| May 27th | |
| Labels for the flares were copied from a wartime original, with the codes and lot numbers changed for the various different colour combinations of flares. They were printed onto brown wrapping paper and cut to size. | |
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| The first four cartridges then had the labels attached with Pritt. I'm quite pleased with the results. The next job was to paint the recognition bands around the tops of the cartridges, to signify the colour and number of stars. | |
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One short cartridge was made to fit inside the
barrel of the M8 pistol. This needs to be short because of the steel bar welded
across the inside to deactivate the pistol. This doesn't need painting because
only the end of the cartridge is visible.
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May 25th Time to make stuff again. This time pyrotechnics! Well, dummy ones for my M8 flare pistol. I found some steel tube a bit smaller than the pistol barrel, and the first effort was printer paper wrapped around and glued with Pritt. A bit wrinkly, but the technique worked reasonably well for a dummy flare cartridge, including the crimped over end. Coloured end caps were copied from pictures of original 1940's flares and printed out on to card last night. |
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| The brown/buff paper version worked well, but the buff showed where it was crimped over. | The next try used the brown/buff combination, but the buff layers were set back from the end so they wouldn't show when crimped. |
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Below left, the first three cartridges made, and just needing the paper/glue to
harden before they can be trimmed to length, and an additional one along with the M8 pistol. The only things they are lacking are an external label, which I
haven't done the graphics for yet, and coloured bands painting around the ends of the cartridges.
I'll be making an open rack for the truck to store "Ready to use" flares with the ends exposed so they can be seen and identified, and a locker for additional spare flares in a "Safe" condition. The brass or aluminium igniter ends wouldn't be seen, so I won't have to make them, except for perhaps a couple on display out of the rack. |
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| May 22nd |
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A chance shopping trip to Sainsbury resulted
in spotting these ice cream scoops, and with the discount voucher, dropped the
price to £2.60 each. They are just what I've been looking for to make the
truck anemometer.
The release mechanism means the bowl is pre-drilled, allowing easy fitting to an arm on the anemometer head. The plastic handle was cut away with a bandsaw, revealing another stainless fitting spot welded onto the bowl that the plastic was moulded around. This was removed with a grinder, leaving me with a nice metal bowl around 2 1/4 inches diameter. |
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