Comet A34- Ludwig kit

This section is for builds that are not strictly Tamiya or Heng Long. For instance, replacing the electronics from a WSN or Matorro, or even a scratch-build.
User avatar
jarndice
Colonel
Posts: 8023
Joined: Mon Sep 03, 2012 11:27 am
Location: the mountains of hertfordshire

Re: Comet A34- Ludwig kit

Post by jarndice »

Lovely work Roy,
Considering that the whole reason for being of the Comet was the inability of Vickers to fit a 17 Pounder in the Cromwell Turret (And by golly they did try :lolno: ) I would have thought that Chris would have made that a highpoint of the build of his interpretation of the Comet. :eh:
I think I am about to upset someone :haha:
User avatar
43rdRecceReg
Major
Posts: 6294
Joined: Fri Jul 31, 2015 11:38 am
Location: North West Highlands, Scotland

Re: Comet A34- Ludwig kit

Post by 43rdRecceReg »

jarndice wrote:Lovely work Roy,
Considering that the whole reason for being of the Comet was the inability of Vickers to fit a 17 Pounder in the Cromwell Turret (And by golly they did try :lolno: ) I would have thought that Chris would have made that a highpoint of the build of his interpretation of the Comet. :eh:
Thanks, Shaun!
Well, Christian might be something of a Genie when it comes to wishing these things up, but even he has his fallible moments. :D
I've mentioned it before, but it always struck me as being odd that Vickers couldn't mount a 17- pounder atop the Cromwell chassis, when (just postwar), a 20-Pounder was eventually fitted to it. Then, however- and here we invoke the 'c' word, the Cromwell became the 'Charioteer'.
"Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please"- Mark Twain.
User avatar
43rdRecceReg
Major
Posts: 6294
Joined: Fri Jul 31, 2015 11:38 am
Location: North West Highlands, Scotland

Re: Comet A34- Ludwig kit

Post by 43rdRecceReg »

>:< I've spent many hours trying to do something that, on the face of it, would seem simple: to make a pivoting visor. I'll explain why it has been a regular pain in the rectum.
1. As it stands, the static part of the mantlet, and the movable (gun-toting) part that pivots from it, don't describe a regular arc (i.e. segment of a circle). Thus, fitting the visor is like finding the perfect pivot point on another irregular arc: a motorcycle helmet shell, for example. Finding the perfect pivot points/axes that allow a swivel without unwanted contact, is really tricky. >:< A conundrum I'd not foreseen. :problem:
2. Added to this, where resin touches resin, there's a lot of friction. This causes snagging, and this could, in turn, give a servo a meltdown moment. :thumbdown: Bummer..
3. Staring at Christian's resin mantlet, I just noticed something I should have seen before. 8O The MG and Optical sights are in the wrong place. :O
Have a look. the MG mounting should be above the centre line of the barrel, and the optic just on, or above as seen on the real beastie:
Image
Comet mantlet- MG position
Comet mantlet- MG position
Comet Mantlet configuration
Comet Mantlet configuration
Click to ENLARGE smaller pics.

If I turned the gun totin' section upside down, the optic sight and the MG mounting would be in about the correct position, relative to the gun centre line. But then, they'd be on the wrong side of the Gun. :thumbdown:
Just goes to show how even a talented model designer can have an off day. :think: :D Well, that a problem to sort out when I've sorted out the main one: mounting the mantlet.
"Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please"- Mark Twain.
User avatar
43rdRecceReg
Major
Posts: 6294
Joined: Fri Jul 31, 2015 11:38 am
Location: North West Highlands, Scotland

Re: Comet A34- Ludwig kit

Post by 43rdRecceReg »

On the plus side, I'm happy that the brass elevation arms I fitted using JB Weld steel epoxy are in an unbreakable grip. Yep, that epoxy has formed joins around the barrel, and arms, that even the Hulk would find hard to break. :lolno:
However, I've decided that it's a futile unrewarding task to try to make the movable matlet slide over, and rotate about, the Mantlet housing (the trunnion section) with the Mantlet in its present form.
For one thing, the trunnion housing part is wrong.
Right now, it looks like this:
Comet Mantlet housing
Comet Mantlet housing
But the actual mount containing the pivoting trunnions looks like this:
Image
Fitting mantlet to full-size Comet
Fitting mantlet to full-size Comet
View of actual Comet mounting pivots-or trunnions
View of actual Comet mounting pivots-or trunnions
It looks like the best way to proceed, then, is to cut out the grippy, awkwardly curved section. Another advantage of excising the problematic section, would be that it would make it possible now to fit a 'working' (flashing) MG to the movable mantlet. With the existing design, that would not be practical. Indeed, it would be impossible, without yet another vertical slot being cut for it. :problem:
Never having seen Chris' Mantlet being fitted, and kitted out, before, this will really be an abolute first, as far as can tell. Breaking new ground- but hopefully, not the Mantlet :problem: :D
"Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please"- Mark Twain.
User avatar
PainlessWolf
Lieutenant-Colonel
Posts: 7407
Joined: Sun Feb 26, 2012 9:09 pm
Location: Southern Colorado Rocky Mountains

