[Big D]

Hi all,

Xmas seems to have come and gone in a flash.

I have fitted the brake lines to the rear axle, along with the brake line shields that I had. I am missing one section of shield but will hopefully pick that up at some stage.

I didn’t have a lot of photos of the actual layout of the brake lines so hopefully these photos might help someone else who is doing them from scratch. The lines are a bit finicky to make to the right shape to fit the shields, and they need to have quite a tight angle to get around the shield and then up into the Tee connections.

I have found the brake Tee connections I need so they should hopefully be on the way to me shortly. I’ve made up the brake lines for the intermediate axle and will finalise these when the Tee connections arrive.

I have fitted the hydraulic lines from the front of the hull down into the engine bay area now. I still need to finalise the length of the extra sections for the bleeder nipples at the ends, and will get this done once I’ve finished all the rest of the plumbing.

A bit of a strange request, but can anyone post a photo of the underside of the pedestal headlights? I have the blackout headlight but want to confirm the pin configuration on the pedestal headlights so that I can finalise the headlight wiring connections in the front of the hull. I only have the one blackout light so not sure how the pins are configured on the actual headlight.

The paint stencils have arrived. Good fast service from Axholme Signs in the UK. A few engine parts also arrived.

While I am waiting for the Tee connections to arrive, I will do some work on the turret which is sandblasted and painted and ready for me to pick up. I will need to give the roller bearing surface on the underside a tidy up when it gets here, as it was moved along a concrete floor before it was taken to the sandblasters.

I’m looking at the best order to fit the gun parts. I have an idea that before the turret is fitted to the hull, it would be preferable to fit the gun cradle into the turret and the recoil system to the gun cradle. The barrel and sleigh could then be fitted into the turret (maybe through the back panel in the turret?) after the turret is fitted to the hull.

Does anyone have any thoughts on the best order to fit the gun?

That’s it. Happy New Year.