Armortek model build

[Mickwhitt 4,812]

Boxing days is usually spent in front of the telly, we are watching Zulu which is a good old British story of military pluck.

 

I managed to sneak some of the Landrover parts into the lounge and assembled the rear bodywork and cab floor so I can see what is going to be needed for detailing the whole structure.

 

 

The panels are held together with a mixture of countersunk and button head screws, this is fine but it leaves you with a lot of bolt heads on show, which rather spoil the look. 

 

 

I'm going to clean all the panels and then glue them together with a high strength and flexible metal adhesive. That way I can ditch the bolts when the glue is cured and replace them with scale aluminium rivets.

 

 

Still a long way to go but it's looking more like a landrover now. 

[Mickwhitt 4,812]

The front bulkhead supports the doors, screen, dash panel, bonnet, front wings etc etc.

 

So I need to finish up any machining and modifying before I move forward with the rear bodywork and cab. 

 

Having changed the distance between centres of the static windscreen hinges I knew I had to move the hinges on the windscreen itself.

 

So I decided to have a go at making a hinge that looks a bit more life like.

 

It has to have a crank in it and it was a real head scratcher to get it bent up.

 

 

 

I'm happy with the result so far and I'm playing with a new steering group wheel support now. 

[ebinmaine 69,040]

@Mickwhitt

 

I'm really enjoying watching all the mini projects that are part of the whole assembly here. 

 

Excellent work and I appreciate you posting it. 

[Wayne0 591]

This is like watching the @cleat Work Horse restoration, only MORE detailed. Awesome build!! Great job, Mick.

[Mickwhitt 4,812]

Thank you guys, it's nice to hear that my fumblings are appreciated lol.

 

Curiously I've just been looking at a conversation on a model engineering forum over here. A member said he was leaving because the forum was a waste of time and he could find better ones.

 

Part of the problem seems to be that no matter what you ask or show there are always negative comments or criticism.

It's like there are a lot of members who rejoice in showing how clever they are and love to belittle the efforts of those they consider to be beneath them.

For example I posted a photo of part of my Landrover build and all I got from one guy was "You do realise it should have hexagon head bolts, not allen head? It spoils the look of it" This was about a 2mm bolt which you hardly see.

 

It's no wonder people don't want to get involved when they come up against that kind of attitude. 

 

When I went to join a model engineering club near me the first thing out of the secretaries mouth was how much the subs were and they had to be paid before I could attend, the second thing was could I grab a shovel and wheelbarrow to move tons of ballast around to repair their rail track bed. Nothing about model making, just provide muscle so they could drive their toy trains! Lol.

 

I've never had that kind of comment or attitude from anyone on Red Square,  only help, advice and encouragement,  even when asking daft questions. Here we have a laugh and joke and also provide a great place to chat about anything from Wheelhorse to workshops.

 

Thank you to all the guys and girls who make Red Square a safe and happy place to chill out and talk tractors.

 

Mick. 

[8ntruck 7,195]

  All very valid observations about clubs and forums.  I agree completely with your conclusions.

 

I spent the last half of my carreer as a press tooling engineer.  I find metal forming facinating - 1/2 science, the other half art.

 

I know how I'd put that crank in the fullsize windshield in a production tool.  Just curious - how did you do it for your pieces- one right hand, one left hand?

[Mickwhitt 4,812]

11 hours ago, 8ntruck said:

Just curious - how did you do it for your pieces- one right hand, one left hand?

Hi, 

Wow a press tool guy who knows the ropes!  Great to hear from you.

 

I looked at the original window hinges and saw the crank in the upper arms. I guess it was done primarily to make the upper hinge fit between the fixed lower hinges properly. But also it may have added some stiffness or strength to a part that would have just been a flat plate.

 

I made a template in tin plate and practised bending it to get the left and right sorted in my head.

 

Then made actual pieces from 2mm thick steel sheet.

 

The bending was done by gripping the part in a plain jaw vice and using a blunt chisel to put the two bends in , very close together.

 

To do it properly I'd have needed to make a press tool but for just a couple of pieces it wasn't worth doing. 

 

Thanks for showing such interest in my work. I enjoy sharing it as much as I enjoy doing it. 

 

Best regards,  Mick 

[Mickwhitt 4,812]

Bit more work on the Landy,  after a few bits of tool work.

 

These are little parts dishes that I made, aluminium turned with a magnet let into the outside of the base so they retain small parts.

Then I made new bolts for the windscreen hinges. Rather than use a set screw I made little shouldered bolts with castellated nuts. 

 

 

Just made in brass with some scrap steel sheet to see how they look. 

 

Mick 

[Mickwhitt 4,812]

I managed to make the hinge bolts and nuts in steel. A bit more of a faffing than in soft brass. But it's worth it to improve on the kit. 

