Nenad Ilijic Posted April 28, 2022 Share Posted April 28, 2022 Hello everyone, I was looking forward to this build, because I find A9 quite an interesting tank and I read good stuff about Gecko's kit. And I needed something pleasant to build after my experience with Vulkan's Vickers Light Tank. It turns out that what I heard about Gecko's kit was true. It is one of the best kits I have ever built. Especially regarding the details, which are absolutely fantastic. A9 was quite an interesting vehicle. It was not very reliable and was prone to braking down quite often. It's recognizable by two auxiliary turrets housing Vickers MGs. However, they were rarely used, because turrets were extremely hot in desert conditions. They were used to stow additional ammunition instead. It was also plagued by the underpowered AEC bus engine. Overall, it was the beginning of the long and troublesome way to find the successful cruiser tank design that ultimately lead to great designs by the end of the war. This model should represent 1RTR, 'A' squadron tank. The photo I used as a reference was tankan in April 1941 in Derna Pass. It's interesting to me that this photo was probably taken at the same time and at the same place as the photo of Panzer III Ausf. G that I was building a few moths ago. However, A9 was probably abandoned earlier this year, during the Operation Compass, because the 1RTR was not present in this area after February 1941. Abandoned tank was probably moved to the side of the road to clear the passage for the advancing columns. Model was built out of the box, with only some very minor changes, like registration plate (which was mounted differently on this particular tank) and some wiring added. Kit provides quite nice interior, and with so many hatches, I decided to keep them open. Tracks are indy links and are fabulous! Model was painted with MRP lacquers for camouflage painting and combination of Gunze and Vallejo for detail painting. This tank was painted in standard Caunter Scheme (Portland Stone, Silver Gray, Slate), although there are some deviations compared to the official scheme, especially on the frontal side of the tank. This was quite common at the time and Caunter Scheme was simplified by the army painters. And here are some details. I tried to capture some of the interior. I heard some cracking noise while attaching the turret to the hull, but I was not able to determine did I break something. Until I saw photos of course That's when I noticed that turret plates separated a bit. But I'll leave that to be fixed some other time. And at the end, the real thing. Thanks for watching and looking forward to your feedback. Cheers, Nenad 55 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sardaukar Posted April 28, 2022 Share Posted April 28, 2022 very nice 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
f matthews Posted April 29, 2022 Share Posted April 29, 2022 Um…WOW! This is spectacular. I built the Gecko A10 and thought it was one of the best kits I’ve ever built. I then started the A9 and the A9CS as a tandem build, but got hung up with the turrets and the fiddly exhausts and they’ve been sitting for almost three years. Yours is easily the nicest one of these I’ve seen-love it! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
echen Posted April 29, 2022 Share Posted April 29, 2022 Very nice indeed! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo1966 Posted April 29, 2022 Share Posted April 29, 2022 Fantastic!!! Really nice build, well done Nenad. George 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveyGair Posted April 29, 2022 Share Posted April 29, 2022 Superbly done, and the close up shots show what a neat modeller you are. The finish is just right as well. Davey. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanC Posted April 29, 2022 Share Posted April 29, 2022 An outstanding build Nenad. Nicely restrained and realistic weathering, and I love the glimpses into the interior. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrancisGL Posted April 29, 2022 Share Posted April 29, 2022 Hi Nenad, A great result of a very interesting subject, I love it! It must have been a headache to mask everything for the Caunter...lol...perfect. I would like to make one of these and some other similar ones, but they are quite expensive kits... Cheers and TC Francis.👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Model Mate Posted April 29, 2022 Share Posted April 29, 2022 stunning work. Excellent! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longbow Posted April 29, 2022 Share Posted April 29, 2022 That is Very, very, nice !! 👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spitfire Posted April 29, 2022 Share Posted April 29, 2022 That is amazingly good. Cheers Dennis 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vaoinas Posted April 29, 2022 Share Posted April 29, 2022 Stunning work! Lovely desert cruiser. Details and weathering are spot on! Kristjan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartH Posted April 29, 2022 Share Posted April 29, 2022 Stunning work 👏 The painting and weathering are perfect....very realistic and great colour choice👏 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milan Mynar Posted April 29, 2022 Share Posted April 29, 2022 Great work.the painting and weathering are perfect....very realistic and great colour choice. