Roadrunner

I still think my peripheral flange is too humongous, so I'm going to try it as a scale 1-1/2 x 1-1/2 angle, and see how that looks.

Thanks, Bruce, I appreciate it. A bit premature perhaps, but I could stand it no longer, so all three leveling legs are now attached and drying (the main body portions at any rate). Once weld beads are added (rod and stretched sprue), these will become rock solid, and will never, ever fall off. I may also mount an additional post dead center, to counter any long-term sagging effects brought on by the weight of the gun assembly, though I seriously doubt it needs it, as base proper is chock full of molded in stiffeners for that very purpose, still,…

Range scale turned out OK too. I'm a happy guy.

Well of course i just had to try it out, and it looks like I pretty much nailed it. I don't mean to sound all braggadocio, but rather it's a reflection of the fact that I'm extraordinarily pleased with this outcome. Once printed (in black) on clear film and applied to the steel colored arc, I think it'll make a nice addition to the weapon, as will the range scale.

Thanks, Tim. It's fun, in a sick sort of way. OK, elevation scale redone. It seems that gun could be depressed -10°, or elevated +10° beyond vertical, so I've created a scale covering 110° total sweep.

The recoil cylinder brackets are a joke (on the one that is provided of the two), so I've detailed this area a bit. Not perfect, but better than it was.

Here's the elevation scale, which took a little longer. Looks like I messed up and left two units out of the array, so it reads from 5° to 85°, instead of 0° to 90°, and of course the other ring will be a mirror image of this (once I correct it).

Just for giggles, I've decided to create templates for the range indicator, as well as the gun elevation indicator ring. Here's what I have so far for the range indicator. Perhaps not 100% correct (I can't really see the details too well), but given that this piece is only 3/32 x 1-13/32, I can live with it. Oddly enough, I have another photo that shows these scales reversed, so I have no idea which might be correct.

I agree, G, Chris is a mighty good guy, and his shop is like a candy store for this old boy. The first segment of what will be my angle ring flange. Believe it or not, this represents a scale 2”x2”x1/4” flange (strictly a guess), but looks just huge, so I may rebuild it. I’m growing very weary of cobbling together bits and pieces, so I’m seriously considering selling off my 1:6 scale single 2cm mount to fund more materials.

I normally don’t resort to staining in order to get details to show up, but in this case it seemed relevant. Kind of rough, but some files, knifes and sandpaper, will complete the welds on this aft section.

With the deck plates now dry, I've puttied all the seams, some for a second time. Miraculously, my arbitrary 4-3 skip weld, has worked out perfectly; I'm somewhat stunned.

OK, here's my interpretation of the base plate. Not bad, I think, considering that I had to splice seven different pieces together, as I didn't have one single piece that I could use. I used .040 sheet for this, which is almost exactly 1/4" in scale.

Here's a photo of the first of my match marked pieces being added to base. I've rather arbitrarily assumed a 4-3 skip weld, but have no idea if that's correct or not.

The "no frills" approach. What cannot be seen, I generally don't mess around with.

This knob (above the hand wheels), was cut off, grooves ground into the edges, and repositioned for a neater appearance.

Work resumes, now addressing the back sides of gun elevation mechanism.

Parting shot. No more work on this until at least Monday, as dining room table (my work area), has to be cleaned off for Memorial day hog fest this weekend. We'll be grilling our brains out.

New information (just received yesterday) allowed me to slightly redo the bubble level.

I've also gone ahead and added the tiny brackets under the hook (that will be added later).

Left side area is now (finally) symmetrical to left side.

Some interior framing, and the lifting bolt added. I'll do the same to the other side, once I correct the opening.

The offending flange is ground off, now the real fun begins. I've also opened up both front legs for detailing, as seen on the real deal. One is out of whack for some reason, though I measured three times, so I'll repair that and move on.

Great news. I'll have to add it to my (ever expanding) list.

Man, does this bring back some memories.

As much as I didn't want to originally, I've come to the conclusion that this large diameter molded on ridge (which is supposed to be angle iron), needs to be replaced, so I'll be grinding this all off. Also, this ring is oval, not round, as Dragon has depicted it.