Re: Comet A34- Ludwig kit

Post by PainlessWolf »

Good Morning, Roy,
You are on the threshold of Victory with the mantlet issue. Hard work(fun) delivers the desired result. ( A Bonzer! Tank ) Three doggos at your cottage? I hear you. We have had three dogs here for almost a year now. Sadly, 'Had' is now the operative word. Our 11 month old Pitbull\German Shepherd mix had to be taken to be adopted out this past weekend on the 1st. His name is Max and he had reached the age where he had gotten incredibly possessive and domineering ( something our Vet warned us about but which we had tut-tutted off as loving parents are wont to do ). Our two older Greyhounds ( Jack and Waylon ) were going through Hel, unable to play with their toys and being mauled up when outside with Max. After several vet visits for the Greys and special medicine to try to take the edge off of Max's issues, plus a couple of lunge attacks on me which had me sleeping in my Office chair, enough was enough. Max is on his way to a one doggo household where he is the only doggo. A situation for which he is perfectly suited. Doesn't make me miss him any less. They are always your kids.
regards,
Painless
...Here for the Dawn...
User avatar
biertje
Private
Posts: 95
Joined: Sun Feb 11, 2018 11:21 am

Re: Comet A34- Ludwig kit

Post by biertje »

Hey 43rdRecceReg

Fun little detail, that is me in the commanders cupola :D

Other thing: i'm working on a 3d printed mantled for the comet.
Its is a file from WOT that I'm rescaling to fit the luwich kit, but im not sure if it will work.

Greetings tim
fear naught
User avatar
43rdRecceReg
Major
Posts: 6294
Joined: Fri Jul 31, 2015 11:38 am
Location: North West Highlands, Scotland

Re: Comet A34- Ludwig kit

Post by 43rdRecceReg »

:D
biertje wrote:Hey 43rdRecceReg

Fun little detail, that is me in the commanders cupola :D

Other thing: i'm working on a 3d printed mantled for the comet.
Its is a file from WOT that I'm rescaling to fit the luwich kit, but im not sure if it will work.

Greetings tim
:thumbup: :D
Wow! You lucky, lucky Man, Tim! :clap:
I hope you don't mind your mugshot starring in a pic here on RCTW :) Still, it's already there in movie form on Youtube. :D
I posted the other Youtube videos here your Firm has made since, together, they're a superb account of how a poor old British tank was brought back from a rusty grave, and made to look brand new. :clap: I've seen the Comet at Munster Museum (N. Germany) in the 'flesh', so to speak. Yes, and I've seen Bovington's Comets too, but your videos allow
access where it is not given elsewhere. It's: 'look, but don't touch', at most venues. In short, your videos have really helped me understand how the Comet was put together; but if you have some photos of the Mantlet fittings from the inside, I'd be very grateful if you could post them here, or PM me with them. Where did you get your own repair manuals from, I wonder, or did you 'wing' it...as they say (learn as you go along)?
Your Firm did a fantastic job restoring that tank, and I applaud you for it :clap:
My late Father, and his armoured regiment fought in the Netherlands in WW2(1944-45), and so some of what I do here is to honour him, and his comrades. He's long gone, now, and Veteran numbers are shrinking, sadly, all too fast.
I'm definitely interested in your 3D mantlet project, by the way!
all the best,
Roy.
Last edited by 43rdRecceReg on Mon Nov 04, 2019 9:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please"- Mark Twain.
User avatar
43rdRecceReg
Major
Posts: 6294
Joined: Fri Jul 31, 2015 11:38 am
Location: North West Highlands, Scotland

Re: Comet A34- Ludwig kit

Post by 43rdRecceReg »

