ChrisITA Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 Hi Guys, Here is my latest finished model: and AFV Club MkIII Churchill with Inside the Armour interior and a number of scratchbuilt details When I came to make this one I found out that you can't really build an accurate KingForce churchill out of the box (despite the kits boxtop artwork!) so I have to build a new rear air outlet, a canvass 'dodger for the front, new exhaust pipes, sunshield rails, drop the side air intakes, rearrange the tools and add the stowage seen on so many of these tanks Anyway, after all that was done, it turned out OK, not perfect, but good enough for its intended use as a demonstrator on the ITA stand at shows Here it is: All comments and constructive criticism is very welcome! Thanks for looking Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPNGROATS Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 Chris, that's outstanding....!! What a great build... Cheers, ggc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul A H Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 Absolutely stupendous - makes me want to build another Churchill! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousDFB1 Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 Lovely build Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Kunac-Tabinor Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 Chris - I know a little of armour, but not a lot. But I do know a damn fine model when I see one!! And that is a damn fine model!! It always amazed me how we got to the Comet and Centurion just a few years after the Churchill ( OK not via the Churchill I know). Theres something about the Churchill that looks like a "what if" Plan 1919 WW1 tank. Lovely model. One of these days I will build that Comet, and the Alamein Sherman too, unless another Spitfire gets in the way regards Jonners Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisITA Posted August 25, 2010 Author Share Posted August 25, 2010 Thanks guys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewE Posted August 26, 2010 Share Posted August 26, 2010 Great build. Love the camo scheme. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FZ6 Posted August 26, 2010 Share Posted August 26, 2010 Amazing build Chris. Some of the mods will come in handy for when I do mine. What was the Canvas cover for that is hanging down on the front of the tank? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisITA Posted August 26, 2010 Author Share Posted August 26, 2010 Thanks guys Amazing build Chris. Some of the mods will come in handy for when I do mine. What was the Canvas cover for that is hanging down on the front of the tank? The canvass is the 'Dodger' The Churchill has a fan called the scirroco fan which, when stood on hard dusty ground, would stir up a huge cloud of dust from underneath the tank. Due to the shape this would concentrate at the front and the back of the tank, as the front the suction from the engine cooling would pull the dust back over the tank blinding the driver and choking everyone else (conjunctivitis was a common complaint with Churchill drivers thanks to the large front facing vision port) The 'dodger' was designed to block it off. Can't have worked too well though because you only see them on Kingforce Churchills at 2nd Alamein and not in Tunisia, Italy or NWest Europe Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calum Posted August 27, 2010 Share Posted August 27, 2010 Stunning work there Chris. It looks terrific Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crookedmouth Posted August 27, 2010 Share Posted August 27, 2010 Haven't hung around this neck of the modelling woods for a few months Chris and this is the first thread I came back to. Wow! That's how to build a model tank! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graeme Posted August 28, 2010 Share Posted August 28, 2010 This is a great kit and when I build my next one (mine is finished as Alexsander Nevskii in winter camo) I may well invest in an interior set as well. However, sorry to bring this up but weren't Kinforce Churchills painted Light Stone over Green? There is an article on the MAFVA website by Mike Starmer which suggests this, and not 'blue-black' over light stone, and I also found a pic which purports to show crews painting the light stone over the standard factory finish green... Regards Graeme Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisITA Posted August 28, 2010 Author Share Posted August 28, 2010 This is a great kit and when I build my next one (mine is finished as Alexsander Nevskii in winter camo) I may well invest in an interior set as well.However, sorry to bring this up but weren't Kinforce Churchills painted Light Stone over Green? There is an article on the MAFVA website by Mike Starmer which suggests this, and not 'blue-black' over light stone, and I also found a pic which purports to show crews painting the light stone over the standard factory finish green... Regards Graeme Thanks Guys Graeme, that's similar to what I thought but then I read this thread on ML In it there is some good photographic evidence that it was dark over light as the inner parts of the bogeys are light. Unless the crews took the wheels off and were very diligent in painting them light, it is unlikely they started off dark green. In addition, the photos shown there illustrate that in high wear areas the dark has rubbed off leaving the sand colour underneath Mike Starmer concedes the point in the thread, so I'm guessing this is after his MAFVA article. Mike also says in the thread that veterans describe the colour of the dark camouflage as "'chocolate' 'brick red' and 'earth brown'" In light of these strong points of reference I chose to paint my churchill based on the IWM photographic evidence and testimony, via Mr Starmer, of veterans As for your photos, I haven't seen these but I would like to. It could shed some light on the subject. I would say though that later on Churchills of the North Irish Horse in Tunisia are believed to have been delivered in SCC15 The british 'greener' Olive Drab) and camouflaged with light stone. This could be the green and sand scheme? Anyway, I'd like to see those pictures for sure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David_in_Fremont Posted August 29, 2010 Share Posted August 29, 2010 Oh, my. This is a brilliant piece of work! I'd be a very happy hobbyist if I could achieve results half this good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junco Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 NIce build, I am interested in how you interpreted the exhausts as from one photo in particular they look to be angled straight out and not cut flat? Other photos do not seem to show them at all???? Rgds Neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisITA Posted August 30, 2010 Author Share Posted August 30, 2010 Thanks Guys NIce build, I am interested in how you interpreted the exhausts as from one photo in particular they look to be angled straight out and not cut flat? Other photos do not seem to show them at all????Rgds Neil Neil, you are quite right, this is an element of the build that I did not get 100% right. There are three 'incarnations' of the exhausts that I know of: The kit exhausts are the last incarnation of the exhaust pipe, which stick out of the mufflers at approximately 85%, are quite stort and have a squared plate on the end (which would have been pierced to accept 4 bolts for deep wading extensions I have gone with the 'initial' type fitted to original MkIs MkIIs and initial production MkIIIs. These curve upward and terminate in a horizontal end parallel to the deck end. These are correct for Dieppe Churchills, and pre-rework scheme (late 1942) churchills. The thir type is specific to Kinforce churchills only and as you say is the one I should have gone for: It is highly unlikely they would leave the muffler at a different angle, because that would mean the muffler itself was specific to 12 actual tanks. Very unlikely. Most likely they were a field modification that was not used again. I would think that they leave the muffler at the same 85% angle, then go through a short curve to leave the rest of the pipe at nearer a 70% angle. They are also longer and terminate in a flat cut end to the pipe If I ever do another Kingforce one, I won't make this mistake again Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junco Posted August 31, 2010 Share Posted August 31, 2010 Thanks Chris, thought I'd missed something there! Also look at the storage box on the turret they were straight sided not angled! Did you have plans for the sunshield rails or use the eyeball? I have been putting together all the reference I can find, to finish one off as close as poss to the photos. Regards Neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francisco Guedes Posted September 11, 2010 Share Posted September 11, 2010 WOOWW!! Great detail and a great camo!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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