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A34 Comet - Rubicon Models


John

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I'm taking a break from 50 year old kits I built as a kid, so when this showed up in Rubicon Models UK's webstore the stars aligned.

 

I'm not really an armour modeller but I have a small collection of Rubicon's 1/56th scale kits because they offer a nice relaxing build and I like the size of the finished article.They're also very high quality products.

 

The first time I'd even heard of the Comet was when Matchbox released their 1/76th scale kit in the 1970s.  It's still not that well served in the modelling world so this new kit is especially welcome. So, what do you get?

 

A very high quality end-opening box:

 

Comet1

 

Rubicon provide comprehensive but generic decal sheets. The quality is usually good:

 

Comet3

 

2 sprues in ABS, rather than polystyrene:

 

Comet4

 

Comet5

 

Very high quality instructions:

 

Comet2

 

More shortly.

 

John

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21 hours ago, Courageous said:

Odd scale but a nice subject, so, crack on.

 

Stuart

There's actually a large number of military vehicle kits out there in this scale, but only a few are in the scale modelling mainstream - Italeri manufacture for Bolt Action and box these kits themselves too.

 

Anyway, to work. The turret shows some of the innovative engineering often found in Rubicon kits:

 

Comet11

 

Meanwhile the running gear gets some paint thrown at it. This is a first undercoating:

 

Comet10

 

There's some very nice detail here. The colour used here is:

 

Comet6

 

...part of a batch bought from Jamie's stand at the Perth show a couple of years ago.  Fantastic stuff.

 

I also bought the Rubicon Commonwealth Tank Crew set. I didn't realise at the time that the kit came with a commander figure, so now it can have a loader too.

 

Comet8

 

John

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The inner road wheels are connected by a spacer, which I trimmed off and added the wheels individually:

 

Comet13

 

The completed running rear looks quite good. The tracks are a bit simplified but by the time there's a bit of weathering on them they'll be fine:

 

Comet16

 

By some process that mystifies me, I managed to lose part A26. I've replaced it with some EMA ABS sheet. I'll add the prise bar later:

 

Comet14

 

John

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

The front and rear skirts don't have big contact areas so the heavy weaponry was brought out:

 

Comet17

 

Fit at the rear of the hull is OK but needs a bit of persuasion - more heavy weaponry deployed:

 

Comet18

 

Most of the basic construction done and the basic markings for the Fife and Forfar Yeomanry applied:

 

Comet19

 

Comet20 Comet21

 

Next steps are tidying up the paintwork and starting some basic weathering.

 

More soon.

 

John

 

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

A bit of weathering, in this case well thinned Humbrol 94 Brown Yellow:

 

Comet24

 

The Commander's vane sight is a cage-shaped contraption to the front of his cupola. The kit supplies it as a solid part, so a bit of careful painting will be called for:

 

Comet23

 

I cut off both the overscale Besa muzzles. I'll replace them with turned brass 1/48th scale parts, which will still be a bit too big but should look finer:

 

Comet25

 

Next job is to tidy up the finish of the tracks.

 

John

 

 

 

 

 

 

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