02/11/2009. The first prototype etch should be available within the next three weeks. I hope to have the etch on display at the Blyth & District MR Show on the 28th and 29th of November 2009. The initial etch will be in EM gauge because this is by far the most difficult to get right.
18/08/2009 Due to popular demand this project has now moved from the back burner and is having some serious heat applied.
Photo © Peter Stanger. In retrospect it has turned out to be a good move not to rush this chassis into production. With what I've learned from producing the G5 chassis I now have lots of better ideas for this model. It's now hoped that this chassis can be compensated on all 12 wheels. Has this been done before? The rear pony truck will be replaced by a radial truck and the frames at the rear under the bunker waisted to allow significant movement.
I can't give an estimate of the likely cost at this time as the bought in parts appear to be becoming more expensive by the week.
When the A8 is ready for sale I'll be looking at the class A6 and A7 tanks too. Progress will be reported on this page at regular intervals.
18/08/2009. The A5/2 chassis is being developed in tandem with the chassis for the A8. It has been sucessfully 3D modelled and an assembly diagram produced. the A8 chassis is very similar to the A5/2 chassis the only major difference being that the A8 has cylinders mounted between the bogie wheels. This creates a whole raft of problems especially when modelling in EM or P4 scales. During the 3D modelling process it became obvious that there is a problem with the bogie supplied with the original "Little Engines" kit. The wheels are on 25mm centres and the Isinglass drawing clearly shows the bogie wheel centres to be 6'-6" or 26 mm in 4mm -1 foot scale.
The biggest problem with the A8 is the distance between the slidebars is only 6'-5" (24.67mm). Not a show stopper when modelling in OO gauge but this dimension seriously restricts the permissable sideways movement of the trailing pair of bogie wheels before a short circuit occurs. The problem isn't insurmountable but it will be more difficult to solve than first envisaged.