Amazing what you can do nowadays , seems some heavy print lines on a couple of those pieces though
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That birch gun looks very good.Comment
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Hmm had an overnight failure - 6 hours into a 8 hour print - the printer stopped with a 'jam' warning. It proved to be a clogged nozzle. I had to change the nozzle, but the existing part of the print is useless. The nozzles are considered a consumable item & are cheap ( around 25p ). Changing them is a pain - literally - they have to be removed/replaced at around 200C & I haven't managed to change one yet without a few scorch marks. Changing the nozzles means you have to go round & do the bed levelling, to compensate for any slight difference in nozzle height, and yes, it can make a difference ( bitter experience ). Printer now up and running..................
Dave..Comment
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The worst tank made by Britain - had an experimental horizontally opposed 12 cylinder engine - was ordered off the drawing board, and had so many problems that it was deemed unfit for service overseas. Cooling problems were impossible to solve, Nevertheless 1771 examples were made, only used for Home Defence and training declared obsolete in 1943. Some were converted to bridgelayers & used operatinally in Europe & by the Australian Army in the Far East. Bovington have an example
A13 Covenanter
Britain made about half the number of tanks that Germany did in WWII, but when 1771 were as useless as the Covenanter, that's hardly a meaningful statistic :sad:
DaveComment
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The printer has been busy - parts for the WWI Gun Carrier Mk.I
These are the external panels for the tracks ( each is in two build plate friendly pieces )
Printed nicely - easier when all the detail is on a flattish horizontal plate.
This was the one I thought was going to be a problem - I did have to do some extra work in the slicer settings - but I set it running ealy last night, and after 16 hours 15 minutes
It's essentially hollow & has detail on 5 faces, but I had to use extra supports, as there quite a few hanging bits internally.
I have been only able to find one rather vague drawing of the contents of the blockhouse, showing engine & gearbox, but that's it - no photos, nothing. I'd hoped that Panzershop, who make the 200 Euro resin model might have had some info on the inside, but no. There's a large arched opening at the front which will show the emptiness, so I'll have to get a bit creative............
Next to print will be the tracks, which I dont think will be a problem ( famous last words )
DaveComment
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I've been confounded by the model of the Canadian Ram tank, I just can't get the separate fenders to print in any acceptable way. I've just about exhausted my options, the only one left is printing them as complete solids - which will take a long time. Looking at the hull & turret, I.m wondering whether to bother
The grille detail on the engine deck has not printed, so I might ditch this - one of things that looked OK on the slicer, but in practice isn't a goer! I suppose experience will alert me to these things, but you've got to fall into these holes, before you learn to avoid them.
DaveComment
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SunLu printer out of commission - I had a nozzle clog, which I couldn't clear without dismantling the hot end. During assembly, I managed to break the temperature probe in the heat block. This controls the nozzle temperature, and nothing will work without it. I do have a spare, but it actually means doing some wire splicing - something I'm not that good at. The spare has a plug, but in order to fit that, I'd have to remove all the cable protection wraps & open up the mainboard box, something that took me 5 seconds to decide not to do. One of those jobs that you really have to feel like attempting, which, at the moment I'm not. At least I have a spare - I bought a few of the 'consumable' bits, like drive belts, nozzles, heat breaks, bowden tubing & connectors, fans & temperature probes - all of which are the more common bits to fail. All from China - the parts are cheap, but you do have a 2-3 week delay in getting them...........
DaveComment
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Finally managed to repair the SunLU - the thermistor is a very delicate pair of wires, not really the best, when you have fat fingers!, but after a lot of false starts it's fitted & the machine is working.
In my searches for models of the more obscure tanks I've been looking at the early Italian tanks, I've found a few..............
Fiat 3000 - only 2 made, but they did exist & were used operationally ( against N. African Tribesmen! ). Tere are some resin models available, but all are scarce & costly ( it's a biggie! )
Fiat 3000 - Italian version of the Renault FT-17. Tauro made a 1/35 model of this - one of the really dreadful products of the last century!
M11/39 - again a few models, more collectors items!
I've looked at the .stl files, and all appear to be doable. As usual, I'll blow them up to 1/35.
All the above were freebies!
I've actually lashed out $9 and bought files for this-
Included is the armoured ammo carrier version as well. I'd looked at the Accurate Armour version of this, but at £130+, I'd shied away!
This is in 1/56, but there aren't any red flags for printing it in 1/35
Just as well I'd got a spare PLA filament spool!
DaveComment
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The Kingsroon printed the Fiat 3000
In 1/35 - 4 pieces, tracks, hull & turret looks OK
The Fiat 2000 is at another level, size wise. If fits on the SunLu, just,
These took 8 hours apiece to print:
The Lower hull just about fits diagonally on the build plate - leaving about 5mm space! Its not complicated, just large & will take about 6 hours to print. There's the upper hull, top plate, final drive,, main turret & 7 mg turrets = the last two will fit on the Kingsroon, but the others are just a bit too large!
DaveComment
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I found a really obscure tank model - there were 125 of these made....................
I had to look this up! - Anybody identify this rarity?
DaveComment
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[HEADING=1]Marmon Herrington MTLS-1G14 ????[/HEADING]Comment
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Yep - I was looking at Marmon Harrington srmoured cars & it came up - 200 were ordered for the Dutch Army in 1940, but after 125 were made war intervened. The US Army tested one & found it to be useless for any service purpose. The tanks were shipped to Surinam ( Dutch Colony ), but fell into disrepair due to no manpower - they were nominally in service until 1954, when Suriname became independent - I suppose they were scrapped after that.............
DaveComment
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