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British 25pdr field gun and Quad gun Tractor. (Pull the other one)


Badder

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I have been dying to get cracking on this one: Tamiya's wonderful 'Golden Oldie', the British 25pdr field gun and Quad gun tractor. I remember ogling this kit as a young teen but only ever being able to afford the other kit with just the tractor. So, I HAVE built the tractor before and remember binning it after making a complete mess of the glazing!

All these years later, I couldn't believe how cheap this kit was considering what you get for your money, just shy of 20 quid for The tractor, the gun and limber carriage and one figure (the driver) The driver in truth is a bit of a disappointment. The kit could have done with 5 others figures to fill up the seats in the tractor. Oh and the driver seems to be descended from a lobster. Does ANYONE EVER hold a steering wheel like that?

I know that Tamiya do a kit with gunners to load and fire the 25pdr, but they are topless (which is a bit rude) and dressed for North Africa (which isn't in Europe)
I want to place this tractor in Europe. And that means it's manned by Canadians (according to Tamiya)
IF ANYONE KNOWS ANY DIFFERENT PLEASE LET ME KNOW BEFORE I PUT THE DECALS ON!

DSC00583_zpskxtnukpq.jpg

Edited by Badder
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Looking forward to this one, I built the dragon one a while back used a little poetic license as I had it pulled by a halftrack I had built. If your looking for a crew bronco do a northwest Europe set, which fit nicely.

8d07992e229d4d628df9ac6bc85ee3a8_zpsb462

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Looking forward to this one, I built the dragon one a while back used a little poetic license as I had it pulled by a halftrack I had built. If your looking for a crew bronco do a northwest Europe set, which fit nicely.

8d07992e229d4d628df9ac6bc85ee3a8_zpsb462

Thanks for that Ozzy, I shall bear that in mind.

Regards, Badder.

Thanks for that Ozzy, I shall bear that in mind.

Regards, Badder.

Oooh I replied and quoted BEFORE I saw the dio! That's smashing that is. I really really really must get me some sea foam. I keep forgetting!

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This will be OOB, with just a few bits of scratch stowage. I actually started this build last week, assembling those ...er....sub-assemblies... which can be ...er... assembled... prior to painting. So, that's the chassis, the interior, the wheels, and the engine and I added a few bits and pieces of the bodywork. Here's some shots:

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The main bodywork... all in one piece (makes the job a bit easier)

The engine part-assembled. The exhaust manifold and cooling fan have been left off for ease of fitting in the first instance and ease of painting in the second. Shame none of it will be seen.

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Chassis part-assembled. The drive shafts and transfer box were a bit of a pain to fit because I followed the instructions and fitted the transfer box long before the drive shafts... and the shafts were too tight a fit. I had to cut off the lugs at the ends and just use CA to locate them.

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The floor with 'floor extensions, seats, for the fixing of' added, and the central console.

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Bonnet and radiator grill... not a good fit here, but then I've seen photos of these vehicles and the bad fit is accurate!

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more to follow...

Edited by Badder
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Thanks for that Ozzy, I shall bear that in mind.Regards, Badder.Oooh I replied and quoted BEFORE I saw the dio! That's smashing that is. I really really really must get me some sea foam. I keep forgetting!

Thanks Badder,

The bushes are from woodland scenic, I picked up from the railway section in my local model shop. It looks really good compeared to what I've used in the past.

Nice progress.

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The seats.

DSC00571_zpsb8il3aun.jpg

Floor, chassis and wheels dry fitted. Exhaust drilled out. Tyres have been 'worn' since.

DSC00575_zpsjliqslw1.jpg

The underside WITH ejector pin marks yet to be removed

DSC00572_zpsqv3jzzhi.jpg

more to follow

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Thanks Badder,

The bushes are from woodland scenic, I picked up from the railway section in my local model shop. It looks really good compeared to what I've used in the past.

Nice progress.

I've seen them, and thought them not very realistic and very expensive, but what you've done with them has made me rethink the matter! Thanks Ozzy.

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The 'squat end' of a Quad. PE would be great here for opening up the hatches...DSC00577_zpsctwi7tbf.jpg

That bad fit and unworn tyres again...

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Two wheels, one OOB the other 'worn'

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Worn tyres dry fitted.

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That's it, all up to date. Thanks for looking, Badder

Edited by Badder
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That brings back memories, I built a dio around one of those for my late father in law who served in the RA with a 25 pdr field regiment (9th Field Regiment) in Burma and he loved it.

Cheers

Dennis

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Okay, I was supposed to be working on my other diorama, but this little beauty has got me hooked. Today I started construction of the 25pdr. It's a lovely little kit in it's own right. There were a few mold lines to remove and a tiny bit of flash, but otherwise everything fitted together nicely. I've dry fitted the major components of the gun, leaving off some of the fiddly bits for later (no doubt I'd knock them off otherwise) Sorry for the poor lighting, but we have low energy 'light bulbs' which contravene trading standards in that they don't emit light.

Anyhoo, here's progress up to date:

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I've added the muzzle brake because it looks better. Muzzle brakes were fitted post 1943 to enable the gun to cope with the higher charges required for new AP and HESH rounds.

I will be portraying a Canadian unit of the 1st Infantry Division.

During my preliminary research I was interested to read that crews hated the limber carrier which was a 'relic' of 1st World War horse-drawn artillery. Put simply, it was very difficult to reverse when the tractor was towing the limber and the limber was towing the gun. The Canadian units (comprising of 12 crew and two 25pdrs) did away with the limbers and employed an extra Quad loaded with ammunition and equipment and towed just one limber. This seemed logical, but logic still went awry... I was amused to read that in the typical crew of 6, it was one man's sole duty was to 'look after the horses', a duty that was never rescinded.

Thanks for looking,

Badder.

Edited by Badder
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great work... have this one in the stash ready for the MTO GB - mine will be a desert scheme one. PLumped for the full eduard etch effect... but will watch this to see what else you do that I can steal ;-)

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During my preliminary research I was interested to read that crews hated the limber carrier which was a 'relic' of 1st World War horse-drawn artillery. Put simply, it was very difficult to reverse when the tractor was towing the limber and the limber was towing the gun. The Canadian units (comprising of 12 crew and two 25pdrs) did away with the limbers and employed an extra Quad loaded with ammunition and equipment and towed just one limber. This seemed logical, but logic still went awry... I was amused to read that in the typical crew of 6, it was one man's sole duty was to 'look after the horses', a duty that was never rescinded.

Thanks for looking,

Badder.

My father in law mentioned that it was very awkward to drive with the gun and limber attached, his crew were also not impressed when he took a turn driving, but they were grateful one day when he drove off the road and it was only the gun and limber that prevented them from going over a cliff, this was in Madagascar.

Cheers

Dennis

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great work... have this one in the stash ready for the MTO GB - mine will be a desert scheme one. PLumped for the full eduard etch effect... but will watch this to see what else you do that I can steal ;-)

Progress is looking good! :goodjob:

Thanks chaps.

Rob, I wanted the PE set, but didn't have the patience to wait. If this build ends up good then I'll do another WITH the PE set.

Thanks for looking, Badder.

My father in law mentioned that it was very awkward to drive with the gun and limber attached, his crew were also not impressed when he took a turn driving, but they were grateful one day when he drove off the road and it was only the gun and limber that prevented them from going over a cliff, this was in Madagascar.

Cheers

Dennis

Blimey! Bet THAT wasn't in the 'how to' manual!

Regards,

Badder.

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