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Airfix 1/76 Cromwell IV Tank - final update 04/07/15 - aerials added


PlaStix

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This is going to be my next project for when I'm not at home and have odd bits of time when I can do some kit building. It is a follow up to my Airfix 1/76 Tiger 1 build which can be found here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234971585-airfix-176-tiger-i-yeah-that-old-one-upgraded-a-bit-update-071214/

I didn't have all my usual stuff available for the Tiger build and it's the same with this one, so I have to keep it simple.

As soon as I'd finished the Tiger I knew I couldn't not build another tank and decided that, following making three German tanks, I ought to do something British and opted to do another 1/76 kit from Airfix; the new(ish) Cromwell IV:

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I had already read Paul AH's review of this kit http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/78263-cromwell-iv-tank/?hl=cromwell

and so I had a little foreknowledge of what to expect, but I was still rather pleased with what I found when I opened the box. You have to understand that I am relatively new to tank kit building and know next to nothing about the kits that are available.

Anyway this is what I found inside the attractive box - 2 sprues of light grey plastic:

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The detail seems to me to be rather nice:

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The tracks - which aren't rubber bands!:

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I'm especially pleased with these after the rather woeful tracks that came with the Airfix Tiger. I think there has been a mixed reaction to these tracks but I will give them the benefit of the doubt for now. I think they may be okay once painted and weathered. And it's good they arrive pre-sagged!

Nicely detailed wheels:

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Decals for the two versions:

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Sample of the instruction sheet:

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And finally a separate painting guide:

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All-in-all a rather nice kit for £6.99 from a local toy shop.

I'm going to make a version without the hedge cutter and probably without the deep wading gear. I will see about the latter later.

I have made a start but I will do separate post for the bit I have done.

Comments and suggestions welcome.

Kind regards,

Stix

Edited by PlaStix
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I started work, as per the instructions, with the hull. Before getting the outsides on I painted the areas that would be slightly visible but difficult to paint once these sides were in place. As with all my kits I use hairy sticks for the painting. The paint I opted for is Humbrol 252 matt Olivgrun, thinned with water, which, although isn't perfect, I think will be okay once weathered.

Once I had glued the sides in place it looked like this:

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Then I got the top of the hull and a section of the back glued on:

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15817700880_9e41538f2f_c.jpg

Comments and suggestions welcome.

Kind regards,

Stix

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Hi Paul, thank you. I was just looking at your great build in the Yearbook. I hope mine turns out half as well as yours.

Kind regards,

Stix

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I've not had as much time as I would have liked on this project but, in the odd couple of minutes I've had, I have started getting more of the stuff attached to the upper hull. The fit seems pretty good although some of the parts seem very small to my old fingers. The detail seems very nice on such a small kit. I still need to get some bits of filling and sanding done but here are some photos of the progress since last time:

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The light guards on the front seem a little too thick to me (and I know Pin, on his lovely build of this kit, replaced them with wire ones) but unfortunately, where I make this I haven't got my usual equipment with me, so they are going to have to manage as they are. I think with some careful weathering they should look okay(ish).

Next I think I will make up the turret before starting any painting.

Comments and suggestions welcome.

Kind regards,

Stix

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In the time I've had working on this I've made a bit more progress. All the necessary parts have been added to the front and rear:

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The turret parts have been assembled with the exception of the barrel which I figure will just get in the way while I'm painting. I've also left off another small part from the top which think I'll just end up breaking if I fit it now. Here's how it looks so far - you can see where I've started to add filler:

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And then I couldn't resist test fitting the turret onto the hull. So here's a few photos with it in place:

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I have to say I am still impressed by the detailing on this small kit.

Comments and suggestions welcome.

Kind regards,

Stix

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Nice job Stix!

I'm doing one at the moment too, but I notice mine has an awful lot of flash compared to yours.

The turret mounting to the hull needed attention too.

Not a major drama, just not as I expected.

I'll keep watching with interest.

Rick.

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Nice job Stix!

I'm doing one at the moment too, but I notice mine has an awful lot of flash compared to yours.