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted April 29, 2022 Share Posted April 29, 2022 My goodness, that is startlingly good! Most excellent painting. Really, really outstanding painting and weathering. Just, wow! At least 12 out of 10 scored. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PF Naughton Posted April 29, 2022 Share Posted April 29, 2022 Hi, That looks incredible 😀 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nenad Ilijic Posted April 29, 2022 Author Share Posted April 29, 2022 20 hours ago, sardaukar said: very nice Thank you. 15 hours ago, f matthews said: Um…WOW! This is spectacular. I built the Gecko A10 and thought it was one of the best kits I’ve ever built. I then started the A9 and the A9CS as a tandem build, but got hung up with the turrets and the fiddly exhausts and they’ve been sitting for almost three years. Yours is easily the nicest one of these I’ve seen-love it! Ohhh yes... I forgot the exhaust. Probably intentionally It is sooo fiddly, I think I spent half the time building the tank on this exhaust. Broke it few time, lost few pieces that I had to scratch build... 15 hours ago, echen said: Very nice indeed! Thank you. 13 hours ago, Geo1966 said: Fantastic!!! Really nice build, well done Nenad. George Thank you George. 11 hours ago, DaveyGair said: Superbly done, and the close up shots show what a neat modeller you are. The finish is just right as well. Davey. Thank you Davey. 10 hours ago, IanC said: An outstanding build Nenad. Nicely restrained and realistic weathering, and I love the glimpses into the interior. Thank you Ian. 8 hours ago, FrancisGL said: Hi Nenad, A great result of a very interesting subject, I love it! It must have been a headache to mask everything for the Caunter...lol...perfect. I would like to make one of these and some other similar ones, but they are quite expensive kits... Cheers and TC Francis.👍 Thank you Francis. Yeah masking it was quite a headache. At least I learned from my previous Vickers Light Tank build to mask and paint the camo before attaching all the fiddly stuff, like exhaust, canister holders, etc. It helped a lot. It is quite expensive kit, but at least there's no need for any AM products. Especially concerning the track that are far better than AM choices. 7 hours ago, Model Mate said: stunning work. Excellent! Thank you. 6 hours ago, Longbow said: That is Very, very, nice !! 👍 Thank you mate. 6 hours ago, spitfire said: That is amazingly good. Cheers Dennis Thank you Dennis. 6 hours ago, vaoinas said: Stunning work! Lovely desert cruiser. Details and weathering are spot on! Kristjan Thank you Kristjan. 1 hour ago, StuartH said: Stunning work 👏 The painting and weathering are perfect....very realistic and great colour choice👏 Thank you Stuart. 1 hour ago, Milan Mynar said: Great work.the painting and weathering are perfect....very realistic and great colour choice. Thank you Milan. 1 hour ago, Bertie Psmith said: My goodness, that is startlingly good! Most excellent painting. Really, really outstanding painting and weathering. Just, wow! At least 12 out of 10 scored. Thank you Bertie for your kind words, 53 minutes ago, PF Naughton said: Hi, That looks incredible 😀 Thank you. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edjbartos Posted April 29, 2022 Share Posted April 29, 2022 That is beautiful Nenad, it really is . Wonderfully painted and weathered with such great detail, just fabulous, well done...👍 Ed 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Autle Posted April 29, 2022 Share Posted April 29, 2022 Superb work again Nenad, you've really captured this model as the real photos show it. The weathering is spot on for my taste as well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homer Posted April 30, 2022 Share Posted April 30, 2022 Congratulations on a fine model well done 👏 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwitrogg Posted April 30, 2022 Share Posted April 30, 2022 Just stunning. Well done indeed. Cheers Gaz. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carius Posted April 30, 2022 Share Posted April 30, 2022 Superb job Nenad 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nenad Ilijic Posted May 1, 2022 Author Share Posted May 1, 2022 On 4/29/2022 at 10:55 PM, edjbartos said: That is beautiful Nenad, it really is . Wonderfully painted and weathered with such great detail, just fabulous, well done...👍 Ed Thank you for your kind words Ed. On 4/30/2022 at 12:03 AM, Autle said: Superb work again Nenad, you've really captured this model as the real photos show it. The weathering is spot on for my taste as well. Thank you, Autle. On 4/30/2022 at 9:20 AM, Homer said: Congratulations on a fine model well done 👏 Thank you, Homer. 10 hours ago, kiwitrogg said: Just stunning. Well done indeed. Cheers Gaz. Thank you, Gaz. 10 hours ago, Carius said: Superb job Nenad Thank you, Carius. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimrod484 Posted May 1, 2022 Share Posted May 1, 2022 That is excellent, Nenad. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robgizlu Posted May 1, 2022 Share Posted May 1, 2022 That is a cracking model! Rob 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now