Model Engineers’ Workshop – August 2019

46 http://www.model-engineer.co.uk Model Engineers’ Workshop

How Alibre Complements

My Workshop Tools

M

y father was an instructor at

Bovington; I started work at

Fighting Vehicle Research and

Development Establishment, Chertsey and

was posted back to Bovington as a student

on the Long Armour Course that dealt with

tank design. Small wonder that when I came

to retire, I should choose a project that

entailed making something and tanks.

The choice proved quite simple based

on my lack of machining skills. It should

have fl at panels fabricated with bolts or

rivets but no welding/brazing (fi re risk in

a terraced house) and need a minimum of

machinery to produce shapes. The choice

was obvious: a WW1 Tank – not the giant

Mk IV but the Medium Mark A, Whippet,

photo 1, with 4 stroke petrol engine and

radio control.

The fi rst requirements of any project are

the dimensions and shape of the object

to be modelled. The Tank Museum was

able to produce a helpful information pack

and, of course, housed the actual vehicle

at Bovington. The pack contained one 3

Stephen King explains how he uses CAD to support his modelling.

view illustration printed in Engineer, dated

1919, some postcard sized blueprints of the

outline and a drawing of a track plate plus

some ¾ view photos. This would be meat

and drink to seasoned, scratch building

model engineers but I really was starting

Fig.1

The newly restored Whippet at Bovington. Tank Museum.

The three view illustration

from Engineer, 1919, from

the photo copy in the Tank

Museum information pack.