Bullbasket Posted January 13, 2022 Author Share Posted January 13, 2022 (edited) I don't have any etched brass for the rear track guards, and I wasn't overly impressed with the Airfix offerings. The steps in each one and the side pieces are a little on the thick side, so I had a go at altering them. Using a chisel blade, I cut the steps out and tidied up the surface with some wet and dry, and then I scraped the sides with a blade to thin them down. Next, using the other track guard as a guide, I cut pieces of 10thou card for the steps and glued them in place. Whilst I was reasonably happy with the result, I decided to have a look at the Tamiya ones. I can always use the Airfix items in a future project. The Tamiya ones are a better prospect and just needed the sides to be rubbed down a little, and with a little persuasion, they can be made to fit....et voila! In the photos which I have of Bromovice, the side parts of the rear track guards are missing, so what's left requires some drilling to represent where the attachment rivets were. While I was in track guard mode, I thought that I would do the front as well. There's not a lot to do as only the right front tack guard was showing in the photos. Once again, I had a go at the kit part, and this is much easier job, just requiring the leading and side edges to be scraped to an acceptable thickness. BUT,on the Aber etched set, it provides the forward track guards. (It provides the rear ones as well, but I'd already used them in another build). So the right one was bent to shape and soldered, and I decided to use it because being brass, I was able to tweak it slightly with some pliers to show some mild damage. I glued a small strip of card to the forward edge of the side track guard so that the etched piece would have something to attach to, and then it was super glued in place. The side parts of the track guards should extend downwards, so I cut some thin card to shape and glued it in place. That's it for now for a couple of days until I can get some more done to this. Thanks for watching. John. Edited July 16, 2023 by Bullbasket Replaced missing photos. 23 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanC Posted January 13, 2022 Share Posted January 13, 2022 I love the latches and padlock on the stowage bin. Which is something I don't think I've ever said before, even on a modelling forum..😄 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullbasket Posted January 13, 2022 Author Share Posted January 13, 2022 8 hours ago, zigster said: Just a Q re: periscope shrouds on turret: are they "vertical - N/S" like in Tamiya - incorrect", or 90dgr to the turret slope (correct)? It's only few degrees, but once you see it you can't unseeit. Great job you do, with explanations, we all can learn from it. zig I'm not sure that I understand what the question is. Are you asking if they look straight ahead, because I believe (and I could be wrong), that they could swivel. John. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullbasket Posted January 13, 2022 Author Share Posted January 13, 2022 1 hour ago, IanC said: I love the latches and padlock on the stowage bin. Which is something I don't think I've ever said before, even on a modelling forum..😄 Thanks Ian. There's a first time for everything. John. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edjbartos Posted January 13, 2022 Share Posted January 13, 2022 Really nice work John, I like the alterations that you have made, it's coming on nicely... Ed 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamden Posted January 14, 2022 Share Posted January 14, 2022 Nice work on those track guards John Stay safe Roger 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasper dog Posted January 14, 2022 Share Posted January 14, 2022 Loving what you're doing with this John. Repurposing and adapting parts from other kits, scratch build others and adding those little details that make it unique. Great work Darryl 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullbasket Posted January 14, 2022 Author Share Posted January 14, 2022 14 hours ago, edjbartos said: Really nice work John, I like the alterations that you have made, it's coming on nicely... Ed 4 hours ago, Hamden said: Nice work on those track guards John Stay safe Roger 42 minutes ago, Jasper dog said: Loving what you're doing with this John. Repurposing and adapting parts from other kits, scratch build others and adding those little details that make it unique. Great work Darryl I appreciate you all taking the time to comment. Thanks. I've built a few of the Tamiya kits, and so for this build, I wanted to find out what the Airfix kit is like, and so far, I'm reasonably impressed. Do I think that it's an improvement? Well given the 20 plus years between them, I'd have expected more from them, and for them not to have made school boy errors. But it is what it is, and I would gladly buy another. John. