Bullbasket

If only Jim, if only!! If I was, I'd be my first customer. Thanks for commenting mate. I appreciate it. John.

Many thanks Andrew. Yes, now that would be something to see one of those tied down on the back. John.

Thanks a lot Stuart. Much appreciated. John.

Thanks very much Stuart, and thank for pointing out my oversight. Memory is getting worse All sorted now. John.

It's all looking good Simon, especially Tea Pot Tom. I take it that the tea was made the traditional way, ie; with condensed milk? John.

You're making a really good job of this so far, but there again, it's what I expect of you. Great work Ed. John.

Good luck with that. It was bad enough doing it in 1/35th scale. It's looking really good though. John.

Very nice of you to say so Roger. Thanks a lot. John.

Glad to have been of some use John. I've actually got the 3" gun conversion, but never got around to using it. John.

Approximately the first 450 T23 turrets manufactured, were made without a rear ventilator, and if the Sherman Minutia page has it right, this was down to an oversight on behalf of the manufacturers. They were also made with an additional antenna point on the front LHS of the turret and a 2 inch bomb thrower. The tank which I'm building had such a turret, but for some reason, although this is the turret which Dragon provide in their Cobra kit, it is equipped with a ventilator (which I've already taken care of). Fortunately, Dragon have depicted the turret with the antenna base and the bomb thrower hole, which they've shown as if it has been welded closed. Just in front of the additional aerial is the two inch bomb thrower hole. As I said, Dragon have depicted this as being welded closed, but I wanted to show it as still being there, so a small circle was cut from the end of a piece of stretched sprue and glued in place where the opening would be. A small length of etched brass chain was then bent to shape and super glued in place as a retaining chain. The base for the additional aerial was missing from the kit, so I had to make a new one. The return rollers of a VVSS unit are the exact diameter of the hole in the turret. So using a razor saw, I cut off a thin circle and once cleaned up, it was glued into place. I smeared some putty over the top, and when it had hardened, it was blended into the roof of the turret. I bent a piece of scrap etched brass into an inverted U shape. To the underside I glued a small piece of tubing, and into that I inserted a piece of .31mm nickel silver wire. I drilled a hole into the roof of the turret, and then the whole lot was super glued into place over the aerial base. On the top I glued an aerial base from the kit. Another item that was missing was the additional “lifting ring”, just in front of the loader's hatch. This was a left over from the T23 days and was not a lifting ring as such, but a support for the boom, used to lift the power pack. Fortunately, there was one in the Meng M4A3 kit. This turret is taking me longer than I anticipated, but it's all good fun. I'll be back when I have some more progress. Thanks for looking. John.

Not one that I've come across before. You've made an excellent job of it Pete. Nice and dusty. John.

You're about to receive a terse reply from one of the mods because you haven't read the pinned title. This is for introducing yourself. Nothing more, nothing less. John.

In the past, I've built models for which there are no decals, and the way that I've got around that was to contact Pedinghaus decals, and they printed them for me. I had to provide either photos or profiles of the actual tank and then they printed them. Not expensive either. If I remember correctly, they charged me 15 euros for s sheet of decals for RMASG Centaur in 1/48th scale. John.

This is certainly moving along at a fair old pace now. I like the work with the wiring. Very nice Simon. John.

That's very nice of you to say Keith. It's much appreciated. John.

Many thanks Ed. I only get a couple of hours in the modelling room, due to being chief cook and bottle washer, but in all, those brackets took about five or six sessions to get them done. And I'm relieved that they're finished. Comparing them with a photo that I have of the real thing, I'm fairly happy with them. John.

'Morning Ed, and thank you very much. Yes, as old as it is, it's still a good kit and can hold it's own against the Airfix and SKP offerings. John.

And I was just beginning to like you Bob. I'll build a Tiger when the Pope gets married! Thanks for the comments Bob. John.

It just goes to show that you've had these modelling skills for a long time. Nice one Milan. John.

Thanks a lot Darryl. It was either velcro or a liberal dollop of PVA glue. John.

Hi Granto. Glad to see you putting your head above the parapet,and I hope that it does get you building again. Many thanks mate. John.

Thanks to all three of you for the comments, and I'm glad that you liked it. John.

I may have the same photo. It's of a couple of Cromwells disabled by mines. Many thanks Ian. John.

Thanks to both of you. I appreciate it. John.