The turret mounting to the hull needed attention too.

Not a major drama, just not as I expected.

I'll keep watching with interest.

Rick.

Hi Rick. Thank you for your comments. Yeah there didn't seem to be much flash on my kit compared to some I've seen on the interweb. I know there have been some issues with some parts too - I think it was Pin who found his barrel was misaligned and he had to use a replacement. I checked mine as soon as I opened the box and it was fine. I think it's down to luck as to what you get.

Are you going to post any WIP?

Looking good so far Stix, I'll be getting one of these myself, so I'll be using this as my guide,

Sean

Thank you Sean. It seems like a nice kit to build so far and, as I've mentioned, I like the detail. I must mention though that I don't know how accurate it is as I know next to nothing about tanks - well apart from the fact that I now enjoy building them in kit form!

I look forward to seeing you build yours at some point.

Kind regards,

Stix

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Hi Stix, its good to see, you are still enjoying building small scale AFVs. Its also good to see, that the newer Airfix kits are really nice, a huge improvement over the older kits. The one piece moulded track is looking great on the sprue, i hope it gets also nice on.

Revell length and single link tracks are very realistic, while thin, but not so easy to get on, in some cases quite a pain.

Well done so far, you are building kits very clean and precise. Congrats to that ! :-)

Its more relative, to use the proper color, weathering will do look the tank right, happy modelling!

:goodjob:

Bernd

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Picked one of these up in Aldi yesterday - like many modern Aurfix kits, there is some clever engineering going on. I especially liked the strengthening web on the inside of the belly plate (Having spent many hours trying to straighten warped belly plates on small scale tanks in years gone by)

Edited by Dave Fleming
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(I must mention though that I don't know how accurate it is as I know next to nothing about tanks - well apart from the fact that I now enjoy building them in kit form!)

Well, that makes two of us. Currently putting together a Plastic Soldier Company Sherman Firefly, and finding it a very different modelling experience. Enjoyable,

just different.

Sean

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That looks really crisp. And I didn't know the tracks were done like that. Looks good.

The only thing that sticks out a bit are the headlight guards, which are obviously well over scale. When I built the Revell version I fiddled around with some wire to make them. The results weren't bad, but getting them the right shape almost drove me mad, so I can understand why you've left things alone!

Glad you're leaving the hedgerow cutters off - they were never fitted to any operational Cromwells.

Looking forward to seeing some more progress. :popcorn:

Ian

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Hi Stix, its good to see, you are still enjoying building small scale AFVs. Its also good to see, that the newer Airfix kits are really nice, a huge improvement over the older kits. The one piece moulded track is looking great on the sprue, i hope it gets also nice on.

Revell length and single link tracks are very realistic, while thin, but not so easy to get on, in some cases quite a pain.

Well done so far, you are building kits very clean and precise. Congrats to that ! :-)

Its more relative, to use the proper colour, weathering will do look the tank right, happy modelling!

:goodjob:

Bernd

Hi Bernd. Thank you for stopping by and for your comments. I really am enjoying building these small tanks and this newer Airfix one does seem well detailed - as I said earlier I don't know how accurate it is though, but it looks the part!

I have now got the base layers of paint on the tracks and they are looking pretty good - no photos yet unfortunately. I tried briefly to fit some link and length tracks on the old Airfix Tiger but found them far to difficult to use - probably because of my clumsy fingers! I have also painted the turret and wheels but, again, I haven't got any photos taken yet.

Picked one of these up in Aldi yesterday - like many modern Aurfix kits, there is some clever engineering going on. I especially liked the strengthening web on the inside of the belly plate (Having spent many hours trying to straighten warped belly plates on small scale tanks in years gone by)

Hi Dave. Good to hear you picked one up from Aldi and yes Airfix does seem to have made some effort with their new kits. Good luck with your build - will you be posting it on here?

(I must mention though that I don't know how accurate it is as I know next to nothing about tanks - well apart from the fact that I now enjoy building them in kit form!)[/size]

Well, that makes two of us. Currently putting together a Plastic Soldier Company Sherman Firefly, and finding it a very different modelling experience. Enjoyable,[/size]

just different.[/size]

Sean[/size]

Hi Sean. How is your build of the Firefly going? Any chance of you posting it here on BM? I was looking at a couple of PSC kits today in a model shop and wondering what they are like.

