotation unit at the front under the hatches, offering much better torque and smoothness to the rotation. It kept the back of the hull free for a smoke unit that i plan to install. The rotation unit turns a large Vex Robotics gear attached to the bottom of the rotating turret base.
- RC 1/16 Churchill Mk III - Dieppe Raid 1942 - Build
continuing on following post.
