Armour Dreams

[Jonathan Moore]

Thanks Chris.

Evening,



The steel tow cables and the D shackles turned up, I ordered 18mm diameter tow cables which are each rated at 4.1 tons. There seems to be a number of ways in which the cables were carried on the front of the tanks in period pictures, in fact there doesn't appear to be a standard to how many cables are carried at all. Some pictures show just a single cable, some have two cables, some appear to be about 18mm in diameter, whereas some look a lot smaller and there are even some pictures showing what appears to be some carrying tow ropes.

I decided, in the end, not to add extra bands around the circumference of the hub but instead to machine a series of small grooves into the surface to help the polyurethane adhere.

That's all folks,



Jon

[Jonathan Moore]

Evening All,

Manufacturing the radio operators seat was next on the list, the only picture that I could find of it is this one and I think that this is a pre-production version but it's better than nothing. This is my version.

[Jonathan Moore]

It can fit in two positions but personally, I wouldn't want to be in either, as it is so very cramped and how you would get out in an emergency is any ones guess.
I don't think that you can appreciate just how little room there is inside this tank until the upper hull and turret are in place, it must have been hell in the European theatre, I can't imagine what it was like in the heat of North Africa.



That's all for now.



Jon

[David Dunlop]

Hi Jon.

Wow! Snug! I guess if one crew member farted, they all said ‘excuse me’, just to be on the safe side.

Is the Wireless Operator located aft of the turret basket assembly? That would suggest either a rear deck access hatch, or access via the turret, which, as you noted, would be tricky in an emergency with injured crew. Also would not appear to leave much room for the wireless equipment.

David

[Jonathan Moore]

Evening David,

If you were sitting in the radio operators seat, facing forwards towards the driver, the radio equipment would be on a shelf to your left hand side (shown marked in blue on the attached picture). The shelf overhangs the tracks and is part of the track guard.

The picture of the tank interior shows how tight things were, the radio operators seat would be where the battery is situated in this picture.

There is an escape hatch that is situated above the red arrow but it is the other side of the small bulk head with the vision slit in.

[Jonathan Moore]

The escape hatch is marked in red. To access this hatch, the radiator baffle plate would first have to be folded forward and then the seat back rest laid flat. Then by ducking under the aforementioned bulkhead, you would have access to the escape hatch. The last picture is the underside of the hatch.

Jon