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D-Day Churchill Mk IV AVRE


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Hi All,

 

Here's my current build: A D-Day Churchill AVRE.

 

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Never one to make life easy for myself this is a bit of a kit bash from stuff languishing in the stash. I've always fancied building an AVRE and bought the Resicast conversion set years ago (like 15+ you can tell how faded the box is compared to the much more recent wading trunks!) when the Tamiya Mk VII was the only game in town.  Fast forward quite a few years and AFV Club released the AVRE Mk III kit and I just had to get one - little did I know a Mk IV version would soon follow.

 

Anyway, I digress, the plan is to fit the Resicast Mk IV AVRE turret to the AFV Club Mk III hull (which as far as I can tell from my references is the same as on the Mk IV), add the early built up tracks, Resicast wading trunks and suitable markings and voila; a MK IV D-Day AVRE. What could possibly go wrong?

 

 

First job was to sort the turret and make sure it would fit the AFV Club hull. Time has not been kind to some of the Resicast parts - they have become quite brittle and it soon became apparent that I was going to have to use as many of the AFV Club turret parts as possible. This was probably a good thing as the AFV Club petard motor is more detailed. With some judicious cutting and filing i got the AFV Club parts to fit into the Resicast turret. The two turret halves were not a good fit and required a good deal of filler to sort.

 

I've seen reference photos of Mk IV AVREs with both a pronounced weld around the turret castings or hardly any weld showing. I've chosen to add a weld - if only because it conveniently hid the join between the resin castings. 

 

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The weld was made from a strip of Evergreen softened with liquid poly and scribed with a scalpel and finished with a layer of Mr. Surfacer. It's probably still a bit too pronounced in places and needs more work.  I'm still contemplating replacing the Besa MG barrel with something better - I'm hesitating because the MG is more or less completely obscured by a flange over the petard which will be added later.

 

Final bit of progress is to get the Resicast turret to fit the AFV Club hull. As mentioned previously, the turret was intended for the Tamiya kit but it was nothing more cutting, filing and fitting a new plastic card turret ring you couldn't solve!

 

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That's about it for now. I'm going to tackle the Churchill hull next and see how i get on with those springs that everyone who's built one mentions. 

 

 

Thanks for looking in.

 

Bandit

 

 

 

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An update on progress:

 

AVREs based on Churchill Mark IV's were the most common types utilised on D-Day and I've been looking for information and photographs of a suitable vehicle to depict.

 

There's a wealth of information available here on BM, and on Missing Lynx and various other websites. Richard Anderson's book "Cracking Hitler's Atlantic Wall" is well worth a look if you're into AVREs or the RE Assault Brigades.

 

I particularly wanted to include the wading trunks on my build as these give the AVRE a very distinctive look. Finding references to a vehicle that didn't include any of the additional RE attachments such as an SBG, Fascine, carpet layer etc etc was more problematic. I was more or less resigned to having to put my hand in my pocket again to buy additional add-on parts when I came across these:

 

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This vehicle is belonged to 1st Troop of the  80th Assault Squadron of the 5th Assault Regiment and landed on theNan-White sector of Juno Beach.

 

The vehicle was loaded with additional engineering stores and carried 6 crew members but was otherwise a "vanilla" AVRE. Here it is again on the beach:

 

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[Quick Note on these three photographs: I found them in the public domain on the internet. I do not own them or hold any copyright on them.]

 

My search was over!  I have and old set of Resicast AVRE decals that I bought at the same time as the conversion kit:

 

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All the divisional signs and other markings can be cannibalised form this sheet. The tank's WD serial number is unknown - if any of you knowledgeable people have any information you could share I'd be very grateful.

