RC 1/16 Churchill Mk III - Dieppe Raid 1942 - Build

FredtheFrench · Post by **FredtheFrench** » Sat Aug 07, 2021 4:58 pm

Waouaaaahhhh, I m jealous for this tank. Awesome build and details.

10 years ago, I tought this tank was ugly, but since few years, I dream about a manufacturer for this tank at 1/16 scale at a good price, not DKLM at 1000$ with option...

Armortek will be make one, but 1/6 scale and price............................................., outch, too high for me.

A futur TOTM for sure...

lmcq11 · Post by **lmcq11** » Sat Aug 07, 2021 6:33 pm

BarryC wrote:Excellent engineering and detail work Louis!!

Thank you Barry. I've found the success factors of such project are mainly;
- 1/3 planning
- 1/3 decision making on the spot
- 1/3 luck

FredtheFrench wrote:10 years ago, I tought this tank was ugly, but since few years, I dream about a manufacturer for this tank at 1/16 scale at a good price, not DKLM at 1000$ with option...

Thank you, me too. Over the years, I got really bored of building Tigers and Panthers. These fringe design such as the Churchill suddenly becomes more interesting. Total costs will probably get close to an $800 figure when all is done. If i had known i would have made a Mk III, i would have asked Chris to sell me only the main chassis components. I am ending up trashing about half the basic kit.

This post is for the motorization, with a short video at the end.

The base kit comes with a two layer 3mm plastic base for the gearbox, inclined with a rest slot at the bottom for the bottom tip of the gearbox.

: RC 1/16 Churchill Mk III - Dieppe Raid 1942 - Build

The design is made to use these Mato Panther gearbox. The DKLM sprockets are made to fit the standard HL shaft.

: RC 1/16 Churchill Mk III - Dieppe Raid 1942 - Build

Installation of tracks and gearbox went pretty smoothly.

: RC 1/16 Churchill Mk III - Dieppe Raid 1942 - Build

The pre-drilled resting slot at the bottom were too far back. The sprocket was ending up about 5mm too much towards the reat. I had to use the Dremel to make a larger hole towards the front. New holes were made for M3 bolts into the base. The bolts are going strait into the plastic for a solid installation.

: RC 1/16 Churchill Mk III - Dieppe Raid 1942 - Build

: RC 1/16 Churchill Mk III - Dieppe Raid 1942 - Build

: RC 1/16 Churchill Mk III - Dieppe Raid 1942 - Build

The DKLM 3D printed sprocket seems to handle the metal tracks well. I am keeping the tracks very tight like the real thing. There is an armored plate that will cover it. I need to design a way to make that plate removable so that the sprocket remain easily removable.

: RC 1/16 Churchill Mk III - Dieppe Raid 1942 - Build

I did not realize the gearbox would be so much at the rear, with limited roadwheel support under it. The model is rear heavy. I will have to reinforce the suspension springs under the last 3 roadwheels.

: RC 1/16 Churchill Mk III - Dieppe Raid 1942 - Build

Here is a short video of the first motorization test with a TK-60.

phpBB [video]

It is running pretty smoothly. Once i reinforce the suspension under the gearbox, i will be doing a field test of the chassis. Then i will create some more details for the chassis.

Regards, Louis

lmcq11 · Post by **lmcq11** » Sat Aug 07, 2021 9:15 pm

And a short driving test for the chassis. I've found that the tracks are currently too tight, the control board is pushed too hard. But i need to wait for an order of longer M2.5 bolts for the idler adjusters before i can loosen them further for a true field trial. In the meantime, the built continues.

phpBB [video]

Regards, Louis

Herr Dr. Professor · Post by **Herr Dr. Professor** » Sun Aug 08, 2021 12:44 am

Well, Louis, in addition to this being a most impressive build, I think you may have discovered a way to synchronize tracks for straight running. It seems to me as I watch your first test of the tracks (mounted up from the surface), that the video shows when the tracks are in sync. and when not. Am I right? If so, a little video could be most useful for "fine tuning."

lmcq11 · Post by **lmcq11** » Sun Aug 08, 2021 1:44 am

Herr Dr. Professor wrote:Well, Louis, in addition to this being a most impressive build, I think you may have discovered a way to synchronize tracks for straight running. It seems to me as I watch your first test of the tracks (mounted up from the surface), that the video shows when the tracks are in sync. and when not. Am I right? If so, a little video could be most useful for "fine tuning."

Yes, the tracks were too tight on the first test and the gearbox were not greased yet. I was so happy just to see the tracks run… It moves a lot more smoothly on the second video after some fine tuning and also strengthening of the suspension under the gearbox. I’ll be able to fine tune more once I receive longer metal bolts for the track adjusters. Considering that this chassis is hand built and all the components were manually installed and visually aligned, I think it’s promising. I was a bit concerned about the plastic sprocket with metal tracks but I ran the vehicle for a 20 minutes on easy surface and so far no visible wear. I was also wondering if the idler extensions would suffer when turning but that’s fine too. But as this model will be a rare showcase model for short demo only, it will be ok as I will keep it safe on easy surfaces. If I want to send a tank in the bush or fight a Leopard II, I’ll send something else…

FredtheFrench · Post by **FredtheFrench** » Sun Aug 08, 2021 11:07 am

Driving is trully fluid...

lmcq11 · Post by **lmcq11** » Mon Aug 09, 2021 8:44 pm

Hi, continuing with the build, rear area.

