Day Three

Time to start putting some brass parts in place. The front trackguards are not perfect but good enough. Somehow I place these two grilles perfectly. I am using this, the 5" 5-Speed Hold and Fold Tool from The Small Shop.  

The ribs on the tops of the trackguards are to be had by running a ball-point pen in these channels underneath.

I have a set of six points like the one pictured. I use the smallest size to push out the ribs. 

Bend the lip at the side and end. 












No trouble so far.

Just test-fitting top and bottom hull. Going together very nicely indeed, thanks Academy. 

I'll be filling where the hull parts meet atop the tracks, visible here at far right.

Time to face up to getting those front track guards off, as I cannot do any delicate work on the upper hull until that labour-intensive job is out of the way.










The first test of the Dremel saw wheel succeeds. I stay away from the edges, and clean up afterward with mainly the chisel blade.

I fit the newly made brass track guards, which overlap and hide the imperfect job I did with the edges, removing the kit material.

These two tubes are to do with housing antennae when not in use. They are only gestured at by the kit and, it seems, in the wrong place. I shave them away. I'll need to look in my tube and rod collection, maybe drill something out.








The aerial mount is drilled out. It's a bit rough but it's also very small.

The brackets for holding the shears in place on the track guard.These are mounted in a tucked away place. I'll need to paint the tool itself, and the brackets fixed to the track guard, separately, I think. I just put these away in my multi-compartment sub-assemblies box for now.

Because I wanted the two halves of the hull together at this stage, this range-finder has to go in now even though it will be hard to paint. Two  or three other little periscopes can still be painted separately so they are clean in their neat little slots (one slot visible very bottom right corner of this shot).

The hull is glued together now and it fitted beautifully. Now I can mount the track guards, and other fiddly brass stuff to the upper hull. I have already cleaned away the tiny bumps that in the kit represent rows of very small handles along the top sides of the hull; these will be built somehow. I will paint the inside matte black through the hole for the gun mount. 

Now I  can put this grille on the rear deck.