 

 

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Build Progress so far:

 

Suspension is complete. I I followed the build advice from Terry Ashley over on PMMS and it went together relatively easily. I've fitted it out with the 'early' configuration of AVRE fittings without the appliqué armour as this was appeared to be most common on D-Day. Here's the build so fare with one of the tracks test fitted to establish the number of links required:

 

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Can't say I enjoyed making those tracks though :-0

 

 

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Great work so far, I’m going to follow along if you don’t mind. I’m planning on doing similar although a few variations on the AVRE equipment and other d day vehicles. I’ve done a lot of research into the 79 division on d day although mostly based around sword beach. I’m going to watch your build closely for some tips, especially how you get on with the resicast wading stacks. Build looks great, nice work to mate the turret with the plastic petard. Has the turret got an interior?

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26 minutes ago, bigfoot said:

Has the turret got an interior?

 

Hi Bigfoot & Jasper, Welcome aboard. I hope you're patient as I'm not the fastest builder out there!  I confess that I'd rather be outside doing other things but the enforced lockdown means I get more build time.

 

To answer your question Bigfoot, there's no interior to the Resicast turret - just a plain shell inside. 

 

The wading stacks look as if they are going to be tricky - the cabling and fastenings to hold the stacks in place are absolutely tiny and look to be at the limit of my abilities. Time will tell 😬

 

Bandit

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I like the way that this going. Nice work. If you are still looking for some decals for the build, Ernst Peddinghaus will produce them for you. You just need to provide him with some photo or profiles of the tank, and he will do them. Not expensive. He's done two or three sets for me and never charged more than 15 euros.

 

John.

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John,

 

Thanks for the info. it's stored away for future use use. It's the large "1F" tank designations on the wading stacks that I'm short of. Fortunately the lettering is all straight lines so I hope to be able to paint them directly with suitable masking. 

 

Bandit

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Looking good, as you've done it, how was the running gear to assemble with "those" springs?

 

I'll enjoy watching this come together. 

 

Cheers 

Darryl 

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On 4/13/2020 at 10:53 PM, Jasper dog said:

as you've done it, how was the running gear to assemble with "those" springs?

Darryl,

 

Those springs weren't too bad actually. It all went together quite well. as I said I followed the advice given by Terry Ashley on PMMS and took it carefully.

 

As built, the suspension was fully workable but as I'm not looking to set the model on a dioramic base I ended up gluing it solid before attaching the side sponsons to the body. It's pretty fragile if left workable and knowing how ham fisted I am I decided setting it in place was the better option!

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A quick update on progress. The hull is more or less complete now - or as far as I can go without starting to see what additional work the deep wading kit will require.

 

One thing I did do was to add an RBM metal barrel for the hull BESA MG. It was a bit of a toil but I think the result was worth it in the end compared to the plastic original as seen in the turret.

 

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I've cracked open the wading kit and started to clean up the resin parts. Looking at the miniscule size of some (many) of the parts I'm worried I've bitten off more than I can chew with this build. How on earth do you get these tiny parts off the casting blocks without damaging them?!!!

 

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Hull engine deck tool holder holes filled ready for the wading kit fittings.

 

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Quick trial fit of the first wading stack. the resin part is bowed and fill need more sanding and filling to get a good fit.

 

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First attempt at making a paint mask for the large 1F markings prominent displayed on the wading trunks. Needs to be slightly bigger letters I think.

 

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That's about it for now. I'm going to have a beer and steel myself to tackle the wading kit fasteners. Next build will have to be 1/16th!

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Coming along nicely, been wanting to get my Mk III AVRE, off the shelf for a while and your almost making it look do-able!

 

Cheers 

Darryl 

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Thats looking great. Ive got several AFV Club Churchies in the stash. Made a real pigs ear of the MkIII when it first came out so i've always been a bit reluctant to have another go at one. Saying that, i like to think my skills have improved since then.... so i may have a crack at one again soon :rolleyes:

 

Look forward to progress on this one.

 

Regards,

 

Steve

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17 hours ago, Bandit1250 said:

As built, the suspension was fully workable but as I'm not looking to set the model on a dioramic base I ended up gluing it solid before attaching the side sponsons to the body. It's pretty fragile if left workable and knowing how ham fisted I am I decided setting it in place was the better option!

