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Now that the Welded Cromwell WIP is finished and it's been put to bed in RFI, I'm laying this down as a marker and will hopefully make a start on it in the next couple of weeks. I've managed to get some modelling done by sitting in the armchair with a portable workplace on my lap, so as a consequence, the Tiran is nearing completion and I'll be posting some updates on that. But in the meanttime, this is my next WIP. Last year, I built a model of “Champagne”, an early M4A3 (76mm) of the French 2nd Armoured Division as it was during 1944, before it was knocked out at the battle of Dompaire. This tank still exists today as a memorial in the town of Ville-sur-Illon in basically the condition that it was once it had been disabled. It's been resprayed and new markings applied, but it still has the two shell holes in the left upper hull and through one of the VVSS units. When it was hit, it caught fire, so all of the rubber from both the road wheels and the tracks (T-48 rubber chevron), was burnt off. I've never built a model of an exhibit before and thought that it would make an interesting project. In some ways it will be slightly easier than a normal build as there will be no need to fit some detail parts (which are no longer there) and spraying will be straight forward as the authorities, when they repainted it just painted the lot in a yellowy green, including the tracks. So, I rummaged around my spares boxes and came up with the following. Lower and upper hull, final drive housing, rear hull plate, and VVSS units minus wheels; Dragon M4(105mm). Turret and M4A3 engine deck; Asuka. M1A1 Unthreaded 76mm main gun; Formations. Burnt out road wheels; Verlinden. Burnt out tracks; Panda Plastics. Decals; Bison. The Formations main gun, being resin, was slightly warped, so I assembled the one that came with the Asuka turret as an emergency stand by, should the hot water treatment prove to be unsuccessful. Also, as can be seen from one of the photos, I'm going to have to combine some Tasca VVSS springs and track skids with the Dragon parts. So, I'll be back when I've got some progress. John.