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Modeller Build Logs
Ram OP |
| By Paul Roberts | | Started: | Oct 16, 2003 | | Updated: | Apr 12, 2006 |
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OK Here goes, my first BLOG. We'll all get to see how far I get and maybe it will encourage me to keep up my build pace.
As the title says, this will eventually be a Ram OP, which was the artillery observation post version of the Ram Cruiser tank. Over 80 of these were made in 1943 by Montreal Locomotive and they were built on the last version of the Ram Mk II chassis. This had all the mods introduced over the 2 year production run of the Ram tank.
While the gun tank versions of the Ram never saw combat service in that role, the OP was widely used by the self propelled artillery regiments attached to Canada's armoured divisions and army groups. With the removal of the main gun (a plain tube was welded on the outside to maintain appearances) and turret basket there was enough room inside for a crew of 6 which included the observers and operators for two No.19 radio sets. With the extra room and crew the OPs were highly prized by their regiments and further OPs were created on gun tank chassis at REME (RCEME?) depots in the UK. Like its cousin, the Sherman, the Ram was well suited to conversion to other uses and the OP was a perfect example of such a conversion. |
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| Chapter 14 - Drawing Board Part 2 | Jun 6, 2004 |
Similarly, I have also scrapped the original narrowed turret I made. The roof didn't stay horizontal after I glued the two sides back together after the chop and I was adding too much putty and losing too much detail. I cast another turret, cut out the 1/8" and reglued it to gether in a night and got a much nicer product than the first try. Sure am glad I made a mold of the old turret so I could make these mistakes and still recover! (Note to self: Always have a back-up plan!)
Lastly, I turned a new drum-type air cleaner as the Italeri M4A1 cleaners not only don't look like the real thing, but also don't fit under the resin overhang. This was before I bought some of Rob Ervin's lovely round air cleaners at AMPS, so I'll be seeing if they fit before continuing with the scratchbuilt parts. Either way is OK by me as Robs parts are really nice.
You can see how the new mantlet has had the old resin parts faired into the new styrene back plate. Next I'll mark the locations of the screws and put the thing on the mill to get the counterbored locations right. Note the wider opening in the "horseshoe" collar on the mantlet plate. The OP actually had a sliding view port below the 4" pipe that simulated the 6pdr. |
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