VICKERS MK6B's resto

[George Moore]

Sorry and apologies for getting my "facts" mixed up re the Scorpion and Fox turrets.

I am sure however the fan was a "sucker" rather than a "blower", which made me look for any form of vent or opening. However this idea is based on those fitted to armoured cars.

What does surprise me is that the fan is shown on the drawings, but there are no circuit or wiring references on any of the wiring diagrams I have seen.

George.

[colin jones]

Sorry for the lack of response as we have been away for a couple of weeks and just got back today. I have missed my shed terribly I need to do some more homework as to the exact use of that part as everything I have shows that it is a fan and there is no intake from the pyramid. I will make contact with the Pucka museum in Victoria and ask if they would kindly take an internal photo for me.

[colin jones]

George, that is fantastic detail that you have done and every part most certainly looks very clear to me. I have also put a phot of the bovington one here so you can definitely see that there is no air intake holes.

[David Herbert]

I am almost certain that the triangular bump is simply to provid clearance to something inside - amunition tray possibly ? The fitting shown in the top right photo above is a standard AFV fitting of the day and protects a hole in the plate it is fixed to and would normally have a cable coming through it, I expect for a spot light.

David

[George Moore]

There is that probability, the opening it covers would allow some movement or extra space in that area.
I note that is fixed by screws, and not riveted in place, so was it perhaps removable ??
The other fitment is a cable cover, a common fitting on other armoured vehicles and carriers especially.
The turret drawing showing the fan in place like a lot of other stuff asks more questions than it answers, and I am still at a loss as to why there is no mention in any of the wiring diagrams, it must have been able to switch on and off, but there is no circuit shown.

Having got this far into the rebuild it is annoying not to know.....just for the heck of it if nothing else.

George.

[David Herbert]

Just thought, the cable cover could be to protect the bowden cable that operates the 4" bomb thrower though I think that spot light is more likely.

The slotted head screws holding the triangular cover is something I had not spotted (on a rather small screen at the time). A very odd detail.

David

[Richard Farrant]

Originally Posted by David Herbert

Just thought, the cable cover could be to protect the bowden cable that operates the 4" bomb thrower though I think that spot light is more likely.

The slotted head screws holding the triangular cover is something I had not spotted (on a rather small screen at the time). A very odd detail.

David

Hi David,
I did the electrical installation on the Vickers that went to the Littlefield Collection and can say that the cable cover in question was not for the spotlight cable. It has to be for the bomb thrower as there was one on the other side as well.

Regarding the question of the plate on the left of the turret, maybe the photo attached will throw more light on the subject. With acknowledgment to Mike Cecil, it is a photo from his archive which he sent to me when I published an article of his on the Australian MkVIa tanks. It is a RYPA training rig and was found in the 1980's on the training area at Puckapunyal. You can see the bulbous plate is not present, but the cut out is and below it is possibly a clue. I think it possible an ammo box was stowed and the cover was to give extra space for it. I do not have any interiors of the one I worked on unfortunately. We had a lot of unanswered questions on that one, for instance we never found a picture of the retractable signalling lamp.


In case anyone is wondering, RYPA stands for Rolling-Yawing-Pitching Assembly