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There seems to be something huge in preparation with AFV Club! Found here: https://toylandhobbymodelingmagazine.com/2022/05/20/afv-club-af35342-1-35-churchill-mk-iv-avre-with-sbg-bridgetest/?amp=1

This is my 1st post on the in progress forum. Unfortunately the kit is almost at an end. I am waiting on a delivery of pigments and other weathering products so I can add dirt and dust to the hull before I mount the tracks. The tracks will be weathered before they go on as well. I have used the plastic AFV CLUB tracks as this build will be mounted to a diorama and didn't want to waste my metal tracks. I am just starting to play around with some figures for the diorama.

Hi guys, I hope you are well and I wish you all the best in 2022. I didn't plan to do RFI on this one initially, so this thread will begin at the point when the assembly is almost complete. However, I think that Kingforce Churchills had some field modification and also some changes are needed that I spent quite some time to figure out, so I guess it might be useful info to put it here in case someone else needs it. The kit I am building is AFV club No. AF35153,wit an addition of E.T. Model No. C35-006 PE set. Even though the box art shows Kingforce Churchill, kit itself need some changes in order to represent this particular tanks accurately. Here's some history about the subject. It is 6 pdr armed Churchill Mk.III tank, member of the experimental "Kingforce" unit, named by its commander, Major King. The decision was taken to send a small number of Mk.III Churchills to the Middle East for trials. Six reworked Mk.IIIs were shipped to Egypt where they arrived on 1 October 1942. They were dispatched by rail to the Mechanisation Experimental Establishment at Cairo where they were immediately prepared for service. Some field modifications were applied: side rails to carry ‘Sunshield’ frames were fitted, stowage bins fitted to the rear of the turret, canvas screen known as a ‘dodger’ was fitted between the front track-guards, and the tanks were then painted with a disruptive camouflage pattern. Tanks arrived painted in Lightstone No.61, while the disruptive camouflage was orange/chocolate paint (from witness accounts), probably locally produced Camcolour, A/19 Chocolate Brown. Special Tank Squadron to operate these Churchills was formed on 14 October 1942, commanded by Major Norris King M.C. with Lt. Deans as 2IC of the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars whose administration the unit came under. The unit was known as ‘Kingforce’. Most of the men newly arrived from the U.K. with very little experience of Churchills. There was now time for any rehearsal and very few 6 pdr rounds were fired before the unit was deployed. The unit left Cairo by rail to Burg El Arab by the 20 October, then by tank transporter to Tel El Aisa, then on their tracks forward to the HQ of 7th Motor Brigade to which it was attached arriving by the 23 rd October when the battle started. The 7th Motor Brigade was at this time part of the 1st Armoured Division. Thank I am building is representing one of them, commanded by 2/ Lt. Appleby, T31665R. On 26 October, three tanks, T68189R, T31665R, and T68186R moved forward in support of the Queens Bay’s Shermans assaulting Kidney Ridge and they soon came under fire. T31665R under 2/ Lt. Appleby advanced over a ridge and immediately came under intense enemy fire. The tank then reversed smoking slightly, stopped, and then burned intensely with only one wounded crewman surviving. Later examination revealed 38 frontal hits, some from 75mm, one of which had penetrated the turret front. This had done the main damage, with two 50mm penetrating hits elsewhere. There were 8 hits on the rear of the tank from British 6 pdr guns, 4 of which had penetrated, as a result of the Australian anti-tank gunners not recognising an unfamiliar tank approaching them covered in smoke. On the other hand, Major King’s tank had more luck. It took 8 non-penetrating hits and claimed 4 hits on enemy tanks with 45 rounds expended. The objective was not taken and during the night of 26/27 October, the Motor Brigade including ‘Kingforce’ was withdrawn into reserve for a week. The unit participated in one more action, 3 rd November to support the 2nd Armoured Brigade Shermans. After this action, tanks returned to Alexandria, and the unit was disbanded. The test showed that Churchills IIIs were formidable and reliable tanks, able to take a tremendous amount of punishment, and at that point in time, they were the safest Allied tanks to be in. It is not known what happened with Kingforce Churchills after the Second El Alamein battle, but additional Churchill IIIs were deployed later during Tunisian Campaign. Here are few reference photos of 2/ Lt. Appleby's tank. Now, the build. I hate vinyl tracks, but in this case they will be covered by mudguards almost completely, so it would be quite a waste to use indy tracks. Haven't been dealing with vinyl tracks for quite some time, and I can confirm that all of the reasons why I hate them are still here They refuse to glue together, paint does not stick, there are seam lines and molding residue everywhere that is impossible to remove. And here's my approach how to deal with glue that does not stick. Hot steel road through the track and plastic below. I cut it once it's cold so mudguard can fit over it. This only makes sense it tracks are covered by mudguards of course. Notice how paint is already pealing off. And on top of that, I attached one track in wrong direction, so had to remove it and attach it again, which caused more pilling I tried to summarize the changes on this photo: 1 - Rails to attach sunshield to camouflage the tank as heavy lorry. Scratched from plastic and PE strips. 2 - Protectors scratched from beer can. 3 - I am not 100% sure, but it may be possible that these headlights should be removed on Kingforce Churchills. I decided to keep them, because I already built them when I figured that out 4 - Also not sure if periscope covers should be there or not. I think that only some Kingforce Chirchills have them. 5 - Auxiliary fuel tank, not included in this kit. I used TMD Matilda one, and added copper wire as a fuel line. 6 - Exhausts are different on Kingforce Churchills. I think that they should be longer than I made them. 7 - Turret bin is different on these tanks than the one included in the kit. I just redid it with plastic sheets. 8 - Air intake is not covered as it should if you follow the instructions. I just didn't use the lids. 9 - Spot lamp is not there on any reference photos, so I didn't use it as instructions suggested. Here are some detail shots: Attached between mudguards at the front should be canvas apron. I'll try to build one with VMS paper shaper. Will see how it will turn out. That's all for now. Cheers, Nenad

So...... not sure what has happened to me today..... but a change has come over me, a shocking change..... I present to you the below I have checked the whole kit and could not find any wings any where! And then I looked at the UC, I thought that's awfully robust for such a small aircraft. .... So I checked google and found it to be something called.... A Tank? Form Google I found out that supposedly these were used in WWII as well as planes?! Odd.... It's a Churchill vi from what I have discovered and was British! This is literally all I have of the kit, ir was given to me by a friend who clears old houses for a living... it was in the VE celebration boxing was sat with 3 mozzies a broken lancaster, some other wheeled things and HMS Belfast, I am told it floats? So that's my entry a tank, maybe I will understand where stix disappears to when he isn't making his beautiful aircraft 😀 All (most) joking aside I am looking forward to this, i used to dabble with armour builds when I was a kid and even made bases with fake grass for them. However I know nothing about them or even have any transfers for it! Did they ever fight in the snow? A white tank! That could be cool?! Any way once the spitfire's are done and the p-47 is at least buttoned up I will crack on with this. Any suggestions are welcome! Rob

"But Sir! ................... the Sgt Major said not to get it dirty!!!!!!" Tank, Infantry, Mk IV (A22), Churchill MkIV with Mk5 L/50 6pdr gun 6th Guards Tank Brigade Kits used: Vehicle - AFV Club (AF35154) Churchill MkIV Figures - Bronco (CB35098) WWII British/Commonwealth AFV Crew Set Build thread: here Recently took part in the D-Day GB Hope you like