That looks really crisp. And I didn't know the tracks were done like that. Looks good.

The only thing that sticks out a bit are the headlight guards, which are obviously well over scale. When I built the Revell version I fiddled around with some wire to make them. The results weren't bad, but getting them the right shape almost drove me mad, so I can understand why you've left things alone!

Glad you're leaving the hedgerow cutters off - they were never fitted to any operational Cromwells.

Looking forward to seeing some more progress. :popcorn:

Ian

Hi Ian. Yes the detail does seem well done on this kit and it does seem like an interesting way to do the tracks. I cannot disagree with you about the headlight guards - they do look far too thick. When Pin made his version of this kit he used wire and it did look far better. However, as I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm making these small tanks when I'm not at home so I don't have all my usual bits and equipment. I will see what I can do with some careful painting and weathering.

With regards the hedgerow cutters it was SgtSquarehead who mentioned to someone else here on BM that they were never used in anger! So I decided to leave them off mine too.

I'm hoping I might get an update posted over the next couple of days.

Ooo will have to get me one of these, looks nice and great fun :)

Hi mixup_1. From what I been doing on it so far I can confirm it is a fun build. I think some people have found some more flash or misaligned parts than I did but it hasn't stopped them building great versions. I can recommend it so far.

Kind regards,

Stix

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Hey Stix.

I was so impressed with the look of this little kit from your photos that I went out and got one today. It's a little gem.

I wonder if Hornby are planning any future releases like this? I wish they had a go at re-doing their back catalogue, as they're doing with the aircraft. Imagine - a new Sherman, Matilda, Crusader...

Ian

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Hi Stix, can t wait to see pics of your progress, for my modelling i didn t use plans very much but photos can tell much more.

Will try out a new Aiurfix AFV kit.

Keep up the good work and merry Christmas/Happy modelling

Cheers

Bernd

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Hey Stix.

I was so impressed with the look of this little kit from your photos that I went out and got one today. It's a little gem.

I wonder if Hornby are planning any future releases like this? I wish they had a go at re-doing their back catalogue, as they're doing with the aircraft. Imagine - a new Sherman, Matilda, Crusader...

Ian

Hi Ian. Glad you managed to get hold of one and I hope you enjoy building it as much as I am! I agree - it would be good if they had a go at updating their older stuff, especially if they end up as well done as this one seems to be.

Hi Stix, can t wait to see pics of your progress, for my modelling i didn t use plans very much but photos can tell much more.

Will try out a new Aiurfix AFV kit.

Keep up the good work and merry Christmas/Happy modelling

Cheers

Bernd

Hi Bernd. I am going to try and upload some progress photos shortly. Nothing amazing I'm afraid, just some views of what everything looks like, so far, with a base coat of the main colour on.

Thank you for your continued interest and I hope you have a Merry Christmas too and that you get plenty of time to do some kit building!

Kind regards,

Stix

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I've managed to get a bit more done on this kit over the past couple of days but nothing particularly exciting. It has all been painted and with hairy sticks as usual.

First off I gave the tracks a coat of Revell's Anthracite and then dry brushed them with Humbrol's Gunmetal:

15910529329_e3e1822f74_c.jpg

Next on these I'm going to add some washes to start and weather them.

Next up I gave all the parts, which are still on the sprues, a coat of Humbrol 252, matt Olivgrun which I thinned with water:

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Then it was time to get some paint on the two assembled sections - the turret:

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And the hull:

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Finally I took three photos of it with the turret placed on the hull:

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I think the the lovely detail on this kit should start to look really good with some washes and dry-brushing.

It may be a while before I get any more done on this project but comments and suggestions are always welcome.

Kind regards,

Stix

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Looking good already Stix.very impressed be whats in the box especially the way the tracks are moulded,might have another dip in the armour

pool next year,will be keeping an eye on this project.

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