25 Pounder info needed.

[Phillip]

Hi Tony,

To clarify, the illuminating apparatus is an Australian No1. Mk1 and is designed to fit the Director No.7. Look up Nigel's website on the laying of guns for a detailed explanation of the process.

Maker on the wander light is Stromberg Carlson, dated 1941 however plug is Australian made. This suggests that the design was used proprietary parts and did not change much between 1940's and the mid 1950's. The box is the same as a field telephone!

I'm curious to see what the difference is between the graticle lights.

[Private_collector]

Cheers Phillip!

If you tell me which bit is the graticle light, I can photograph it close up
for you, and/or take measurements.

[Private_collector]

The shield buildup is nearly finished.
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Just a couple more things to be done, including the second color for one of the signs, brush painting all the bolts (both sides, two or more coats), finishing the leather strap for the canvas bag holder, and finishing the brackets for the slide rule and canvas cover. Now that i think about it, there's quite a bit more to do, damn it! At least I got all the brackets and instruments installed on the lower shield.
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As usual, I started to run out of daylight before I got around to installing the upper shield, so I thought I better not attempt it today. It's not a job I can rush, and it will be a two person job, so it can wait until next weekend.
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Had an interesting time with this 9th Division sign, when I did the black background on Friday afternoon. I have a thing for symmetry, so alignment is important. I used a large carpenters square to get the position correct, then applied tabs of low tack tape to mark where the edges would be. Alas, at some stage the square had moved between applying two pieces of the aligning masking tape. Not realising this, everything I did from that point on was WRONG! This was only confirmed after the paint was applied and all the masking materials removed. I couldn't believe how such a stupid mistake could be made. I always recheck alignment again after final position is marked......except that one occasion. As a resuly, I had to wait for the paint to dry, rub back all the edges, then remask (after measuring multiple times) and repaint again, slightly larger this time. The platypus and boomerang in white, were very much easier. It's not perfect, but I chose to go with higher detail of the design, which meant the lines were not quite as 'clean' as would have been if I accepted image with less detail. I can live with that. The platypus would have lost his facial detail if I smoothed the image any further!

Still looking for an illuminating apparatus box! Anything considered!!!! Seriously.
The space where the box should be, just looks so bare without that piece in place.

Also, I have another, more exciting, piece of news to tell. I don't think I'll go into that until I can take and upload photos at same time. Sorry!

[Private_collector]

Another small job done.
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[Private_collector]

Several minor things achieved today.
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The seat is wearing coat 1 of 4 or 5 coats of varnish, wand will get a light sanding between each coat. The seat is quite nice timber, though I'm sure that was not a consideration at time of manufacture.
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Slide rule brackets are finished and painted, but not yet attached.
I had intentions of putting the upper shield back on today, and the brackets would have gone on shortly thereafter, but I lost some time working on something else. Next post is dedicated to that one.
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Second color is now applied to the artillery unit signage. Despite numerous layers of masking tape, some of the solvent caused the blue (applied last weekend) to react with the initial layer of tape, resulting in a slight change in texture. I started to polish this out with cutting compound, and found it heavily scratched the surface. I put a stop to that pretty damn quickly, but not before making another job for myself later on. I'll probably end up sanding both red & blue with 1200 w & d, then applying a satin clear over the whole thing. This will have to be done before I can spray the flat white colored unit number. Figures!

[Private_collector]

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This is my freshly acquired 25 pounder axle and wheel set. The only thing missing is the handbrake lever and tube that makes both sides brake shoes actuate at once. I can make one of those, and I have a few handbrake levers of different sizes to choose a suitable looking one from.

Many thanks to the MLU member who contacted me to say he had this for sale . And he was only a lazy 3hr drive away, too! Mrs B and I enjoyed the drive, and we met another great member of the MLU community. Just wished we had more time to chat before the drive home again. I haven't asked permission to mention who I got the axle from, but he can identify himself, if willing to do so. Certainly saved me some angst, and my project will be so much the better for his help.
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And this is why I didn't get as far with the other things I intended to do today. I had an urge to see if I could get a wheel off it's hub, and settled in for a potentially drawn out period removing wheel nuts. In reality, they all came away without any problem. I was even able to undo one nut by fingers alone after about 3/4 turn with the spanner. That's ridiculous for something which must have been sitting for christ knows how many years! With the wheel now off, I started work on removing the remains of the tyre. As usual, it was virtually welded to the rim. The above photo will attest to all the work I put in with the angle grinder to cut one side away before severing the bead entirely. No manner of belting or leavering would break the tyre bead from the wheel BEFORE it was cut through. Once that was done, it almost fell off by itself! Well, OK, maybe not fall off as such, but one strike with a cold chisel and I was ready to start on the other side. The smell of burning rubber with using a grinder on a tyre, is something I'm still recovering from. I swear I can still taste it, let alone smell it. Disgusting aroma. The neighbours must hate me after today. N.B: The tyre had a gaping hole ripped in it before I started using the grinder, or I would NEVER have attempted it. I recall wisdom told to me way back when I first joined the forum, regarding pyrolysis and explosions therefrom. Didn't wish to go there.
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I wasn't really ready to see this amount of rust scale inside the wheel, and I do admit my heart sank for a moment or two. After a few well placed whacks with the cold chisel (still laying in proximity, after tyre removal), I felt a bit happier.
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There is still plenty of good thick metal left in place. The wheel WILL carry some 'scars' of age, but should be OK to use. I'll attack it properly with a descaler next weekend, before sending it off for the mandatory sandblasting.

Got the pulling rings on each side moving freely after very little effort, and I really, really wanted to take the hub off as well, but ran out of daylight. The hub turns freely though, without any grinding noise. If I spun it hard and applied the brake, it stops immediately. No strange grating or grinding noises, ........It just stops. Hopefully this means brake shoes are still in good usable condition.

Incidentally, my 900x16 tyres, the ones that gave me grief trying to get them onto CMP rims, they're gonna give me trouble getting them onto these wheels as well. I know, I tried one with no success. Possibly a trained fitter may have better luck, because they are perfect look for this project.

[Private_collector]

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Upper shield panel is back on.
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The artillery sign now has 3 coats of clear over the colors.
I'll flatten it back, before the numbers are added (sprayed, not vinyl sheet)
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Seat is finished. It got 4 coats of varnish in total.
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The C B reflectors work. Spooky!

Second wheel is now off it's hub.
The hub on this side is currently stuck fast,........so the game is afoot .
I may cut the tyre off the second wheel tomorrow afternoon, if I get home before dark & feel like coughing up another lung full of burnt rubber smoke.