PainlessWolf wrote:Good Morning, Roy,
You are on the threshold of Victory with the mantlet issue. Hard work(fun) delivers the desired result. ( A Bonzer! Tank ) Three doggos at your cottage? I hear you. We have had three dogs here for almost a year now. Sadly, 'Had' is now the operative word. Our 11 month old Pitbull\German Shepherd mix had to be taken to be adopted out this past weekend on the 1st. His name is Max and he had reached the age where he had gotten incredibly possessive and domineering ( something our Vet warned us about but which we had tut-tutted off as loving parents are wont to do ). Our two older Greyhounds ( Jack and Waylon ) were going through Hel, unable to play with their toys and being mauled up when outside with Max. After several vet visits for the Greys and special medicine to try to take the edge off of Max's issues, plus a couple of lunge attacks on me which had me sleeping in my Office chair, enough was enough. Max is on his way to a one doggo household where he is the only doggo. A situation for which he is perfectly suited. Doesn't make me miss him any less. They are always your kids.
regards,
Painless
Many thanks for the supporting words, Painless, and good to hear from you. Yes, the three dog house is a demanding one. My old Westie is in her 14th year, and slowly leaving this life (cancer). By contrast, and to maintain the continuity of living with dogs, my young 'un (18wks) is learning how to be a professional, full-time dog, from the middle Westie. She belongs to a friend, and is on loan until Christmas. Hopefully, by then he should have found his..er..paws. :D
The Whelp is begin to love his induction to life in the West Highlands (and what better place for a Westie, eh?); but he's sometimes like firecracker on a string.
Westies have a great temperament, but I don't think I could ever fully trust a dog that had been bred specifically for fighting, like the Pitbull. I think it would be like living with a wolverine, potentially.
It's sad, nonetheless. Yes, all dogs can bite; but the Pitbull can bite and never let go. Most of the cases of children and adults being mauled, or even killed, in the UK involve so-called 'status' dogs, and they're usually derived from the Staffordshire Bull Terrier. Sadly, some dogs are more likely to turn (revert to the purpose they were bred for) than others.
My brother, who lives on Cape Cod, has some very nervous Italian Greyhounds. I think that their essential nervous energy might irritate a fighting dog, and they'd end up as his/her snack. :thumbdown:
As you say, wisely, enough is enough.
The same could be said for the Mantlet!. @) Now, at least I think I have a workable solution; just as it was beginning to eat up what little free time I have, at present. :|
"Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please"- Mark Twain.
User avatar
biertje
Private
Posts: 95
Joined: Sun Feb 11, 2018 11:21 am

Re: Comet A34- Ludwig kit

Post by biertje »

43rdRecceReg wrote::D
biertje wrote:Hey 43rdRecceReg

Fun little detail, that is me in the commanders cupola :D

Other thing: i'm working on a 3d printed mantled for the comet.
Its is a file from WOT that I'm rescaling to fit the luwich kit, but im not sure if it will work.

Greetings tim
:thumbup: :D
Wow! You lucky, lucky Man, Tim! :clap:
I hope you don't mind your mugshot starring in a pic here on RCTW :) Still, it's already there in movie form on Youtube. :D
I posted the other Youtube videos your Firm has made here since, together, they're a superb account of how a poor old British tank was brought back from a rusty grave, and made to look brand new. :clap: I've seen the Comet at Munster Museum (N. Germany) in the 'flesh', so to speak. Yes, and I've seen Bovington's Comets too, but your videos allow
access where it is not given elsewhere. It's: 'look, but don't touch', at most venues. In short, your videos have really helped me understand how the Comet was put together; but if you have some photos of the Mantlet fittings from the inside, I'd be very grateful if you could post them here, or PM me with them. Where did you get your own repair manuals from, I wonder, or did you 'wing' it...as they say (learn as you go along)?
Your Firm did a fantastic job restoring that tank, and I applaud you fir it :clap:
My late Father, and his armoured regiment fought in the Netherlands in WW2(1944-45), and so some of what I do here is to honour him, and his comrades. He's long gone, now, and Veteran numbers are shrinking, sadly, all too fast.
I'm definitely interested in your 3D mantlet project, by the way!
all the best,
Roy.
Hi Roy

No problem, I'm really proud of the work we did on here. this was my final apprenticeship for school.
Ever since I wanted to get back to working on armor, but not all that much luck with it.
I'm Dutch myself, and I think we own so much to you father's generation.
That is why I am trying to get back to the 1:1 scale.
I'll let you know if i have any success on remodelling the files.

for the pictures I have some good and bad news.
I lost most off the pictures (also didn't take that many)
But i do have the book.

Image

Really important is that the surge light does not stick above the top armor. the tanks that have them higher are post war modifications to be able to fit the smoke dispensers.
Image

Hope these are of any help for you.
Image

Image

Image

Image

This is a type A turret (early) and it does not have the deflector in frond of the commanders cupola.
Image

And at the war and peace show besides the centaur dozer of Dave Arnold.
Image

The dozer has been sold to an American that owns 4 ore 5 cromwell variants and he is restoring them all to gun tanks.


If you have any questions please ask and I'll try to answer with a sensible answer ;)

Greetings Tim
fear naught
User avatar
43rdRecceReg
Major
Posts: 6294
Joined: Fri Jul 31, 2015 11:38 am
Location: North West Highlands, Scotland

Re: Comet A34- Ludwig kit

Post by 43rdRecceReg »

:thumbup: :thumbup: Fantastic pics of the inboard side of the Mantlet, Tim. I wish I'd seen them before; but it's not too late to make good use of them! Incidentally, I'd not noticed you parallel builds before, as I was away from the Forum for much of last year, and somehow missed the start of your 'cruiser tanks' thread. I've just been right though it now, and was very impressed! :thumbup: I knew that Lee was building a Cromwell, as he followed my Cromwell build back in 2017, I think. Like you, he's done some really exemplary work on his model as well :thumbup:
"Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please"- Mark Twain.
Post Reply

Return to “Other Builds”