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40089 M7 HMC 105mm 'Priest'


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Great call Ratch. Matchbox really came out with some well detailed Armour kits and this Priest seems to be in line with that great trend. I’ve only built three Matchbox armour kits back in the day and recall really enjoyed all of them. I should source these kits again whilst Revell are still happy to provide us with good reissues. 

 

Cheers, welcome aboard and best of luck.. Dave 

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  • 2 weeks later...

The Priest was manufactured by the American Locomotive Company, based on the earlier M3 medium chassis mounting a 105mm M1A2 Howitzer and a .5” Browning. This open-topped self-propelled gun was nicknamed ‘The Priest’ because of its high pulpit-like anti-aircraft mounting and entered service with the British in Egypt in September 1942. Ninety of these SPG’s were delivered in time to participate in the Second Battle of Alamein. All Allied Armies in every theatre of war then used it widely. There are lots of pictures of Priests towing trailers.

 

This was bought from a trader at the IPMS Barnet Show at Hendon. The base is embossed “Matchbox” Lesney Prod Ltd © 1979. Assembly is illustrated in six stages and two decal options/paint finishes are proffered

1.      U.S. 105mm. HMC, M-7, 5th Army (supporting British), Mount Camino, Italy, 6th December 1943

2.      “D” Battery, “Y” Troop, Vehicle “A”, 12th H.A.C. Regiment (R.H.A.) 6th Armoured Division, Italy Cassino Plain, 16th May 1944

The transfers are unfortunately out of register.

 

I like to start with the figures, as they can take some time to paint. Whether I shall use them looks like another matter as they are wearing distinctly G.I. uniforms and I’d prefer to model a British subject.

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Never-the-less, they will be painted, even if they’re only consigned to the spares box. I looked through my spare figure boxes and may have found some suitable subjects for the North African/Italian theatres.

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Construction has started, and the Carpet Monster has struck

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I've cut a new handle from plastic card.

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No such trouble with the hull.

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I'll return to the figures when the Priest is assembled.

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I've built this three times over the years, the last just a few years ago. My recollection is that the gun and shield is a difficult sub-assembly to build, and to fit. Also, the floor is a bit tricky, and might need some support between it and the base of the hull. The 50-cal mount also needs a bit of attention. Having said all this, it's still a very nice kit though.

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Great start on this Priest Ratch, well done. Its looking really good and thanks for the additional historical notes - always helpful to us Aero modellers. 

Your line "There are lots of pictures of Priests towing trailers" made me chuckle.... but that's just the 10 year old Matchbox lover and child still in me! 

Cheers.. Dave 

 

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1 hour ago, Rabbit Leader said:

Your line "There are lots of pictures of Priests towing trailers" made me chuckle.... but that's just the 10 year old Matchbox lover and child still in me! 

I think that's why I noted it - my own childish desire to add a little extra. I don't think I have a spare trailer 🥴

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I moved on to the assembly of the roadwheel and suspension units. While cutting parts from the runner, my magnifying lamp overbalanced, and the cable scattered parts over the floor. I wasn’t a happy bunny and to make things worse, I ran over and broke one of the suspension units with my chair.

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I could have made a repair but thought I’d lost two roadwheels too. I salvaged an Airfix suspension unit and wheels from a scrapped Sherman and fixed it to the hull.

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Having done this, I promptly found the missing wheels, but decided to stay with my replacement.

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I had been warned about the poor fit of the internal panels and took extra care when fitting them.

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1 hour ago, Ratch said:

I moved on to the assembly of the roadwheel and suspension units. While cutting parts from the runner, my magnifying lamp overbalanced, and the cable scattered parts over the floor. I wasn’t a happy bunny and to make things worse, I ran over and broke one of the suspension units with my chair.

51816687313_67e4e59734_z.jpg

I could have made a repair but thought I’d lost two roadwheels too. I salvaged an Airfix suspension unit and wheels from a scrapped Sherman and fixed it to the hull.

51817295860_816b56ab18_z.jpg

Having done this, I promptly found the missing wheels, but decided to stay with my replacement.

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I had been warned about the poor fit of the internal panels and took extra care when fitting them.

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😆 Sorry, i shouldn't laugh but we've all been there! My office chair has smashed a few key pieces over the years too. Mostly aircraft canopies..🤬 These days if I drop anything, my first reaction is DON'T MOVE!

 

Shouldn't that bloke be driving the Matador tanker, or similar? 😀

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The machine gun barrel snapped off as I cut it from the runner and in retrieving it, the Carpet Monster regurgitated the hand-wheel previously lost. 
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The tracks are so brittle to make them unusable. 
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A dry fit.
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I decided to fit them as though link and length sections, though I did have to scratch four links to fill a shortcoming.
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I added some stowage.
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I added an etched waffle pattern plate to the floor of the cab.
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I filled any gaps in the seams, not that you ca see in the picture.
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Nice update Ratch and good recovery on those brittle tracks. I do say your Carpet Monster is rather helpful regurgitating previously lost parts, you could breed and sell that species on to other modellers worldwide! 

Cheers.. Dave 

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Good save on the tracks. My Panzer IV/70 has tracks of a similar colour and feel very stiff, so I haven't dared try to bend them. The main reason I chose not to do it for this GB. But your link & length solution has inspired me to maybe give it a go. 

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Then the missing four links resurfaced, so I swapped them with my scratched ones.

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I then primed with Ammo Mig One Shot Primer A.Mig 2024 Grey as the base,

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followed by 2023 Black for shadows

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2022 White for highlights thereby adding tonal variation when over-sprayed.

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