Restoring a Major Pack tank & Antar transport.

[Tinman]

In the past I have bought the replacement turret (for the tank) to fix the broken off barrel. The last couple turrets I bought were so poorly cast and pitted that I have taken to repairing/replacing the original gun barrels. Here is one I just installed. I put it in a drill and "turned" the taper on it using a file. After putting the taper on the barrel, I formed the muzzle by putting a blob of epoxy on the end and turning that again using the drill and a file. I just used epoxy to mount (glue) the new barrel. It protrudes through the turret and rests against the rivet post where another epoxy attachment is made for additional strength. When that dries, I'll clean up the excess around the barrel where it goes through the hole drilled in the old turret. The old turret's rivet post is already drilled and tapped for a mounting screw to hold it back on the tank and allow it to turn.

[Tinman]

... and cleaned up and painted.

[Tinman]

It's painted and assembled. I'm pleased with how well the new barrel actually looks now that it's all back together. I used the shaft for a 1/8" pop rivet to make the barrel.

[paelzermaen]

I used the shaft for a 1/8" pop rivet to make the barrel.

Ahaa! A used pop rivet shaft! This explaines the tapering. Very clever trick.

[Tinman]

Thanks! I slid the actual rivet off the shaft and discarded the rivet. I turned down the shaft towards the head of the rivet shaft. I left the head for two reasons, it gave the epoxy something to hold on to and it provided a hard "stop" for the file when shaping the barrel muzzle. The hard stop made it easy to turn the muzzle without over doing it.