[Big D]

Hi all,

It’s been a couple of weeks since my last post. While we haven’t yet progressed the hull any further, I have managed to progress a few other things.

I thought now that I have good access to the axles, I might as well start getting those ready in preparation for the hull being completed. Call me soft, but I decided to get the aid of a local tyre company to assist with the tyre removal. I managed to undo all but a couple of the bolts on the combat rims and took the first 3 wheels to the tyre firm. The tyre company looked at them and said that two of the wheels had solid rubber inserts in them while the third had a tube. They were initially a bit reluctant to have a go at them but once I explained the design they decided to try the one with the tube and then do the others.

They pressed the first tyre off (the one with the tube) and once they saw the combat rim design, they pressed the others off. The one with the star shaped damage was particularly tight. Two of the three had the very thick rubber inner run-flat. I was cringing at the thought of the bill but I was pleasantly surprised to see they charged me $100 for the three wheels. I think it was $100 well spent!

Interestingly, these 3 wheels all appear slightly different. I wonder how many are actually M8 and perhaps some are perhaps halftrack instead. The height of the wheels on two of them are different to the other, as you can see from the photos. What is the deciding factor on whether they will fit the M8? is it the inner diameter or is it the depth/height? I’ve tried an M8 brake drum in all three and there seems plenty of clearance. Mind you, I tried the same drum on one of my scout car combat rims and this seems to fit in there as well.

I’ll drop the other three wheels to the tyre company next week and once the tyres are removed, get all wheels to the sandblaster for painting before I put the new tyres on.

The photos show the flare box, breech shield, more map clips, and the handbrake assembly cleaned up. The steering box and steering wheel are all ready to install. The propellor shafts and pillow block are done. What is the small propeller shaft? It looks like White Scout car to me. I cleaned it up anyway.