Kingsman

Mks 1 and 2 were contemporary. They served different roles. This photo from HQ Middle East Command is captioned as 11th Hussars in Aden, June 1961.

Wrong! That is what comes of looking on the internet and not asking on here...........😁 In this scale you would not notice any texture.

You and most other people, I imagine. I wouldn't have attempted it and it is one of the reasons, cost being the other, why I gave up on the idea of a Mk VII. In another thread the idea of sprockets from the SKP A30 came up, but they have copied the Overloon restoration which has Comet sprockets fitted. And that is also an expensive option. It is the only source of later pattern idlers. It is to be hoped that Vespid get it right on their promised A30. If so, it would be nice if they could release the tracks, sprockets and idlers separately as they are already tooled.

You are correct that the factory fit on M4A3E2s was indeed T48 rubber chevron tracks with Extended End Connectors. There were several slightly different patterns of EECs but in 1/72 those differences will not be noticeable. In service, Jumbos were seen without the EECs and with other track types - presumably as replacements. I imagine that the extra weight reduced the life of the T48s. T51 plain rubber blocks were certainly seen. Roadwheels were originally open spoke, replaced with the closed spoke type and then finally the solid disc design for the final 100-ish. Cobra King had the closed spoke type.

But those sprockets are wrong for an A30. Right width, right number of teeth, but wrong hub and centre disc. The only remotely correct-looking ones are from TRex, but are too wide and have too many teeth. Why can manufacturers not do proper research? If I can see things, they can. Airfix say you can make a Mk VI from their kit, but you can only make the handful built by Fowlers as the majority built by Metro-Cammell had the different sprocket design shared with BRCW. TRex give you Comet sprockets with their wide track. Wrong....... Hopefully the promised A30 from Vespid will avoid these pitfalls. .

No. Because they copied the restored A30 at Overloon, which is fitted with 9-hole Comet sprockets.

You could build a UK Kangaroo on the Bronco Ram kit. Although it does not have any interior. And has as many flaws as the Gecko version. Cross-kitting the 2 to end up with a final series gun tank or OP and an early hull Kangaroo is not possible because of dimensional differences. With no interior you could make one of the covered ammunition carrier/gun tractor/command versions. There have been Kangaroo conversions from Wee Friends and others.

A Mk VII or a Mk 7 needs a lot of expensive after-market parts and some surgery. The Accurate Armour hull front conversion for a Mk VII is long OOP. The same goes for their F Type hull conversion, for many Mk 7s, and their engine deck correction set (needed for any operational Cromwell of any Mark). Although there are workarounds for some of these. The idea of a Mk VII came up on another thread on this site. This is what I said there, much of which also applies to a Mk 7. I looked at a Mk VII but gave up on cost grounds. On top of the kit you need the OOP Accurate Armour drivers hatch and hull front conversion - not impossible to scratchbuild. You also need the T Rex late wide track set, 'improved' as they call it. But this gives you Comet 9-hole sprockets, not narrow Cromwell. So you also need their Type 1 sprocket and idler set for the right sprocket faces, but these have the wrong number of teeth. So then you need to somehow slice off the outer toothed rings and swap rings and hubs while ending up with the correct width. A lot of expensive butchery with some jeopardy. And no-one offers the later pattern idler used with the wide track, also seen as a replacement with the narrow track. But you do not see the early 'normal' idler with the later track. Then there is the turret applique armour to make, and the No2 vision cupola from Panzer Art or elsewhere. And correcting the engine decks of either Airfix or Tamiya kits from Type C. Something else AA used to do, but that was flawed too. Still needed correcting. IIRC they had copied the Comet version. See where I'm going here? There is definitely room for a full Mk VII conversion, and a Mk V too. And an F Type hull for Mks IV and VI.

The images in the film are confusing. The first Cromwell, wrecked, is an unarmed OP based on a Mk IV or VI F type. The 2nd one surrounded by soldiers is a Mk 7 rework also based on a Mk IV F type. That is said to be the tank in question.

BTW I have pointed out all of the various confusions and errors in their sets to T Rex Studios. I had a very polite reply saying it was too late now and nothing would be changed.

