Another two weeks gone by, here we are again.
I've mentioned making decisions based on the info available and what my concept of the project was. One of those decisions was the rear bed of the portee -- it could be a single-piece/level or a two-piece/level affair. I selected the latter because it seemed closer to my vision and also because I figured I'd need the fudge factor offered by the raised deck when fitting the 2-pounder legs and was I ever right !!!
One of the difficulties with a project such as this is the precise mating of parts from disparate kits. The TA & IT vehicles weren't bad; they are close enough to fit with little effort. And while I try very hard to build things to the proper scale size, I am not working with exact drawings, but rather pictures from which I have to interpret size & shape. Sometimes, now matter how I try, the kit parts won't match so "adjustments" have to be made -- this is the fun & the pain of this type work.
The first place I ran into problems was making the rails, trolley & chocks for the gun carriage (see prev post). When all was said & done, the chocks became "representative". Another thing that took a great deal of time & effort was getting all those pieces in place such that the rear trails of the carriage were not too high.
Why, all this talk & no pictures ??? Read on, it is a good intro to this post.
But first a word from the cab & frame. I was not happy with my doors, neither the scratch-built ones or the openings on the cab -- part of the problem was that the floorboard was flush with the door post & they just didn't sit / cover right. So I reworked the cab side with some 10-thou strip to build up a proper ledge and rebuilt the doors to fit snugly. I had to reposition the fuel tanks because they were too far back (like 1/32" or so) and getting in the way of the soon to be built storage boxes. I built steps for both sides from some kit rails, Evergreen, & spare P/E. At the very rear of the chassis you'll see two triangular pieces that will hold the 2-pdr wheels.
So, now the frame is coming along. I need storage boxes on each side just aft of the fuel tanks, and I need fuel-can carriers aft of them. Other than that, I need to do whatever wiring & detailing in/under the frame itself ... and oh, yes, the battery & still have the spare tire carrier to finish. I can start the cab clean-up & final detailing as I've got my fit issues resolved.
Now we can move on to the rear deck. With the rear part, trolley, etc done, it is time to move on to the raised piece. The trails of the 2-pounder partially fold and end up sliding under the combination ammo box and seat.
I started with the ammo box -- there were two styles, top-load & front load -- and I chose the latter. One of my problems was the size of the ammo box vs the size of 2-pdr containers. Lacking exact dimensions and any shot of the inside of the ammo box, I decided to make one that seemed the correct size/proportion and to not get hung up over exact storage -- loose rounds & whatnot would work. So what you see is the ammo box, with seat. I still have to do the fold-down door. It is made of thin ply and anlge "iron" with holes drilled to take .032 wire as a pseudo-nail. I may not have mentioned it before but I usually build up wood parts & then coat with MinWax clear poly-eurathane; that allows me to "preserve" the wood thru the build.
The 2-pdr carriage was something else. The kit comes with rear leg pieces that can be positioned as desired & glued down. I needed more flexibility to fit this into my mount, so I spent time carefully drilling holes thru the leg mount and pin, then running a piece of wire thru to hinge them. This is something I wish I had done with my first 2-pdr. I had to rebuild the pieces several times because the resin wasn't strong enough to hold the wires & motion.
And here is the first fit of the carriage onto the rear decks with legs folded.
Now I can work the seat handles, ammo door & hinges, and the mount for the seat, to include the winch bearings and handle. I also need a couple small brackets to hold the folded legs. A bit more work on the clamp for the front leg & things will be moving quite nicely. But there is so much to do before I can start painting & joining the bigger pieces, not to mention getting to work on the rest of the gun.
Anyway, here it all is, with the ammo box & seat kinda propped into place.
I am having FUN !!!!!!!!!