Knevi

A bit of a rush to get this over the line on schedule. Groundwork made from PVA and sawdust with loose sawdust sprinkled on. Painted with Vallejo acrylics. Kit bedded in with Tamiya putty and mud effect added with Liquitex gloss gel medium The painting got a bit overworked and homogeneous but as a first attempt at some new techniques I had fun and learned a bit on the way

Airfix Vintage Classic 1/76 Churchill Mk VII WIP thread here

This is worth a place in the Group build gallery already and, as @AdrianMF says, it will go in the RFI whenever you're ready to present a finish you are happy with

Churchill Mk VII with Ordnance QR Mk v 75mm gun (AFV Club 35S54) WIP thread here

A couple of figures in place for scale and this Churchill is done. I got it where I wanted to and learned a good bit about the AFV Club range to be prepared for my next attempt. The kit is a good one in my opinion, it doesn't fall together perhaps but the foibles are just that and not difficult to work out. The workable suspension is a gimmick worth having but needs a bit of adapting to get a good fit for the individual tracks in this boxing. Thanks to everyone for your interest in the build and especially @ColonelKrypton and @bigfoot for hosting the Group build

While the oils are setting I've started to knock up a vignette base from a camembert container filled with foam, sculpted with a blowtorch and covered with grout A few bits of horticultural grit and a sprinkling of mixed grades of sawdust. It also needs time to dry and then tap off the excess.

Pin wash with black and burnt umber oils and then some mud colours blocked in then set aside to dry

Gloss varnish and the limited decals applied and sealed in ahead of oils. The decals are perfectly serviceable and responded well to Microsol and Microset Looking over @AdrianMF 's reference I may have missed a relatively easy addition of the air intake louvre rain guard but, say lavvy, the deadline looms and I want to spread some clarts on Apollo if possible so time to move on.

I applied a couple of coats of flat varnish and the colour changed for the better. I started with Vallejo Matt varnish but the effect was minimal and there was still a definite sheen so I ordered some W&N Galleria and the difference was incredible, to my eye at least. Two coats misted on with some glycerine retarder in the mix. I've now added a blast t of highly thinned VMA Portland stone aiming to give a sense of the vehicle having travelled on a dirt road on a dry day. I'm pretty satisfied with the look for a display piece. I'm hesitant to push any further with mud and stains etc for fear of stuffing up all the work done so far but not showing the articulating suspension in action seems a missed opportunity. I'll take the remaining time before the deadline to hum and haw before calling it. All thoughts and comments welcome and thank you all for getting me this far.

I have this kit under construction here There's some discussion of track fitment on P1 which, while not dealing with your Q on adhesive, might help guide your build. I think @Kingsman has the right idea to only fit the track where it is visible. The working suspension can create a good deal of tension in the assembly; it increases the overall length of the track run and makes the tank ride high. I needed 73 links to fit loosely but to achieve the recommended 72 links per the instructions I had to compress the springs and reinforce the final connection with pins drilled into the track return slide. I have the fascine carrier version from AFV Club with vinyl tracks and I suspect the strength of the springs will stretch them. When I get to making it I think I will try modifying the springs to make them shorter and think about after market tracks fitted piecemeal. This will also provide plenty of spares as supplementary armour. On a final note, addressing your original issue, a pair of staples in each track will normally do the trick to bolster the connection but won't stop the bands from stretching. Best of luck

LIDL yoghurt pots seem exactly the right gauge of plastic for the task, and tasty too

Fuel can racks and crowbar added to the rear fenders and paint applied. The vintage boxing seems to include rubber tracks that are completely paint phobic and the suspension fitment is extremely sketchy. Getting the pins aligned with the sponsons proved to be beyond me. If I had my time again I might try to build the suspension in the sponsons, wrap the tracks loosely to avoid stressing the sprockets, hide the gap under the mudguard and then add the subassembly to the hull. Time for some gloss varnish ahead of decals.

I use the Hobby Photohost service so hopefully that's just a temporary glitch at your end. I'll check out the guide for some ideas

More than kinda finished, that's a really smart piece of work

Forgot to show the mantlet supplementary armour and corrected gun cutout, all fabricated from the kit sprues