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zigster Posted January 15, 2022 Share Posted January 15, 2022 Hi Bullbasket! What I meant (re periscopes): those C shaped shrouds should be "vertical", or 90dgr to the ground, rather than 90dgr to the front plate of the turret. Tamiya's wrong, being perpendicular to the turret surface. How it is in an Airfix kit? No big deal though, nor a major drama. Zig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullbasket Posted January 15, 2022 Author Share Posted January 15, 2022 6 hours ago, zigster said: Hi Bullbasket! What I meant (re periscopes): those C shaped shrouds should be "vertical", or 90dgr to the ground, rather than 90dgr to the front plate of the turret. Tamiya's wrong, being perpendicular to the turret surface. How it is in an Airfix kit? No big deal though, nor a major drama. Zig I'm probably being very thick here, but I still don't know what you mean. If you can, put photo of what it is you're talking about. John. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullbasket Posted January 17, 2022 Author Share Posted January 17, 2022 (edited) Bow gunner's door/hatch installed. I removed the moulded grab handle and replaced it with some.33mm nickel wire. I also sliced off the moulded catch and replaced it with a piece of Eduard etch. In this kit you are provided with the usual two piece hatch cover for the driver. These could cause problems if immediate evacuation from the tank was required, especially if the turret was positioned over it, therefore preventing the hatch from opening. One solution was to install a two piece, diagonally split hatch cover. The forward part hinged forward, and the rear part could then be lifted out. I believe this was known as the Vauxhall hatch. The problem was finally solved on the F hulls, by installing a mirror image of the gunner's hatch. I made the new hatch from 30thou card, scored diagonally with an Olfa P Cutter. The hinges were made from small pieces of stretched sprue and 10x30 thou strip. I didn't bother filling in the old hinge indentations as that appears to be what happened with the real thing; they were just left. Some Cromwells didn't have the covers on top of the periscopes, but Bromovice did. To use the Aber etched ones that I have would meant some awkward cutting to enable them to fit, and to my mind, it was a lot of work for nothing. The Airfix ones are once again, a little on the thick side, but the Tamiya ones look spot on, so by just removing the location tab on the bottom, they fit perfectly. Headlamps in place. I used the Tamiya one for the LH lamp as the Airfix one had a big sink mark in it. I also used the kit side lamps. I drilled the bottoms of each one with a .3mm bit and then super glued a short piece of 5 amp fuse wire into the hole, before gluing it onto the brackets. The other end of the cables were then glued to the attachment points which Airfix have moulded onto the glacis plate. Early on in the build, I decided that this model would be buttoned up with no crew members sticking their heads out of hatches, at least, not in the hull, so I glued the drivers armoured opening closed. On Youtube, there is a video review of this kit (well, the Mk.lV), and one of the things that the reviewer found was that the BESA mount would not fit, and he was right. When the ball mount is positioned into the hole and the armoured plate is placed over it, it doesn't sit down. So to get it to sit right, I used a round file to enlarge the hole, and eventually it sat flush against the armoured front. Apart from pioneer tools and stowage, that's about it for the hull (yes I know I still have the tracks and wheels to sort out), so I'll be making a start on the turret next. I just need to add some bolt heads to the front of the headlamp brush guards. Back soon. John. Edited July 16, 2023 by Bullbasket Replace lost photos. 25 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted January 17, 2022 Share Posted January 17, 2022 Hi John. I hope you are keeping well. It's great to see you are back onto this project again and it looks like you are making superb progress! As I always am when I look at your modelling, I am seriously impressed with your attention to the the details! Kind regards, Stix 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullbasket Posted January 17, 2022 Author Share Posted January 17, 2022 1 hour ago, PlaStix said: Hi John. I hope you are keeping well. It's great to see you are back onto this project again and it looks like you are making superb progress! As I always am when I look at your modelling, I am seriously impressed with your attention to the the details! Kind regards, Stix Hi Stix. Thanks for asking. Yes, but I'll be pleased when the temperatures rise. I hope that you and Mrs. Stix are well. Thanks for your comments. Always appreciate your replies. John. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamden Posted January 17, 2022 Share Posted January 17, 2022 More really great attention to detail as we've come to expect from you John. Stay safe Roger 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasper dog Posted January 17, 2022 Share Posted January 17, 2022 Lovely work John, a real boon to anyone with this kit in the stash. And as a bonus doesn't involve spending the price of the kit again on AM. (Tracks aside). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edjbartos Posted January 17, 2022 Share Posted January 17, 2022 Again your detailing is really good John, It really does make a difference, It's coming along brilliantly Ed 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIK122 Posted January 17, 2022 Share Posted January 17, 2022 This is a great build, coming along nicely. Looking forward to your next post 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hewy Posted January 18, 2022 Share Posted January 18, 2022 Cracking detail job john👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullbasket Posted January 18, 2022 Author Share Posted January 18, 2022 20 hours ago, Hamden said: More really great attention to detail as we've come to expect from you John. Stay safe Roger 17 hours ago, Jasper dog said: Lovely work John, a real boon to anyone with this kit in the stash. And as a bonus doesn't involve spending the price of the kit again on AM. (Tracks aside). 17 hours ago, edjbartos said: Again your detailing is really good John, It really does make a difference, It's coming along brilliantly Ed 17 hours ago, NIK122 said: This is a great build, coming along nicely. Looking forward to your next post 6 hours ago, Hewy said: Cracking detail job john👍 Thanks a lot everyone. These comments help a great deal in keeping my enthusiasm going. John. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullbasket Posted January 22, 2022 Author Share Posted January 22, 2022 (edited) So I made a start on the turret. My original intention was to use the Tamiya turret because of the missing bolt heads on the shell ejection port, but I thought that I would have a go at rectifying the mistake. Airfix have gone about the turret in a completely different way to that of Tamiya. Whereas Tamiya's is a one piece shell which you attach other panels to, Airfix have gone down the IKEA route,ie; it's like a flat pack. It's has a top, bottom and several side pieces to assemble. (Sorry, no photos here as I forgot, so this is a shot of the instructions, which illustrates what I'm saying). First job was to assemble the main armament into the turret front. I would have used the kit's BESA, but here was a moulding glitch; the muzzle had a lump missing from it. Nil desperandum. The Tamiya item fitted almost perfectly, it just needed the muzzle drilling out and enlarging with a dental tool. Next was to assemble all of the parts, eight of them. I have to say that I wasn't impressed with this way of doing it. The order of assembly is to glue the side pieces onto the base, and then glue the top onto the sides, but if you don't have the parts in exactly the right place, it's difficult to get the top in place. I finally “persuaded” it to sit right , before gluing the frontal assembly into place, but I have been left with a few minor gaps to fill. Tamiya's way of building the turret, is superior IMO. At least two of the tanks in this unit had the 2 inch bomb thrower, plated over, so it wasn't unreasonable to assume that Bromovice had it too, so I cut a piece of card and shaped it, and then glued it in place and applied a Milliput weld bead around the edge. I used the vane sight from the Tamiya kit, as it was slightly thinner than the Airfix one. I also spent about 30 minutes with files and sanding sticks, thinning it even further. It's not perfect, but it will suffice. The spot light on the left hand side is once again, from the Tamiya kit, as it is a far better item. I drilled the attachment point on the top of the turret, the underneath of the lamp and a hole in the bracket which the lamp sits on, and then threaded through a length of 15amp fuse wire, and then super glued it in place. OK, that's it for now. I have some more shots of turret work, but I don't want to outstay my welcome, so I'll wait a couple of days. Back soon. John. Edited July 16, 2023 by Bullbasket Replace missing photos 19 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edjbartos Posted January 22, 2022 Share Posted January 22, 2022 Nice clean work John, coming along great... Ed 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamden Posted January 23, 2022 Share Posted January 23, 2022 Turret looks good John very nice work. Stay safe Roger 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullbasket Posted January 23, 2022 Author Share Posted January 23, 2022 12 hours ago, edjbartos said: Nice clean work John, coming along great... Ed 1 hour ago, Hamden said: Turret looks good John very nice work. Stay safe Roger Thanks to you both. As always, your comments are much appreciated. I'm not going overboard with the turret detailing (ie; I didn't use etch for the hatch latches) as this is basically a build to see what the Airfix kit is like. John. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Model Mate Posted January 23, 2022 Share Posted January 23, 2022 No concerns about overstaying your welcome John; this is fab stuff. Great detail work! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted January 23, 2022 Share Posted January 23, 2022 16 hours ago, Bullbasket said: I used the vane sight from the Tamiya kit, as it was slightly thinner than the Airfix one. I also spent about 30 minutes with files and sanding sticks, thinning it even further. It's not perfect, but it will suffice. It looks like p/e to me. Nice touch. I should come here more often to see what you are doing. You seem rather good at this. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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