Probably wouldn't work anyway. The Centurion that I'm, doing has the same set up with the springs. To make the suspension flex over an uneven surface would require a couple of kilos of weight on top of it.

That said, it's coming along nicely. Good luck with the paint mask.

 

John.

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  • 2 weeks later...

A quick update on progress.......

 

This build has fought me every step of the way - and has nearly been binned on more than one occasion. The base AFV Club kit is great, it's the Resicast cables and bracings for the add on deep wading parts that have been causing me grief.  This is probably more to do with a lack of ability on my part rather than any inherent fault with the kit. Suffice to say I gave up on trying to manipulate the tiny Resicast resin parts and scratched my own from various bits and pieces. The end result isn't exactly true to the real thing but I think it looks reasonably ok.  Anyway - see what you think. As ever, comments and feedback always welcome - I'd especially be interested in hearing from anyone who's successfully built the wading kit as per the instructions - how did you do it?????

 

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Most of the bracing was made from old guitar strings. I'm not trying to teach anyone how to suck eggs but If you haven't already discovered them, these things are great for all sorts of things from cables to aerials and guard rails. They come in various sizes and, being steel, once bent hold their shape.

 

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Hopefully make better progress now the wading trunks have been finished.

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Good tip on the guitar strings. 

 

Most apart from the very finest gauge (like that pictured) are ribbed - wire wrapped around a core wire - which can be useful for replicating compressed springs and ribbed tubing or ducting.  Bass strings go up to about 3mm diameter.  I regularly replace moulded-on ribbed tubes and pipes on Warhammer 40k models with guitar string, and I imagine it would work for ribbed ducting in engine and undercarriage bays etc.  With care you can pull it out to make extended curly cords for radio handsets etc, or just use it as-is.  The finest gauge makes good non-bending radio antennas, as well as other uses. 

 

My youngest son had 4 guitars including a bass when he was at home and I used to snaffle his offcuts and old strings when he re-strung: I have enough to last years.  But they aren't exactly expensive to buy and the cheapest brands will do.  You're not after the sound quality!  As well as individual sizes you can buy packs of 4 bass or 6 electric or acoustic strings of different gauges.  But those will mostly be ribbed.

Edited by Das Abteilung
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Personally, I think that you've done an excellent job on the wading stacks. They look a lot more complicated than the ones I used on my Centaur. I'd bought the Accurate Armour set for the build, but ended up only using the turnbuckles and the fixing points. I scratch built the stack from card and was happy with it in the end.

 

John.

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1 hour ago, Bullbasket said:

Personally, I think that you've done an excellent job on the wading stacks. They look a lot more complicated than the ones I used on my Centaur. I'd bought the Accurate Armour set for the build, but ended up only using the turnbuckles and the fixing points. I scratch built the stack from card and was happy with it in the end.

Thanks John,

Making the bracing was certainly a trying experience with several false starts along the way. I gave up with nearly all the Resicast parts in the end - i just couldn't get them to work. The only Resicast parts left are the wading stacks themselves and the exhaust pipe extensions. Hopefully the turret will prove easier!

 

Dave

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi All,

 

Update on progress: The build is more or less complete. There are still a few fine details to add - mainly additional bolts for the wading stacks and tie downs for the stowage but other than that I'm calling the build done and ready for paint. Anyway, see what you think.

 

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The model is shown fully assembled but comes apart to make painting easier. I have never felt comfortable painting AFVs with the tracks fitted which is a bit of a challenge with Churchills due to the track covers. Fortunately it was possible to build and fit the track covers and associated stowage/other parts separately to make the tracks removeable for painting. Likewise some of the turret stowage will be removed again prior to paints to allow decals to be placed.

 

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Stay safe and well everyone. 

 

Now, where did I put the airbrush?.........

 

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That's looking really good Bandit.

I do like those AFV Club Churchills and your tempting me to have a go at the AVRE one for something a little different.

I find it quite satisfying to get past the building stage and onto the painting and weathering where the real fun begins. Looking forward to see how it progresses.

 

Wayne

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