Jump to content

Cromwell, Royal Irish Hussars


Recommended Posts

At long last finished the Cromwell diorama, depicting a recce patrol of the 8th Royal Irish Hussars in the Normandy area, July 1944. Vehicle is the venerable Tamiya 1/35 job. The commander's figure is from the Miniart collection, the driver is from the spares box; Tamiya I think. Diorama is entirely scratch built, mostly from pink foam, and I used clear resin for the water effects. spacer.pngspacer.pngspacer.pngspacer.pngspacer.pngspacer.pngspacer.pngspacer.pngspacer.pngspacer.pngspacer.png

  • Like 31
Link to comment
Share on other sites

What a nice little  diorama, I can see a lot of time & effort was invested!

Water and bridge look very realistic, as well as the tank and figures, of course!

One question - does that exhaust cover on the back of the vehicle resemble a wading device?

The 72 scale Revell kit also includes this part, but most pictures of Cromwell's don't show it.

Greetings from Vienna!

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Roman Schilhart said:

What a nice little  diorama, I can see a lot of time & effort was invested!

Water and bridge look very realistic, as well as the tank and figures, of course!

One question - does that exhaust cover on the back of the vehicle resemble a wading device?

The 72 scale Revell kit also includes this part, but most pictures of Cromwell's don't show it.

Greetings from Vienna!

Thanks for the kind sentiment. 
The device at the back of the vehicle is not actually a wading device, though it's often mistaken for one. It's actually called a 'Normandy Cowl' and it was an exhaust deflector which was fitted over the exhaust outlet to deflect fumes away from the vehicle. It gets it's name from the fact that the problem it was designed to rectify first appeared during the Normandy campaign, when it was discovered that Cromwells that spent time with their engines switched on and idling, but with the tank stationary, suffered a build up of exhaust fumes over the rear deck, which the ventilation fans then sucked back in to the tank; choking the crew. 

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 hours ago, ColinH25 said:

Very nice. Hope to achieve something like that one day! 

 

How did you do the bridge/brick texture? 

I cut each individual stone out of s thin sheet of closed-cell foam, rounded off the edges with a sanding stick, and glued it in place. Not as time consuming as it sounds! I applied them as one would build an actual bridge; keystone first, then the stones of the arch, then the rest. spacer.pngspacer.png

Edited by Brasso27
  • Like 3
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Brasso27 said:

I cut each individual stone out of s thin sheet of closed-cell foam, rounded off the edges with a sanding stick, and glued it in place. Not as time consuming as it sounds! I applied them as one would build an actual bridge; keystone first, then the stones of the arch, then the rest. spacer.pngspacer.png

Very cool man. Thanks for sharing. 

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...