British Vickers Light Tank Mk VI C 2026-04

[BarleyBop]

... Will wait for another day when I'm fresh to cut the top layer; but in case you are wondering where I'm going with this, here is the sandwich, roughly stacked.(Minus top layer)
Lots of refining yet to do!

 

[John Waller]

Looks like a job for the ultrasonic cutter???

 

[BarleyBop]

ultrasonic cutter

Does it count if I whistle while I work?

 

[BarleyBop]

... A little more progress. Mini drum sander now has center stage, more sanding to come before squaring it up and assembly.

The turret floor will fit in that circular recess if all goes to plan.

 

[Jakko]

Does it count if I whistle while I work?

Only if you do it high enough.

 

[BarleyBop]

Slow, but ... Slow!

 

[BarleyBop]

Yet another test fit.
A fit of tests.
The front facing and rear facing edges will need to be angled for the angled dividing walls.
Good thing I'm fine with one challenge at a time, and some forethought triaged the details that could wait.

 

[BarleyBop]

I'm going to try and stay cool with the interior (not glue it too early), build it of a piece, so that I can adjust it forwards or backwards to perfectly align with the turret.

Still a ways to go!

I'm going to try this carbon pattern decal for the floor areas, the interior being painted aluminium.
Yup, more tests!

 

[John Waller]

..I'm going to try this carbon pattern decal for the floor areas..

Would it not more likely be checker-plate?

 

[Jakko]

I would not use the carbon-fibre stuff for the floor plates. It's a material that didn't exist until the 1960s, and so would look out of place, if you ask me.

 

[BarleyBop]

floor plates.

checker-plate

Perhaps I'm being too literal interpreting the 3D kit plans... Some reference photos show just a dark surface with no pattern. That would be a lot easier!

 

[BarleyBop]

This was how the interior kit was presented:

Have not seen any reference photos of the real thing with this pattern.

 

[Jakko]

Toadman's Tank Pictures shows what look like ribbed, rubber mats and plain floors in a restored example:

I would replicate the rubber (?) mats with dark grey paint. You're not going to see anything of the texture through the hatches on your model.

 

[BarleyBop]

Ah, now I see where the ribbed texture was sourced.
Surprised I hadn't collected that top photo... Well, I guess I have it now! Thanks ...

 

[Edbert]

Looks like a job for the ultrasonic cutter???

I was thinking CNC, you can print your own these days.

 

[Edbert]

Perhaps I'm being too literal interpreting the 3D kit plans... Some reference photos show just a dark surface with no pattern. That would be a lot easier!

Probably a rubber mat? They did that in the 1940s inside B-17s.

 

[BarleyBop]

More measuring, resizing and adjusting for angled pieces. Trickier than flat parts, so printing on 4x6 in photo stock which I've had for years.

I can cut out, test fit and make any further adjustments before printing on label to stick on styrene sheet.

 

[BarleyBop]

Well that was a bust ... Something went wonky in the printer page set up, somewhere, and the measurements are off.
Rather than futzing with the printer, I'll just go back to letter size... That worked fine for the first run.
I have to say that the photo paper print is crisp, and stiff enough for testing, even if iit does lack thickness.

 

[BarleyBop]

... So the return to letter size print fixed my sizing issue, and I've been able to adjust part sizes based on measurements of the kit body with my floor added.

Before calling it a night, I pulled out some brass foil... A little 'repoussage', anyone? The last time I did this was in that same grade 7 shop class I learned how to polish plastic with toothpaste!

Merci, M. Gignac!

Yup, looks like it will work! I'll have to print out some panels in reverse, so I've already adjusted my drawing.

"Bonne nuit, les gars!"

 

[Littlemarten]

... So the return to letter size print fixed my sizing issue, and I've been able to adjust part sizes based on measurements of the kit body with my floor added.

Before calling it a night, I pulled out some brass foil... A little 'repoussage', anyone? The last time I did this was in that same grade 7 shop class I learned how to polish plastic with toothpaste!

Merci, M. Gignac!

View attachment 191639
Yup, looks like it will work! I'll have to print out some panels in reverse, so I've already adjusted my drawing.

"Bonne nuit, les gars!"

I've been doing this for years with foil from empty toothpaste tubes. Is that where you get your heavy foil?

 

[BarleyBop]

I've been doing this for years with foil from empty toothpaste tubes. Is that where you get your heavy foil?

Nice... Never thought of that.
I actually bought a couple of small rolls in different thicknesses online a few years ago. This one is .03mm thick.
They come out of the tickle trunk every so often, a great raw material to have on hand.

After sleeping on it, I'm thinking it may even be worth trying to do the whole panel for the surface detail, rivets and all!

 

[BarleyBop]

... So after some more tests, printed the templates onto label paper, and placed on styrene .030 inch and .060 inch.
The reversed ones onto .03 mm foil.

I'll wait until I'm good and awake for the next steps!

 

[BarleyBop]

Pretty pleased with fit so far!
The back wall will be glued to the fighting compartment floor, the mid wall to the wall separating the driver from engine area.
I will cut a notch in the mid wall so that the fighting compartment floor can be adjusted forward when time comes to align the turret.
I can see that I will need to shave a bit off the tops of the walls to allow for the thickness of the tank deck which drops down a bit! (After I remove the label paper templates... At this scale, even paper thickness makes a difference!)

Once I'm happy with that mid wall separating the fighting compartment from the front, I'll cut the access doorway behind the driver.

 

[kevin]

Looks like your efforts are starting to pay off, keep up the good work.

 

[Jakko]

You're definitely getting there

 

[BarleyBop]

...and a first try with @Jakko 's miracle glue to set the brass into the styrene.
Not too shabby for scratch!

 

[BarleyBop]

Another one bites the dust.
Walls just test fitted.

The rivets turned out quite well.
The raised panel doors not so much, but I'll take it.
For this wall, I cut it into its separate panels, then glued separately, rather than trying to score the panel lines like I did on the back panel, which didn't work out.
Tomorrow, cut out the opening into the fighting compartment, and start building the parts for the driver compartment.

All this work and I haven't even assembled anything from the actual kit yet!

But I'm learning lots, especially for future kits where raised details will be much more visible!

 

[BarleyBop]

Pretty much there in this wall!

 

[BarleyBop]

What was I thinking, gotta have wingnuts!

 

[BarleyBop]

And this gear shift?