The Churchill has an armor plate covering the whole sprocket at the rear. The whole thing is a mess with lots of rivets and bolts of different sizes. This particular tank seen on Prime Portal seems to be a later production of the Mk III than the ones used at DIeppe. I have to be careful as i have noticed key differences in features. All Mk III are not created equal. In any cases, we cannot trust any surviving vehicle for representing the tank at production time because of field mods, repair and restauration using later components.

: RC 1/16 Churchill Mk III - Dieppe Raid 1942 - Build

AFV CLub does confirm rivets of different sizes that is part of the story here to reproduce.

: RC 1/16 Churchill Mk III - Dieppe Raid 1942 - Build

The back plate is a bit thinner than the rest of the side armor. I calculated that this indentation equals to 1mm for the model reproduction.

: RC 1/16 Churchill Mk III - Dieppe Raid 1942 - Build

The plate needs to be 3mm thick. But as i want the opening for the sprocket to be removable, i use a 1mm and a 2mm plates in layer.

: RC 1/16 Churchill Mk III - Dieppe Raid 1942 - Build

This allows for the round plate to be cut and have something in the back to screw on to, likely like the real thing.

: RC 1/16 Churchill Mk III - Dieppe Raid 1942 - Build

The plates are given the shape seen in reference and matching the sprocket.

: RC 1/16 Churchill Mk III - Dieppe Raid 1942 - Build

Making sure that the 12 bolts are equally spaced cannot be left to eyeballing.

: RC 1/16 Churchill Mk III - Dieppe Raid 1942 - Build; Capture7.JPG (95.4 KiB) Viewed 2313 times

I decided to use M1.2 bolts. Maybe a bit big but M1 were too small.

: RC 1/16 Churchill Mk III - Dieppe Raid 1942 - Build

I have two sizes of rivets available. If i had known this Churchill would be so full of rivets of different sizes, i would have ordered more variants. Placement of rivets need to be thoroughly calculated.

: RC 1/16 Churchill Mk III - Dieppe Raid 1942 - Build

Testing the integration of the sprocket armored plate. This plate will not be glued and must remain removable. It currently holds using one of the M1.2 bolts that goes into the main armor.

: RC 1/16 Churchill Mk III - Dieppe Raid 1942 - Build

continuing on following post

lmcq11 · Post by **lmcq11** » Mon Aug 09, 2021 8:58 pm

The finished sprocket armored plates ready for installation.

: RC 1/16 Churchill Mk III - Dieppe Raid 1942 - Build

The sprocket has a round housing that holds the brakes. It needs to be reproduce because it is highly visible.

: RC 1/16 Churchill Mk III - Dieppe Raid 1942 - Build

Measurements are taken. To get to the proper thickness, roundels of 2 sizes are created to be glued, sanded and polished.

: RC 1/16 Churchill Mk III - Dieppe Raid 1942 - Build

The completed brake housing ready for installation.

: RC 1/16 Churchill Mk III - Dieppe Raid 1942 - Build

But when the time came to install them, it did not take me long to notice something was wrong. The borders of the brake housing should not be at the edge of the side armor plates. When comparing against references, the hull should be al least 8mm deeper than the Ludwig part.

: RC 1/16 Churchill Mk III - Dieppe Raid 1942 - Build

There are also shapes and features that are incorrect.

: RC 1/16 Churchill Mk III - Dieppe Raid 1942 - Build

No way around it, i had to fix it. Here adding a extension for the sides.

: RC 1/16 Churchill Mk III - Dieppe Raid 1942 - Build

Longer back plate overlay as well.

: RC 1/16 Churchill Mk III - Dieppe Raid 1942 - Build

The rear armor need to be reshaped as per references.

: RC 1/16 Churchill Mk III - Dieppe Raid 1942 - Build

Here we are, corrected rear bottom hull armor plate arrangement.

: RC 1/16 Churchill Mk III - Dieppe Raid 1942 - Build

continuing on following post

lmcq11 · Post by **lmcq11** » Mon Aug 09, 2021 9:17 pm

Here we go, much better. Rivets seen around the rear were added at the same time.

: RC 1/16 Churchill Mk III - Dieppe Raid 1942 - Build

: RC 1/16 Churchill Mk III - Dieppe Raid 1942 - Build; Capture21.JPG (99.81 KiB) Viewed 2301 times

: RC 1/16 Churchill Mk III - Dieppe Raid 1942 - Build

Top view of the gearbox cover plates and the grills at the rear of the 1/35 kit.

: RC 1/16 Churchill Mk III - Dieppe Raid 1942 - Build

The kit has parts for them but the cover plates has trench size features between panels that are not realistic. The panels are also not of the right dimension. That part can be reused though by flipping it over and re-scribing new lines for the panels on the back.

: RC 1/16 Churchill Mk III - Dieppe Raid 1942 - Build

I've found some parts for the top grills on one of the kit sprue.

: RC 1/16 Churchill Mk III - Dieppe Raid 1942 - Build

More plasticard strips were created for the grills at the bottom. Top grill should have 4 blades, bottom grill should have 3.

: RC 1/16 Churchill Mk III - Dieppe Raid 1942 - Build

The new cover for the gearbox, with finer panel lines and rivets. More details will be added to it later, and i noticed later that the rivets will need to be replaced by bolts.

: RC 1/16 Churchill Mk III - Dieppe Raid 1942 - Build

The back plate seen on Churchills at Dieppe is of an earlier version than the plate seen in pictures of surviving Mk III. The AFV Club kit is showing the right version.

: RC 1/16 Churchill Mk III - Dieppe Raid 1942 - Build

The ludwig part for the back plate was also flipped over and rivets added according to reference. There is supposed to be 6 very large rivets on the side. I am pondering my options is i want to enlarge the ones i put on.