A34 Comet Tank, Vespid Models, 1/72nd scale Finished

[Mr T]

This is my first entry for the Group Build. It is the fairly recent Vespid kit of the A34 Comet tank. I have not built a tank kit for fifty years, and the last one was the Matchbox kit of the Comet. IT is out of my comfort zone as it is:

a) a tank, not an aircraft.

b) it doesn't go together like an aircraft kit, and isn't finished in MAP colours

c) it has far too many wheels than a respectable vehicle should have, as well as tracks

Having said all that, the kit is well moulded with the use of slide moulds to make life a bit easier. For example, the return rollers (note use of armour terminology her, I have been reading up), do not have an obvious mould line, which is going to help with cleaning up. There is a small fret of PE, for some items that look sensible to use this medium for, and a turned brass barrel that looks nice. I am going to use some aftermarket decals for a post-war tank in bronze green, as it may be cleaner. Building a tank will be traumatic enough without covering it in loads of muck. There are some alternative parts for use with later variants of the tank.

The Comet tank was designed as an up gunned Cromwell with a newly designed 77 mm gun that was smaller than the 17pdr Anti tank gun, but offered similar performance. A new turret was needed, but the turret ring diameter was the same as the Cromwell. The Comet entered British Army service in 1945 and remained as a gun tank in British service until 1959 in Hong Kong.  It also survived quite a while with other countries including Ireland, Finland and South Africa.

[AdrianMF]

Welcome aboard Martin!

 

I suspect you will find the Vespid kit quite a bit posher than the old Matchbox Comet.

 

Regards,

Adrian

[Mr T]

It certainly looks to be. It us a lot more detailed, eg things like headlight guards. 

[81-er]

That looks like a rather nice kit, Martin. As I'm building my first tank at the moment, the most useful tip I've picked up is that if the engineering of the kit allows you to fit the wheels without gluing them, do that and fit the tracks around them (trying not to glue the tracks to the wheels), then you can take the whole lot off to paint them separately. Far easier than trying to get paint into all those otherwise hard to get at areas.

 

James

[Mr T]

Thanks, that was one aspect of the kit I was thinking about. I need to see if the wheels will stay on the axles without glue. The other issue are the tracks with some single links around the sprockets and idlers (note use again of tankey words, I think I'm getting the hang of this) 

[81-er]

I had link & length tracks on the Cromwell. The way I did mine (following some youtube videos) was to carefully glue the link sections with Tamiya Extra Thin (from the outside), give them a few minutes to be set enough they'll hold together but still flexible, then assemble around the wheels & sprockets. If the wheels won't stay attached without glue, you could try using masking fluid. Enough grip to hold in place temporarily, but easily removed.

 

I found this build particularly helpful, especially with the tracks & weathering

 

 

James

[The Spadgent]

Oooh lovely. I have only done two tanks. One of those was a cartoon one. I must build more, they’re ace!

i’ll tag along for this one, 🙌

 

 Johnny

[Mr T]

Made a start on the Comet. Looked at tank building stuff and I have decided to broadly follow the instructions. This has the advantage of having to deal with the wheels and tracks fairly early. Thus, the wheels etc. have been painted, as taken a while, but it is a start and some bits of the hull have been put together. I have only shown one set of wheels and tracks, the frame is duplicate.d. The tracks will need more work to make them look used, but I figure that might be easier when they are off the runner It is a very well moulded kit. I have found some photos of the tank I intend to build. It is in a parade and very clean looking.

[Troy Smith]

32 minutes ago, Mr T said:

The tracks will need more work to make them look used

Tracks are not a steel colour,  they made of manganese steel,

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235043141-favorite-track-technique/#elControls_3128688_menu

 

"

Most tracks of WW2 vintage were a high-manganese steel for wear resistance and long life.  This was most definitely NOT silver, nor graphite.  It was a goldy-brown colour, sort of like a light bronze.  Even late-war German tracks still appear to have had a decent manganese content.  They would wear out in no time without it, and it was being sourced from Sweden through Denmark until very late.

 

It's a hard effect to replicate and none of the paint manufacturers does a colour that captures it.  Since I got back into modelling in the last couple of years I haven't found the answer yet.  It's hard to capture on film too: flash glare can make it look silvery.  These photos of substantial Tortoise and Churchill links just about show it."

 

"We've all just got used to using silver and graphite colours to show wear because that's all we had, and still have.  Just like we used to show bright worn metal on our tanks, before we all understood that armour plate is actually dark brown and doesn't polish to silver or graphite either.  I'm trying change that, but none of the major paint companies have taken any interest in trying to produce a more accurate colour.

 

So, why are all current Track Primer and worn track colours a very dark black-brown and why does everyone rave over chemical blackening of white metal tracks?  Neither of these are close to being realistic.  There has been debate whether track links were painted, and the consensus seems to be "no".  It would have been inherently pointless.

 

The oxide of manganese steel is a mid grey-brown colour, and it doesn't rust readily in the conventional sense to orange, red and dark brown shades. 

 

Of course, mud and dust would obscure the base colour quickly.  But the wear points on the spuds, guide horns, inside surfaces and where the sprockets mesh would remain bare metal of the afore-mentioned goldy-brown colour, as seen above.  It is physically impossible for manganese steel to be silver or graphite/metallic grey."

