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 Author  Topic: PT-10, MAKING THE TURRET DOMES
Frank J Andruss Sr

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Post a Reply To This Topic    Reply With Quotes     Edit Message     View Profile of Frank J Andruss Sr   Send Email To Frank J Andruss Sr Posted on: Apr 16, 2011 - 10:36pm

Below please find Stan's description of the making of the gun turret domes for the PT-10 Project.

Frank

Hi, Here you are, THE DOMES

I hope this all makes sense. The domes were not that hard as far as the framework was concerned. That was taken right off the drawings.

Using the side and top views I first determined the half round design and then the width of the carriage no. 1 as I will call it. This is the section that the gun carriage rides over when elevating the guns. The gun carriage no. 2 is slightly wider then the no 1 carriage. The main or no.1 carriage will only have glass in the rear section, about 1/3 of the way up in the back from the bottom circle. The bottom circle is made the same size as the top of the turret is. In this particular model the turret diameter is 1-1/2 inches wide with a 1/8 th inch width making the inside diameter 1-1/4 inches.

Both of the side sections of carriage 1 and 2 were cut from 1/32 in. airplane plywood for strength. The top sections were made from 1/16th wide thin brass and attached using contact cement. Remember I am a carpenter and I don't do well with that monkey glue. After they are set up and dry I fit the clear plastic in according to the plan drawings. The plastic is installed using contact cement also. NOTE, the clear plastic is installed AFTER these sections are PAINTED>

When these 2 sections are complete, they are set on the 1-1/2 in. ring you made from the 1/32 in plywood. Centered of course and glued, You pref. on the glue, Carriage 1 glued to both sides of the circle. Carriage 2 will just sit around for awhile.

Now for the DOMES. Finding something that would work proved to be a little problem. I knew what I wanted and just had to find it. I wanted clear plastic domes. I found some 2 in. ones but they proved to be to wide. Even after I cut them. We, Frank and I then found some 1-1/2 in domes but they ended up to short My next stop was to walk around the Mall to see if anything caught my eye. The ice-cream place did because they sell clear plastic covers, so I got 4 different sizes from them. I kept walking and found a sports collectable store. Hmm I thought. Baseballs in clear plastic containers. Looking for them I stopped, and in front of me were GOLFBALLS in clear plastic containers, in 2 halves. 1-1/2in wide at the bottom and 1-3/4 in high. BINGO> and they would be easy to work with. Home I went with 3 golfballs and 6 clear plastic half domes.

I played around with one and ruined it but the next I got it to fit by fitting the bottom to the circle base and sliding it and cutting it so it fit against carriage no 1. I cut the other side and fit it and glued both pcs. in place. The glass divider lines are narrow pin-stripping tape I painted to fit.

I still have to attach Carriage no 2 but I will install the machine guns first. Still left to do is the inside of the gun tubs, but the domes are finished. I think if there is a next time to do the domes it should take much less time. I do believe the framework for the circular base and for the carriages could be made from photo-etched designs.

P S Frank is upset with the Domes because the Golf-balls were NEW YORK YANKEES golf-balls. So the Domes are YANKEE DOMES.

Thank you very much STAN.



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Frank J Andruss Sr

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Post a Reply To This Topic    Reply With Quotes     Edit Message     View Profile of Frank J Andruss Sr   Send Email To Frank J Andruss Sr Posted on: Apr 18, 2011 - 4:16am
I will post some photos of the domes being made s soon as I get the chance.



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Frank J Andruss Sr

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Post a Reply To This Topic    Reply With Quotes     Edit Message     View Profile of Frank J Andruss Sr   Send Email To Frank J Andruss Sr Posted on: Apr 19, 2011 - 5:46pm
Stan asked me to add a few photos in case the you guys did not understand what in the heck he was talking about.......

Frank






















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David Waples

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Post a Reply To This Topic    Reply With Quotes     Edit Message     View Profile of David Waples  Posted on: Apr 22, 2011 - 4:22am
Nice tutorial! Pass along my thanks to Stan.
Dave

David Waples

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