Day Nine

Day Nine is very trying.

I see the remaining gaps but I'll attend to those when I have finished construction and am touching up. I'm a little disappointed but I know that a bit more scraping with the knife, a bit of filling, and then paint will cover it all up/bring it all together.

Stick the bloody thing on and try not to think about it too much right now. Holes on the right gave me much trouble. I filed down until they became visible, like the ones on the left side - but I could see daylight through them. I soldered that spot and filed it all away - I could still see through the holes. I wondered if the Araldite, flux and solder were reacting strangely under heat, so that solder would not stick. Finally I had the idea of probing them gently - perfectly solid. The holes on the right are filled with Araldite. Okay, fine. 

Hooks for the jack. I try copper rod first but it's hard with only forceps or the Hold and Fold. I return to old ways, stretching sprue. It's much easier to shape the hooks now. I make about ten and take the best two. They are not perfectly aligned but by the time they are painted (dark gunmetal) and in their brackets, and dirty, I seriously doubt anyone will notice.

Little brackets for holding tools to the trackguards. They take some figuring out and it doesn't help that they are tiny.

 But it can be done.

And I can stick this one on. Looks like it's for holding an axe but my book doesn't show what's going on here.

This bracket is for a sledgehammer. There are pictures in the book and it looks easy enough to make. However, from the photos I have, I think this bracket might be a little small.

Around about now, looking at the pictures in my book, I realise that my rear track guard attachment difficulties all arose from my mistaken belief that they were level, not sloped. I pull them off and refit them at a properly rakish angle. Not shown, the terrible mess where the track guard joins the hull above the tracks. Who cares, there's going to be mud there anyway.And you won't be able to see up there because of the armour skirts.

This bracket at the rear has pegs for holding various antenna parts.

This is the part. I have to make the peg parts myself.
















I use styrene rod, four pieces held close under some sellotape.

That makes it easier for me to cut them all at once with the chisel blade.

Pegs ready to go.

Pegs glued to bracket. Really difficult as I can't quite focus on such small parts. Doesn't seem good enough to my naked eye so I scrape all this off and clean up the brass part. Then I see this photo and wish I hadn't, because with just a bit of very gentle filing this would have been fine.







I use a bit of aluminium tubing for this.

And this is what it's supposed to be, a 'distance keeping' or 'driving-in-column' light for use at nighttime or in poor visibility. I can think of one way to get the green and red happening, and that is to cut out those shapes from spare decals. Or could I cut out the shapes I need in foil and wrap that around an assembly of green and red plastic rod. But I think I might be pushing it; the part is only about five millimeters long. From photos of a few different vehicles I find some variation in the form of the protective guard over the top; I make a sort of average of them.

Looks not so bad. In the photos it seems there's a bit of wiring coming out the back but the wire is loose, doesn't attach to anything. I think it will be all right to run that wire into the gap between hull and track guard. I certainly won't be guessing where to drill holes in the hull.

Last thing, I put this little welded step together and mount it to the hot air vent cover. I will file away that irregularity on the nearmost edge.










That was a long day, and my back aches. I will repair to the couch, there to watch television and consume various snack foods.

Nah, that antenna bracket is getting to me. There's just no way I'm going to get a clean result trying to butt-join plastic rods to brass. I'm just not that good. Out with the styrene card and rod.

After about six goes I get a fair result with the styrene. I will leave this to dry overnight, then I'll cut (melt?) off what I don't need from the back. If the back is messy I won't be able to fill it but I'll be able to file it smooth then paint it over with the styrene glue, and that should seal the deal.


Okay now I really am calling it a day.