 

I tried this

The base colour is 2:1 mix of Tamiya  XF - 64 red brown to XF-62 Olive Drab,  then kleer coated,  then oil wash using burnt umber and black thinned with lighter fuel, then drybrushed heavily with orig track mix, then added a little X16 titan gold to mix, and lightly drybrushed , i may have used a tiny amount of Titan Gold neat but very lightly drybrushed, as well, then matt varnish

 

It's quite hard to see the colour.

 

unweathered

this was the first tanks I'd done in years

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235071371-airfix-cromwell-been-a-long-time-since-i-did-a-tank/

 

This is my take on the Matchbox Comet, which might amuse, 

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235106937-a-34-comet-current-revell-rebox-of-pk-72/

 

It's a lot more basic than the Vespid! 

 

I'm quietly hoping Tamiya will do a 1/48th scale down if their 1/35th Comet myself.

 

HTH

[Mr T]

Thanks for the information. I have a Vallejo metallic colour that might form a useful base as it has some of the colour elements you mention. You learn something new everyday. I might ask my brother if he can remember anything about manganese steels. His original degree and PhD was in metallurgy. 

[PattheCat]

Well, the Comet is my second preferred British tank after the Matilda. Even if I didn't build armour since 40 years ago, I've some in the stash. Your build could rekindle the fire.

Watching with interest and wishing you fun.

 

[CliffB]

Enjoy the armour build.  As you say, a different experience aircraft .

[PattheCat]

On 4/4/2023 at 2:02 PM, Mr T said:

I need to see if the wheels will stay on the axles without glue. 

 

For temporary glueing I use Talens "rubber cement".

[Mr T]

After a bit of fiddling (oh er missus!), I decided to follow the kit instructions and build up running gear before adding the hull top. It seemed less complicated that way, especially as I am planning on brush painting, as it was probably the way it was done originally. I have an image of a National Serviceman in Hong Kong sometime in the fifties being giving a pot of Dark Bronze Green paint and pointed in the direction of a tank and told to get on with it. From what now departed old friends have told me about service life in the 1950s those sorts of things happened (except with aircraft and other delicate and high value, i.e. breakable, items). The result is this:

The photo doesn't really show that the tracks are not steel coloured. The hull top and turret have also received work. The kit included a resin mantlet that looks better than the kit one for the vehicle I want to build, but isn't a stunning fit and requires fettling.  Bits of tiny PE are supplied and add delicacy to the kit.

Is now beginning to look like a tank.

 

[Mr T]

Construction is now complete apart from a spade and machine gun that will be added after painting and decalling. Some of the PE is insane, like the sight that is in front of the Commander's hatch on the turret and has to be folded up from flat. Still, looks OK. The road wheels and tracks are going to be masked so that I can prime the hull etc. due to the PE. Quite pleased with it.

[PattheCat]

I find photoetch in 1/72 scale to be more pain than gain. You did well with yours and it does look like it was worth the effort.

[Mr T]

By and large I agree with you, although sometimes you can be stuck. My Morane in another GB needs a Scarff ring and PE has been a road I have gone down. It has its uses, but I think manufacturers get carried away by what they do with it. 

[AlxBNE]

7 hours ago, PattheCat said:

I find photoetch in 1/72 scale to be more pain than gain. You did well with yours and it does look like it was worth the effort.

 

1 hour ago, Mr T said:

By and large I agree with you, although sometimes you can be stuck. My Morane in another GB needs a Scarff ring and PE has been a road I have gone down. It has its uses, but I think manufacturers get carried away by what they do with it. 

I agree, I have a love/hate relationship with PE but sometimes it does magic.

Good effort using it in such a tiny tank.

It is looking great.

[81-er]

That's looking great! I'd be impressed with that at 1/35, never mind 1/72

 

James

[AdrianMF]

On 26/04/2023 at 10:58, 81-er said:

I'd be impressed with that at 1/35,

Wot 'e sed!

 

Regards,

Adrian

[Mr T]

This is probably the last entry for this topic. The Comet has been painted, and some details added, like the spade. A little bit of touch up is required to some of the wheels. A start has been made on decalling after the picture was taken. My choice is a Comet based in Hong Kong in the late 1950s, The photos I have found in the net shows a very clean tank in a parade. My memory of Army vehicles from the sixties in Bronze Green comes from walking past a TA depot in Carlton on the way to school. The vehicles were all well-kept and clean. I recall seeing some of their very clean Bedford RLs being used to pull lorries and buses up a steep hill when we sent home early because of the snow in about 1969-70

I don't recall seeing much armour when I was younger. I do recall one time going to see a couple of my aunts. To get to them, we often used to walk down a road called Meadow Lane in Nottingham. It had a very low railway bridge with a dip in the road. The buses on the route we all pre-war single decker Leyland Tigers, as they could just get under in the middle of the road. We were confronted by a Thorneycroft  Mighty Antar tank transporter firmly stuck under the bridge, complete with Centurion tank. It had bridged the dip in the road. Lots of shouting, as they were trying to get the tank of the transporter. On the way back it had obviously been cleared, but the road was a mess. It made quite an impression on a seven-year-old, who had the Matchbox  Thorneycroft and tank, but really wanted the Dinky Supertoy

 

 

 

 

[Ray S]

This looks to have been a great build, my apologies for only just catching up. There was plenty of Comfort-less zoning going on, and you have overcome that very well indeed. Some lovely background to it too.

 

Ray

[81-er]

That's a really nice result

 

James

[Mr T]

The Comet is now completed and going in the Gallery. I have given the tank a very light weathering as befits a tank in a parade

[PeterB]

A lot better than my old Matchbox offerings!

 

Pete