KV 1 - quick mods.

[Tankbear]

Excellent work with those hatches.

Your KV-1 is going to look spot on. not jealous.

[blimp]

Ha hah , I will stoop to anything to divert attention from the new top secret 'Blimpy-smoker(Mk1)'

. . . . . O'er.

. . . No no , i meant fish tank , um , alright then . . Shhhh , you see nothing , right ?

[Tankbear]

Hi Blimp,

If the element is the fluid it will be heating the fluid and therefore the element will not be as hot and in turn not vapourise the fluid very well. i.e. like when you over fill the standard HL unit it stops but warms the chamber.

Using Strmnd54 information I used a 3watt 15ohm wire wound resistor then tied a kevlar string around each each (resistor about 10mm long) that way resistor got as hot as possible then when the fluid came up the kevlar wick vapourises instantly.

In that video I posted of mine I added 4 or 5 drops directly onto the restistor then glued it all together and set it off and that lasted a good long time.

Another point, put some cotton wool or something in the bottom of chamber to soak up the fluid otherwise everytime you turn the unit on side the fluid comes out and gets messy.

Anyway class dismissed.

I'm off for lunch.

[blimp]

Thanks , this is just a test , i'm looking around for something better anyway . I can't stand the stupid noise it makes , like the soundtrack of a 50's UFO B movie

- Testing , testing . . .

. . . What Ozone layer ?

[blimp]

The quickly detachable connection . . .

. . a short piece of smoker pipe , with the tapered end of a biro ( with glue around the top . . .

. . When detached , i started building up the manifold . . .

. . and the lid .

. . .Pop the top back on , and start up . . . . a little faint at first ,

. . . Then about 3 seconds later - I have run it non stop for 30 mins ~( and then gave up , the room was getting a bit hazy , koff , koff , pheew . )

• 
  . . . Not bad for a bit of tin foil eh ?

[blimp]

hello peeps , I got bored again -

. . . Remember this ? The 'ol '41 mantlet . .

. . . Is now an earlier '40 type

. . All I have to do now is lower the gun , elevation gear and the BB hopper as well . . . Tally ho !

[blimp]

. . . Here y'go -

• 
  One 1940 model cast 'pigsnout' mantlet , ready to rock 'n roll .

[blimp]

The glacis is done , (i'll fit the horn and headlight before painting ) , * the bars are removed from the turret cheeks . .

• . . . the turret roof , being bolted internally didn't have the weld 'rings' , the ventilator and episcopes WERE welded so their flanges were removed too . . .
  • 
  new , resited , grabhandles from brass wire , crash molded unarmoured MG blister and lastly , the side vision slits were narrowed with strips of styrene , trimmed flush .

. . . Only the commanders hatch to rotate and the periscopes to sort now , Phew , I need a bigger hammer . . .

[blimp]

Hello my darlings , not dead yet ( i just smell like it ) A quick update - The postman has been active , so now i can get on again

• Firstly , A parcel of connectors -( Much cheaper than buying them indidually ) - means the new loom is in and working !

Second sweetie to drop through the door , more tracks , IMPACT ones , sorry , i couldn't help myself -

Proper boots . toss of hair , " . . . 'Cos i'm worth it . . . "

. . . . Time for a romp in the garden . It would be rude not too eh ? - Whoa ! some mud under the bushes - charge ! - Oink !

. . . . Then back to the bench , an inspection showed that the 4 cog shaft on my left hand gearbox was tightening up , caused by lack of endfloat - a strip/clean/re-oil and it's much better now thank you very much . The L/H track has a few tight links as well , so i'll be putting a drop of paraffin on them and give them all a good run on the bench before i gallop off into the sunset again .

Other stuff . . .

• Whoever said that the chinese don't have a sense of humour has obviously never met a HL smoker , in finest tradition the element went to meet it's ancestors . Annoying me in the process as i'd spent ages soldering up a shiny new proportional board . Ho hum , a ceramic resistor is pending .

• . . . Even more stuff . . . .

A packet of Mr Tamiyas KV swingarms , and a veritable mountain of ball races and (stainless!) grub screws means another project is warming up too

• I must say , all this nice weather is doing the postie the world of good , Looking quite healthy he is . keep 'em fit , that's the way .

Now it's back to making an air cowling cum switch mounting panel thingy for the back end . . . Tally ho . B .

[blimp]

Ooh , a bit of good news , i have had a few hours free at work this week , Muhaha . -

. . the wheels have had their outer webs machined off , now they are correct early versions

The dead smoke unit now has a new heater element too , courtesy of Messr's Tankbear and strmnd54 , thanks guys