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Conqueror Mk1 & Mk2


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There is a bit of a story to these so bear with. I retired a few years ago and as the NZ dollar was strong I decided to splash out on my one and only AA resin kit. The Conqueror Mk2 was chosen because it is a favourite of mine, and also because it, AA and I all originate from Glasgae.

I made the mistake of not checking the box when it was delivered, and over the next couple of years it sat in the cupboard while I was preoccupied with house sale and a move to a different part of the country.

When I did crack it open with the intention of it being my winter build a couple of years back I was a bit shocked to find that my Mk2 had a Mk1 upper hull. I contacted AA and Derek offered to send me a Mk2 upper but ominously suggested I do a careful parts count. Sure enough there were missing and duplicate parts which AA also put right.

Upon starting the build I found that there was worse to come. The castings were of very poor quality, the resin contained about 50% air, having the consistency of an Aero bar, and many parts were unusable. I did some basic assembly then gave up in disgust, only to revisit it ever few months in the forlorn hope that it was not in fact as bad as I thought.

I eventually got this far;-

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Apart from the lack of enthusiasm engendered by the overall poor quality of the kit, there was also the major problem of the tracks which were useless, and not something I fancied scratchbuilding. The announcement of the Black Label Conqueror gave me hope that there would be some styrene tracks becoming available, but of course Dragon used their tacky DS tracks so that hope evaporated.

Then I found a Cromwell Models Conqueror Mk2 on our local auction site and snapped that up in the hopes that it would provide some tracks. I was very relieved when I unpacked it and found it not only had a set of really nice tracks but that there was enough lengths and links to cover both models if I deleted the top runs, which you dont see with the bazooka plates in place.

Then I got to thinking! I did not want two Mk2 models, but the Cromwell kit is of such good quality it seemed a shame to just rob it of its tracks. So I decided to use the redundant AA Mk1 upper hull, scratch a lower hull, and then use the Cromwell parts and some scratching to create a Mk1.

So out with the .040" white styrene then!

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The lower hull was fitted to the Mk1 upper with epoxy adhesive and the Cromwell suspension components prepared.

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Then the suspension and the front idler mounts were added to the hull.

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The Cromwell turret ring is larger than the AA one so an adaptor was made.

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And it started to look like a Conqueror.

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So now I have two half built Conquerors, and a raft of technical issues to overcome!

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Good grief, talk about overcome and adapt. I'd have binned the first and started over. Can't wait to see where you're going with this as you clearly don't lack skill, passion, nor persistence.

Iain

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Thanks Iain, its like on one hand I want to throw away the AA kit, on the other hand my Scottish ancestry means the prospect of binning about $NZ250 is not an option!

Fortunately I do get some perverse satisfaction from making the proverbial silk purse, may just take a while in this case.

Dave

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Do not throw anything away Dave. If you can make that mutt into a decent looking scale model, you can turn water into wine. I cannot wait to see you post progress on this.

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After your rebuild of the Chieftain this shouldn't present to many problems yo someone of your skills!

Looking forward to watching this pair come together

Roger

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I see from PMMS that Tankograd are about to publish a 'Special' on the Conqueror that might be of interest.

Chris

who's had a Cromwell Conqueror on the back burner for the last few (many) years

Thanks chaps, I actually have heaps of ref material I have accumulated over the many years since I first started planning a Conqueror.

The problem is converting all that information into a model!

Regards Dave

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  • 4 weeks later...

Made a little more progress on the Mk1. Have added the fuel fillers, and the odd item in front of the fuel filler on the left side. Also made a couple of semi scale exhaust systems....I cant find any reference pics of whats under the heat shields on a Mk1 so I have made some bits that will at least provide something other than a void when make the shields.

Have also fitted the track guard mounted bins, using the Cromwell Mk2 parts, and replaced the left centre bin with spare AA right hand centre bin. First I had to replace the damaged resin track guard brackets!

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