I cross drilled the bolt at 1mm to take a split pin. Talk about miniature work.

I'm also building up the front wings and firewall as a unit so I can attach it to the chassis when it has been painted. 

It's about working out how to do the build so that I can paint the bodyshell without too much masking of the chassis.

 

 

[Mickwhitt 4,812]

The steel windscreen supports are just plain steel so I sanded and lacquered them ready to fit.

The bonnet latches are an issue, four of them needed: two for the bonnet and two to hold down the folded screen.

I looked at ready made ones which are cast white metal. But I wasn't too keen on the look of them.

So it was "Let's see how on earth I go about making these things" time.

I thought about turning a button shape in brass and filing the shape, but that was a real faffing about job.

So I used some soft brass plate to shape a flat version of the handle, then sliver soldered a 4mm shank onto it.
I made a domed jig to bend the lobes and hook over.

Then turn a steel body and drill for the hook end.

Eh voilà: -----

Just the top and bottom bracket parts to fabricate now.

[Mickwhitt 4,812]

I finished the prototype hood catch today, top and bottom brackets.

I think it looks neat, apparently the catch is an American design from the Jeep.

 

[8ntruck 7,195]

Yup.  Used on Jeep CJ series well into the 80's.

 

I think I read somewhere that the prototype Land Rover was built on a surplus WW 2 Jeep chassis.

[Mickwhitt 4,812]

3 hours ago, 8ntruck said:

Yup.  Used on Jeep CJ series well into the 80's.

 

I think I read somewhere that the prototype Land Rover was built on a surplus WW 2 Jeep chassis.

 

You are right, just after WW2 Maurice Wilks (MCW), who was one of the managers of the Rover motor car company, bought a nice house with plenty of land and a long private driveway to the main road. 

In 1947 there was a severe winter and his drive was totally blocked by snow. He parked his private car on the road and borrowed his neighbours toy; a Jeep he had bought surplus after the war ended. This made light work of the rough, frozen track to his home.

 

The Jeep went home and MCW faced a new problem for the owner of a country property. 

 

A storm that year brought down a load of large trees on the driveway, being middle class and pretty wealthy MCW came up with a novel solution,  buying a a war surplus tracked vehicle to drag the trees from his drive 

 

I would have just loved to have lived back then!

The bren carrier worked brilliantly but when the job was done it became a white elephant as it couldn't be driven on the roads. 

So MCW swapped it with his neighbour for the Jeep and a circular saw to cut up all the trees that had fallen on his land. 

 

So the owner of Rover cars now had a 4x4 Jeep To play with. 

 

His brother (also business partner) had a holiday home in Scotland and he had his Rover saloon car suspension raised to allow him to drive across the moors when shooting. His gamekeeper was not impressed seeing a huge saloon car trundle across his grousemoor, so he suggested that SC needed a proper Land Rover which would look more suitable. That's the first time those two words were sat together, and it started the most amazing development of a motor vehicle ever seen. 

 

The brothers used the MCWs Willys Jeep chassis to design a British 4x4 vehicle. Replacing the bodywork they wanted to build a truly versatile vehicle that would allow a farmer to plow his fields with it and then drive it into town to see the bank manager. Remember,  it was just after the war and farms doubled in size to boost food production, so farmers were big business back then.

 

The result of their first effort was a single seat, centre steer vehicle. Very much like the tractor they were trying to force into being a road vehicle. They built just the one, making things up as they went, the engineers at Rover building what they thought was right. But it wasn't practical so a rethink was needed. That's when the boxy, practical, powerful 4x4 Landrover was born. The most versatile vehicle in the world.

With models that spanned every use, from fire fighting, to welding rigs, to crops spraying to carrying the Queen on official engagements, (as well as being her own private vehicle she drove on her country estates).

 

Landrover is still with us 80 years later, very different to when Rover ran the show and owned by foreign companies.

But the original vehicles are still going strong, including HUE 166 the first ever prototype model and JUE 477, the first ever production vehicle that was sold. 

 

The Jeep is still in there in spirit, it's ability to go anywhere and do anything,  but the Landy is a British masterpiece of engineering and marketing. Made to be affordable and practical it was the Volkswagen of Britain, ok not affordable to everyone. But you get the idea.

 

Hear endeth the lesson, lol. 

 

 

[Wayne0 591]

Great story!

[Mickwhitt 4,812]

Bought some new needle files today. Lots of filing work on the Landy so I need some new ones.

Chap in Greece is selling off some jewellery tools and had brand new boxed sets of vallorbe files which were very cheap, even with postage.

I started prepping the materials for the bonnet catches, making up four identical kits of parts so they look right. 

The prototype I will use to show how they were developed if I enter any competitions.  

Mick.