Fun with resin
 

With the crappy weather I took to doing something I've been wanting to for a while, casting some of the items to fill the Fox and carrier bins. Each vehicle needs 6 No.36 Mills bombs, originals now nearing $300 each, and 12 signal cartridges. I can't even find singles much less sets of 12 in the right red/white/green colours. Making them in resin also eliminates having to worry about real ordnance out in public.

First off, three resin/wood Mills bombs on the left and three originals on the right. Then the Fox grenade bins full for the first time since I've owned it. Next the signal cartridges under construction. The tubes are $2 Princess Auto plastic broom handles cut to length and wrapped in colour printed sleeves. The bases are cast resin from the single original I managed to find.

Those look great Bruce.

Now to add some pain to your efforts.... the signal flares had a different knurl to the brass rim depending on the colour of the flare :)

Oh go ahead. Provide the info so I can include it...

Details on these flares is sparse, or so I'm finding. There seems to be a lot of variety beyond just colour (ie. two or three flares in one tube, etc.). I expect my original may be civilian but the brass seems to match its military cousins. Alternatively, the (late) war dated and military marked ones I have are aluminum cases base to tip.

The other oddity is that the flares (in Fox and Otters at least) go nose down in the bin with the base and primers face up. There is no protective cover. This is rather exposed and subject to accidental hits with things shaking around inside a moving armoured vehicle. Not exactly safe.

I can’t find the chart but I’m sure it was posted on MLU in a thread in the carrier forum.

Anyway these are my flares. One of them has the different knurling on the brass end.

Grenades and Signal Cartridges
 

Those No. 36 Grenades and Signal Cartridges look spectacular, nice work!

Who are you worried about - yourself or the public? Children need to handle live explosives early on, so they will gain the necessary respect for its powers. Blow up a few parked cars, and the kiddies remember!

Nice work as usual Bruce.

Wow
 

Excellent Work!

I hear ya. Like when a chubbly little darling with catsup smeared all over his face starts hammering on the primer end of a live very cartridge until it shoots green fire into the oil rich bowls of the vehicle igniting the fuel tank. Little chubbly will get a spanking for sure!!

Bruce,

They all look fantastic, I am very impressed. What did you make the moulds out of?

Jon

It's a silicone material called "Mold Max 20". Incredibly easy to work with and provides a mold that captures every detail (hence the first Frost and Woods No.36 grenades made since the war). The spoons are aluminium cut and bent to the right curve, the plungers are 5/16" rod with the notch cut with a Dremel tool, and the rings are 1-1/4" inch key rings....harder to find in quantity than I would have thought. The wood core is just to save on resin. I'm a cheapskate.

My only worry with the signal rounds was I cast an unfired one in the silicone mold mix. The mix heats up on curing and I had this uneasy feeling that heat might cook off the round. It turns out the heat was insignificant and I didn't blow up the workshop.

Impressive
 

Bruce,

Impressive and practical.

Peter