IanW

Wow, what a great thread! Love your work and detail is fantastic. The Stolly is one of my favourites, Just finishing the Accurate Armour one now... have you any experience with the AA vehicles compared with the Firing line kits? Thinking of doing a Saracen and Saladin, but not sure which brand to buy. The AA Stolly has been a lot of fun though... tempted to get a real one! And those guys in the jerseys- they are from Firing Line please? Keep up the great work! Cheers, Ian

Great work again!

That's just brilliant - your painting is superb.

Nice work - particularly like the weathering on the fuel tanks! Cheers, Ian

Lol, yep they were great fun! I got one past 100 km/h on the Desert Road once and also 'jumped' one across a ditch - definitely got some air but the landing was pretty violent! Vehicle was fine though. Out of interest, the crew commander's seat had a central insert, which came out, making the seat 'donut' shaped - the concept was that it could then be used as a toilet, with a bin beneath, for those times when NBC conditions necessitated remaining in the vehicles... although we did stay closed-up for about 36 hours once, can't say I ever used the seat in anger! As a driver, I once spent a few weeks in the middle of winter basically living in my seat almost full-time though - might explain my mistake back nowadays...

Thanks for all the kind comments guys! Makes me less afraid to post pics of my Alvis Stalwart, nearly finished! The figures were just from spares box, can't remember what kits, but Tamiya ones I think. And yes, the Friulmodel 'sore thumb' - I remember that!

Love it - still a monster!

Very nice! Love the Little Lens lights too - must get some of those!

Thanks guys - Charlie, I think from memory they were the 'late' pattern, with the thinner track-pad. Just looking at my photos now and the tracks all seem to be the 'thinner' variety.

Hi all, I finished this AFV Club New Zealand Army Scorpion last year, but don't think I posted here. Finished to represent a Queen Alexander's Squadron Scorpion from late-1980s when I was in the squadron, wearing our RNZAC MERDEC scheme, which as I recall was very effective around Waiouru's training area! Used the Fruilmodel tracks as the AFV Club ones were pretty poor, and the Eduard etched set, especially for the turret bins not included in the kit. Thanks for looking!

Great start - I enjoyed building the Scorpion variant a while back... used the Fruilmodel tracks as the kit ones didn't fit well, and the Eduard photoetch, as it provided the turret bins I needed for mine,but otherwise a straightforward build

Hey, that looks really good Adam - nice work on the drive sprockets! And the tracks look great.

Love it!

Awesome work! Cheers, Ian

Hi Adam, Yes, the drive sprockets above are almost identical to the Miniart ones, except they have only 14 teeth, whereas the Miniart items have 21... same number of bolts though and otherwise seem identical. HTH, Ian

No need to hang your head - you are providing a wealth of information, thank you!

Hi Adam, Thanks again for more great detail - hope you don't mind, but I am compiling all your info into one Word doc for future use - you are providing a wealth of information spread over this build, so trying to keep it all together! If you want a copy once completed, of course no problems! Cheers, Ian

Stunning work - coming along really well. Cheers, Ian

Thanks guys! Tamiya provide, but they are thick and don't really fit the new tracks that well, so I thought I'd replace them. I ended up copying you with the Millput for the Valentine mantle - that way, I keep the Miniart kit whole, in case I decide to sell it to buy more AFV Club Vallys! Cheers, Ian

Some work on the Matilda... not that you can really see it! After spending a few hours linking them up, the 'spudded' tracks are on, barely visible apart from front and rear. Oh well... Have also added on some new brackets to hold the tracks on the front. - sheet aluminium and hex rod. Removed the No.11 radio amount from the turret (can't find any pics of NZ Matildas with radios fitted - guess that's how they got the 'close' in close-support?). Also went with the square pistol port, as I found a pic with an NZ Matilda fitted with such. Time for some paint! Cheers, Ian

Yep, I'm going to hang out for the new Mk.III too - better than filling up the old wheels with 'mud'! And, yes, I see what you mean - from my few pics, seems the earlier models didn't have the 'nipple'? Cheers, Ian

Aah, I see what you mean! Have you seen The Accurate Armour wheels - seem to recall reading somewhere that they were a bit small in diameter though?? http://www.accurate-armour.com/ShowProduct.cfm?manufacturer=0&category=4&subcategory=192&product=1712

Here's the link re. the Mk. III wheels... http://www.network54.com/Forum/47208/thread/1390301081/AVF+Club+new+Valentine+and+Wheels Not totally conclusive evidence, but here's hoping! Just spent an evening removing the Matilda tracks from the sprues - need lots of light to try and glue together though! Not snap-fit... Yep, keep posting on the Valentine please- I am learning lots!! I'm more into aircraft than armour, but as an ex-QA tankie, have a special spot for their vehicles. NZ seems to have had quite a few Valentines in the day, wish I had paid more attention to the rusting hulks dotted about the Waiouru landscape! Cheers!

It's a monster!

Spent some time building up the suspension today - despite my complaint about the number of pieces, I really feel like I'm building a piece of engineering... the suspension even works like the original! AFV Club have produced an exceptionally well-engineered kit in my opinion.- why the same level of attention-to-detail couldn't be applied to the decal/wheel choices seems strange. Working on the Valentine also beats tackling the 'spudded' Bronco Matilda tracks sitting there, staring at me... And just read online that AFV Club are going to release a Valentine Mk.III with rotatrailer later this year - apparently, this kit comes with all 3 types of Valentine wheel! Are there many external differences between a Mk. III and Mk. V?