Mk VIIs were scarce full stop. We come back to who you choose to believe, but Fletcher reckons there were only 120 between both Mk V and Mk VII. I looked at a Mk VII but gave up on cost grounds. On top of the kit you need the OOP Accurate Armour drivers hatch and hull front conversion - not impossible to scratchbuild. You also need the T Rex late wide track set, 'improved' as they call it. But this gives you Comet 9-hole sprockets, not narrow Cromwell. So you also need their Type 1 sprocket and idler set for the right sprocket faces, but these have the wrong number of teeth. So then you need to somehow slice off the outer toothed rings and swap rings and hubs while ending up with the correct width. A lot of expensive butchery with some jeopardy. And no-one offers the later pattern idler used with the wide track, also seen as a replacement with the narrow track. But you do not see the early 'normal' idler with the later track. Then there is the turret applique armour to make, and the No2 vision cupola from Panzer Art or elsewhere. And correcting the engine decks of either Airfix or Tamiya kits from Type C. Something else AA used to do, but that was flawed too. Still needed correcting. IIRC they had copied the Comet version. See where I'm going here? There is definitely room for a full Mk VII conversion, and a Mk V too. And an F Type hull for Mks IV and VI.

Dan Taylor Modelworks has a decal set for Canadian artillery in NW Europe. You may be able to use some of that. Canadian markings generally accorded with British practice.

The interior would originally probably have been white rather than silver. The eau-de-nil interior in the Bovington Kangaroo is equally as wrong as the 'SCC2' brown exterior. Well meaning painting by REME apprentices decades ago. And the serial number applied is of a photographed Kangaroo of a different build standard: M3 bogies, not M4. But we were less well informed about, and dare I say less interested in, accuracy in those days. The conversion required some internal work like removing the ammunition racks, so some repainting would be necessary. The threat of air attack was almost non-existent by the time Kangaroos appeared, and in any case shadow was actually more visible than colour from the air. A dark interior would only deepen the shadow of the open top. I've never seen a period interior photo, but my feeling is for white. As for the exterior, photos show Kangaroos to be monotone. So that rules out them remaining in SCC2 and black. Plain SCC2, the factory colour, is not impossible but is unlikely. I imagine the opportunity was taken for an SCC15 repaint. I presume you have realised that the Gecko kit can only be used as Canadian 1CACR and not for UK 49RTR/APCR?

Just to confuse the issue slightly, did you notice on p6 of that book that 1RTR had a tank called 'Little Audrey II', T189873? 1RTR and 8KRIH were both in 22 Armd Bde. So what is the connection here? Coincidence? Audrey was a very personal name for Bill Bellamy, who was never in 1RTR. The 'II' suggests that there had been an original 'Little Audrey', perhaps lost.

It seems that the lie down will have to wait.......... 😟 Jumping across from the Abbott of Chantry page which picked up on an 8KRIH Cromwell Mk V on p10 of the Tank Power book, that book also shows a clear Mk V on p7. The applique armour is clear and the edge coaming of the upward-opening driver's hatch (AKA, wrongly, Vauxhall) can be seen. Absolutely no doubt it is a Mk V. But the census number is said to be T255310 and the caption says EE built. Both of which are very odd. Firstly, there are no Cromwells in that number range from any contract or manufacturer. Secondly, current wisdom says that EE did not build Mk Vs: they were all BRCW. Although Harley suggests that BRCW may have been building hulls for EE - but he is alone in this. And the book authors admit that it doesn't match the 1RTR name/number list in the facing page despite being "officially" captioned as 1RTR. While numbers changed through attrition, names in units tended to be fairly consistent. T255309 was the last in a long range of Universal Carrier numbers. F255311 was the beginning of a long range of Humber Mk II armoured car numbers. So T255310 as a Cromwell is a wild and random outlier. And as a Mk V it should have a W suffix. I think the "10" is not actually part of the census number at all. There is a gap. Other photos of Cromwells in NW Europe have various other odd numbers on the lower hull front, such as on p8 and p11 in the same book. And the census number is partly obscured by fronds of scrim. I think it is more likely to be T12175x. The first and last digits of that sequence are completely obscured, and I can't see an obvious W. But that fits with a BRCW Mk V.