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Italeri (ESCI) Churchill Mk. III


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This is a re-box of the venerable ESCI Churchill. I recall building the AMRCR version upon a time (as in 1981). Like most of the ESCI kits, this was "upgraded" with hard tracks in the ESCI/ERTL era, and that's what's in the Italeri box:

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Four of the six subjects in the Italeri boxing are eligible for this build: "Kingforce" at El Alemain, two Tunisian subjects (one with field-applied sand camoufllage), and one operating near the Gothic line in northern Italy:

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British AFV colours from WW II are a veritable minefield, which is the only thing likely to trouble this build.

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Nice. I've had a chance to photograph a couple Churchill tanks so I look forward to watching this build.

 

I'll share a few of my pics in case there are some details that will be of benefit.

 

Churchill Mk VII Crocodile

Flying Heritage Collection (my pics from 2017, 2019)

 

Churchill-FHC-2017-08-12-7429.jpg

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Churchill-MkVII-Crocodile-FHC-2017-06-18

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Churchill-MkVII-Crocodile-FHC-2017-06-18

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Churchill-Mk-VII-FHC-2019-05-11-4305.jpg

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Churchill-Mk-VII-FHC-2019-05-11-4309.jpg

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Churchill-Mk-VII-FHC-2019-05-11-4308.jpg

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Churchill-Mk-VII-FHC-2019-05-11-4307.jpg

 

 

and

Churchill AVRE (Assault Vehicle Royal Engineers)

Imperial War Museum, Duxford (my pics from 2019)

 

Churchill-AVRE-IWM-Duxford-2019-06-30-01

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Churchill-AVRE-IWM-Duxford-2019-06-30-01

 

 

 

Hope theses are of some help or inspiration.

 

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On 10/4/2020 at 1:04 PM, JOCKNEY said:

Great to see another Esci kit join the GB, more power to your elbow !

 

All those wheels, the carpet monster will be salivating 😋 

 

Cheers Pat

Thankfully, unlike Airfix, ESCI (and most other manufacturers) have a simplified road wheel assembly. I made a quick start to the kit:

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Some detail parts are still nice and safe on one of the sprues.

 

But now I face the colour conundrum, regardless of which subject I choose. This is my main reference: https://www.mafva.org/british-vehicle-camouflage-1939-45/?v=79cba1185463

... but nothing is certain, especially in terms of finding direct matches from Humbrol or Revell enamels.

 

Oh, and I am also painting the "hard" tracks. Whose bright idea was it to mold these in silver grey plastic?

 

 

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...

Friday evening, it was "panic mode on". Chickening out, I opted for one of the all-green subjects, specifically the 25th Tank Brigade near the Gothic Line in September 1944. Humbrol 159 is not a "perfect" match, but it will do in a pinch.

 

Attaching the "hard" tracks was predictably enjoyable (not!). First up, I started to attach the tracks the wrong way around, and had to back out to start again (cue profane mutterings). The upper track parts were attached last, after removing a link from each, they being too long. I didn't even bother trying to glue them, as they wouldn't be able to move once everything was closed up (as here).

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After an overnight application of clothes pegs to make everything set in place ...

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Next up, some filler:

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A couple of coats of paint:

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Gloss varnish undercoat for the decals, not that you'd notice the difference from the previous picture:

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Decals applied. The yellow triangles on the turret sides had to be cut to fit next to the baggage.

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Now almost complete. I managed to lose the headlights, so time to raid the spares box. I might do the turret aerials using plastic rod. Just some more painting, and I might well beat the midnight lockdown deadline. Gallery lockdown that is ...

IMG_20210103_194254_dr_035.jpg

 

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