Some of my tank builds

[ChrisITA]

Hi Guys,

Here are some of thracked and wheeled things I've built in the last few months

hope you like some of 'em. all constructive criticisms welcome

Cuckoo (and mkvii churchill) a Panther G captured by the 6th Guards Armoured in Holland:

Ringer, MkII churchill at Dieppe, basded on a photo of the real one after the battle:

(this one is going to be the subject of a magazine article next month)

Churchill MkIII AVRE built for modelarmour.com

HUNTER a MkII Dingo at Dieppe:

and finally, 'battlebuggy' a Jeep at Dieppe:

[crookedmouth]

Chris - I love the whitewash finish on the first Church and on the Ringer, the way you've got the thrown track bursting through the fender is also pretty cool. You've an eye for detail there, I do declare, sir...

[OzH]

All very cool, like them a lot.

Great stuff

[ChrisITA]

Thanks guys

Crookedmouth, the whitewash on the first churchill was done with the old hairspray technique, but on Cuckoo it was airbrushed to match pictures of the real one and a pathe film of it on the pathe site.

Ringer was done to match these pictures:

The fenders had to be scratchbuilt as the ones in the kit are too late and besides I had to buckle them, so I made them out of brass sheet. The waterproofing was the hard bit as searches of various sites yielded no evidence of anyone doing it before (not that I could find, I'm sure someone has) so I had no idea where to start. In the end I stumbled upon a good technique using cut up old rubber gloces (the ones I use for airbrushing) and CA glue

Chris

[smuts]

Very nice work, crackin builds all.

Andy.

[Mentalguru]

Some extremely poignant stuff there mate- (insert poppy smiley)

[ChrisITA]

Some extremely poignant stuff there mate- (insert poppy smiley)

Thanks Smuts

Metalguru, the thing is, apparently tank crew casualties were very light at Dieppe, due mostly to the thickness of the Churchill's armour. The German's used 57mm AT guns and verious medium sized artillery and mortars to try to knock them out, but only succeded in breaking the tracks of some. The majority of the crews surrendered after expending all their ammunition when it became clear that they could not be withdrawn. In the case of Ringer, after they expended their ammo, I seem to remember they broke out the portable stove and cooked up some pork and beans inside the tank while they waited!

The infantry of course suffered appalling casualties...

Chris

[keefr22]

Really good builds, I like all of those, but I think Cuckoo & the Churchill just edge it as my favourite!

Can I ask what you use to represent the pebble beach at Dieppe - it looks very effective!

Keef

[Derbyeomanry]

Lovely builds

[chaoslord]

beautiful and inspiring jobs there. thanks for posting

[Mike]

Very nice work Chris... all 1:35?

[ChrisITA]

Thanks Chaoslord, thanks Derbyeomanry

Keef, its a mix of mid grey railway modelling 'ballast' and granite chips I got from someone at a show for variance in the tone (I think the ballast is dyed, so very monotone on its own) then fixed with PVA diluted and sprayed through one of those misters you get for watering plants or whatever

Very nice work Chris... all 1:35?

yup, all 1/35 Mike. I tried 1/72 a while ago but missed all that luvverly detail. that being siad I was looking at the little stuff from Millicast at the weekend at Trucks and Tracks and it is incredible

Ringer has a full scratchbuilt interior and was what got me started on doing interiors and ultimately launching ITA

[keefr22]

Keef, its a mix of mid grey railway modelling 'ballast' and granite chips I got from someone at a show for variance in the tone (I think the ballast is dyed, so very monotone on its own) then fixed with PVA diluted and sprayed through one of those misters you get for watering plants or whatever

Cheers Chris!

Keef

[NinjabreadMan]

Some amazing work there Chris!

I really like the officers having a nosey around too

Talking of the thick armour I remember a quote I read a while ago about Brits talking to a German POW in Africa, they were complaining that the Germans were being 'bad sports' for using their 88s in an AT role, to which the German replies "well its your fault for building a tank with so much armour isn't it?"

made me chuckle

Edited April 7, 2010 by NinjabreadMan

[ChrisITA]

Some amazing work there Chris!

I really like the officers having a nosey around too

Talking of the thick armour I remember a quote I read a while ago about Brits talking to a German POW in Africa, they were complaining that the Germans were being 'bad sports' for using their 88s in an AT role, to which the German replies "well its your fault for building a tank with so much armour isn't it?"

made me chuckle

Lol, that is a good one

on a similar theme, the allies chose Churchill brigades to drive through the Reichswald. The germans considered it a natural tank obstacle as its a very dense forrest with tracks easily defended by a single 88 or SPG or tank. The churchills mostly drove through the forrest itself as their traction and long track base gave them the ability to fell all but the thickest trees.

After the battle the German commander is reported to have said 'its not fair, tanks aren't supposed to be able to drive through the forrest!'

Chris

[NinjabreadMan]

Those wouldn't happen to be the same Germans who attacked through the Ardennes forest? TWICE!

Shame they couldn't up gun them to something with a bit more bite, could have had a Brit 'Tiger'!

Some of those photos do break your heart a little tho but that said, yours look like the same ones in 3D and colour

[Guest snipersmudge]

very nice interesting collection

[AnonymousDFB1]

Fantastic builds

[benskipper]

Jobs a good un' is all I can say chap.