Bandit1250

It's a Cromwell - what's not to like! Great job. 👍

Now that's a beast! Great stuff - love it

Looking good 👍 - you can never have too many Fireflies!

Well I like it! Great model and finish. I often think the pursuit of exact colour matches leaves models far too dark - After a few examples of trying to achieve an accurate SSC15 finish I'm now a great believer in the 'scale effect' when it comes to painting at 1/35 and smaller scales. I take the view "if it looks ok - it is" and tend not to worry about exact shades any more. This is a hobby after all!

Great build and great collection . I like the idea of a 1/16th Merkava!

Watching this one closely. Great work - my Centaur has been stuck in its box for more years than I care to mention. You're giving me the itch to dig it out!

Completely scratch built - Wow! That's brilliant. Yes Please for a WIP!

Thanks everyone for the kind words and comments. I confess I'm glad the build is over - it's been very trying at times and nearly been scrapped on a couple of occasions due to issues with the resin parts. I think the peer pressure of having started a WIP on here and the encouraging comments have kept me going. Looking forward to the painting stage though. Once this one is painted I'm going to stick to OOTB for the next few projects! Dave

Great stuff - proper modelling! Really interested to see how this turns out!

Hi All, Update on progress: The build is more or less complete. There are still a few fine details to add - mainly additional bolts for the wading stacks and tie downs for the stowage but other than that I'm calling the build done and ready for paint. Anyway, see what you think. The model is shown fully assembled but comes apart to make painting easier. I have never felt comfortable painting AFVs with the tracks fitted which is a bit of a challenge with Churchills due to the track covers. Fortunately it was possible to build and fit the track covers and associated stowage/other parts separately to make the tracks removeable for painting. Likewise some of the turret stowage will be removed again prior to paints to allow decals to be placed. Stay safe and well everyone. Now, where did I put the airbrush?.........

Thanks John, Making the bracing was certainly a trying experience with several false starts along the way. I gave up with nearly all the Resicast parts in the end - i just couldn't get them to work. The only Resicast parts left are the wading stacks themselves and the exhaust pipe extensions. Hopefully the turret will prove easier! Dave

Brilliant! Love the finishing. I have one in the stash with the intent to build a Kingforce version. If it turns out half as good as yours I'll be pleased.

A quick update on progress....... This build has fought me every step of the way - and has nearly been binned on more than one occasion. The base AFV Club kit is great, it's the Resicast cables and bracings for the add on deep wading parts that have been causing me grief. This is probably more to do with a lack of ability on my part rather than any inherent fault with the kit. Suffice to say I gave up on trying to manipulate the tiny Resicast resin parts and scratched my own from various bits and pieces. The end result isn't exactly true to the real thing but I think it looks reasonably ok. Anyway - see what you think. As ever, comments and feedback always welcome - I'd especially be interested in hearing from anyone who's successfully built the wading kit as per the instructions - how did you do it????? Most of the bracing was made from old guitar strings. I'm not trying to teach anyone how to suck eggs but If you haven't already discovered them, these things are great for all sorts of things from cables to aerials and guard rails. They come in various sizes and, being steel, once bent hold their shape. Hopefully make better progress now the wading trunks have been finished.

Love it. Absolutely great. The Caunter scheme is really well done.

Looking good - that’s going to be one impressive beast when it’s finished.

Looking good Rob. Keep at it - it will be worth it in the end. I did a Caunter Matilda years ago using Revell enamels mixed according to Mike Starmer's recipes. I don't think it came out too bad given the standards of the time (heavy drybrushing - remember that!). The pattern is wrong on the rear hull as this was before I had a copy of Mike's booklet on the subject. The advantage of using enamels was that I mixed the colours as brush paints and then thinned small amounts for spraying so I could touch up where the masking wasn't perfect. Ihope you get your paint woes sorted - I suppose it's too late to change direction wrt to paints now?

A quick update on progress. The hull is more or less complete now - or as far as I can go without starting to see what additional work the deep wading kit will require. One thing I did do was to add an RBM metal barrel for the hull BESA MG. It was a bit of a toil but I think the result was worth it in the end compared to the plastic original as seen in the turret. I've cracked open the wading kit and started to clean up the resin parts. Looking at the miniscule size of some (many) of the parts I'm worried I've bitten off more than I can chew with this build. How on earth do you get these tiny parts off the casting blocks without damaging them?!!! Hull engine deck tool holder holes filled ready for the wading kit fittings. Quick trial fit of the first wading stack. the resin part is bowed and fill need more sanding and filling to get a good fit. First attempt at making a paint mask for the large 1F markings prominent displayed on the wading trunks. Needs to be slightly bigger letters I think. That's about it for now. I'm going to have a beer and steel myself to tackle the wading kit fasteners. Next build will have to be 1/16th!

Darryl, Those springs weren't too bad actually. It all went together quite well. as I said I followed the advice given by Terry Ashley on PMMS and took it carefully. As built, the suspension was fully workable but as I'm not looking to set the model on a dioramic base I ended up gluing it solid before attaching the side sponsons to the body. It's pretty fragile if left workable and knowing how ham fisted I am I decided setting it in place was the better option!

I've been following this one quietly for a while. Really good build. I've one of these in the stash and will be using the experience and tips from your build when I get around to mine. Looking forward to seeing this one in RFI.

John, Thanks for the info. it's stored away for future use use. It's the large "1F" tank designations on the wading stacks that I'm short of. Fortunately the lettering is all straight lines so I hope to be able to paint them directly with suitable masking. Bandit

You know when you take up a hobby and start to think you're getting the hang of it............ ......along comes a consummate professional who makes you realise you're still at the "barely incompetent" stage by comparison. Wow. Absolutely stunning.

I don't think I can add anything to the long list of superlatives that have already been used. Absolutely fantastic build. Way beyond anything I could manage!

Hi Bigfoot & Jasper, Welcome aboard. I hope you're patient as I'm not the fastest builder out there! I confess that I'd rather be outside doing other things but the enforced lockdown means I get more build time. To answer your question Bigfoot, there's no interior to the Resicast turret - just a plain shell inside. The wading stacks look as if they are going to be tricky - the cabling and fastenings to hold the stacks in place are absolutely tiny and look to be at the limit of my abilities. Time will tell 😬 Bandit

That's great! Really good finish. I've got the Takom version built and ready for painting - gonna learn some lessons from yours! Bandit1250 - great bike too!

Most AVREs that landed on D-day were Mk IV's without the appliqué armour. I know this doesn't help answer your question but I've seen no evidence to suggest that the Mk III's would be any different. For a D-Day version, in the absence of any photo's to the contrary, I'd definitely leave them off. With regards to the track guards, I've not seen a photo of an AVRE with the front sections fitted and the middle sections were sometimes removed allegedly to prevent a build up of mud distorting the guard and preventing the turret from rotating. I'm currently building a D-Day Mk IV AVRE and as part of my research found a couple of photos of Mk IVs embarking their LCT immediately prior to the invasion. The centre trackguards on tanks 1D, 1E and 1F (the subject of my build) are clearly missing and removed before the tanks went into action. These tanks were part of 80th Assault Squadron and landed on Juno Beach. My WIP and the photos can be found here: Hope this helps. Bandit