Airfix Churchill

[mrcooljules]

picked this up yesterday, for 4 quid, its the croc version

in the back of my mind, i have it stuck that its nothing like the version it says it is, but i know naff about this tank.

i wouldnt mind it sat near a cromwell or a firefly on a little dio so just curious what it actually is, how good it is etc.

i might use some millicast or other figures to go with it

ta muchly chaps

[Test Graham]

The turret is a bit undersize, and needs the protective armour around the turret ring. I believe it is true that the flamethrower tank was not the version that comes in the kit, at least not in WW2 - which seems sensible, as the Airfix Churchill is a late variant which presumably would be retained as gun tanks.

Matador Models do have a lot of conversion kits for Churchill variants, so you could look there, and the Osprey Vanguard AFV profile on the Churchill has just been re-released. I've a suspicion there is also a specialist volume specifically on the flamethrowers, so a look at the Osprey site might help.

[mrcooljules]

The turret is a bit undersize, and needs the protective armour around the turret ring. I believe it is true that the flamethrower tank was not the version that comes in the kit, at least not in WW2 - which seems sensible, as the Airfix Churchill is a late variant which presumably would be retained as gun tanks.

Matador Models do have a lot of conversion kits for Churchill variants, so you could look there, and the Osprey Vanguard AFV profile on the Churchill has just been re-released. I've a suspicion there is also a specialist volume specifically on the flamethrowers, so a look at the Osprey site might help.

ta, i had a quick look at the matador stuff yesterday, but didnt really know what i was looking for.......

will take a lookout for that book, i think i have a old copy somewhere, i have loads of books if i see that are pretty cheap, just incase i need them in the future but its a subject i know nowt about

[Seahawk]

The turret is a bit undersize, and needs the protective armour around the turret ring. I believe it is true that the flamethrower tank was not the version that comes in the kit, at least not in WW2 - which seems sensible, as the Airfix Churchill is a late variant which presumably would be retained as gun tanks.

Matador Models do have a lot of conversion kits for Churchill variants, so you could look there, and the Osprey Vanguard AFV profile on the Churchill has just been re-released. I've a suspicion there is also a specialist volume specifically on the flamethrowers, so a look at the Osprey site might help.

Agree with you about the turret ring armour and you may be right about the turret size. However the Churchill VII as provided is the exactly the right variant for all Crocodiles, whether war-time or post-war. ("The Crocodile equipment - trailer, nozzle, piping and controls - was manufactured in kit form to allow Churchill VII tanks to be converted in the field into Crocodiles by the personnel of REME workshops" Geoffrey Futter, The Funnies, p.54) I haven't actually seen the Crocodile kit but, as long as the flame nozzle for the co-driver position is included on the new sprue, all's well.

You may be thinking of the Churchill bridgelayer Airfix have also brought out recently. That can only be completed from the box as a post-war variant as war-time ones were based on the Churchill III/IV chassis. The main visual difference is that Churchill III/IVs - in fact all Churchills except VIIs and VIIIs - had large square escape doors on the hulls sides as opposed to small round ones.

The Airfix Churchill is, after perhaps the Buffalo, the trickiest of all Airfix's AFVs to build owing to all the bogies.

[Test Graham]

You are probably right about confusion over the bridgelayer.

I haven't made an Airfix Churchill since it came out, but when I was that age I managed to get all the bogies inline without an enormous amount of frustration or throwing of objects against walls. Used to make biplanes with all the separate struts and get them into line too - well, not sure they'd meet my (or anyone's) current standards of "in line"! Into all the right holes, anyway. Must face up to the O/400 one day......

Matador will at least show you which bits other modellers think worth spending money on to replace.

It's amazing what can be found out actually reading all the books in the house..... certainly I'd have found that bit about the flamethrowers had I looked!

Edited November 14, 2010 by Graham Boak

[davidelvy]

The wife bought me a Churchill kit and that is what got me back into modelling. Not sure how she feels about that decision now!

The bogies are indeed tricky, but on my example the biggest problem was that over the years the rubber tracks have shrunk. I resorted to pullng the two ends together with thread. Thanfully, the design of the tank means that this is easily hidden.

[Seahawk]

Osprey New Vanguard 136 is devoted to the Churchill Crocodile.

[ChrisITA]

looking at pics I've found on the internet of this kit, its actually more accurate than the Tamiya 1/35 one!

You will need to add the lip around the bottom of the turret. Bear in mind there is a shallowcut in this on the right hand side and at the rear.

If you are building it as a Normandy tank, or indeed a Croc in Holland, you will also need to shave or sand off the two bumps either side of the mantlet hole.

There is also an ariel mount missing in the form of the squadron set mount. If you draw an imaginary X between the two existing mounts and the tow turret hatches, it should be just rear of the centre of your X

The good news is, it has the correct cuppola. carefull though, most people seem to add this so that the dividing line between the hatch halves is parallel to the sides of the tank. This is 90 degrees out, that line should be perpendicular to the sides as the only two episcopes the commander has are on the outside edge of the hatch halves and one should face forward.

The air intakes are correct, which is a bonus! and other than that it looks pretty spot on

Incidentally, Crocodiles continued to be used for a few years after the MkVII gun tank was retired and were last used in action in Korea. Most of the surviving Crocodiles are from one single batch that was brought up to full postwar spec and trained to Southampton for embarkation to Suez. However, the ceasefire was declared in instead the MOD sold them on the dockside to the highest bidder, which happened to be Pounds Yard in Dorset. They had their turrets removed and were stacked one on top of each other until they were sold either to collectors of for scrap

If you see one in a museum or collection now, chances are it is one of these tanks and they all have postwar interior silver paint, postwar ARV cuppolas and postwar airintakes with three armoured covers, which confused Tamiya, and modellers ever since!

Looking forward to seeing it

[mrcooljules]

looking at pics I've found on the internet of this kit, its actually more accurate than the Tamiya 1/35 one!

You will need to add the lip around the bottom of the turret. Bear in mind there is a shallowcut in this on the right hand side and at the rear.

If you are building it as a Normandy tank, or indeed a Croc in Holland, you will also need to shave or sand off the two bumps either side of the mantlet hole.

There is also an ariel mount missing in the form of the squadron set mount. If you draw an imaginary X between the two existing mounts and the tow turret hatches, it should be just rear of the centre of your X

The good news is, it has the correct cuppola. carefull though, most people seem to add this so that the dividing line between the hatch halves is parallel to the sides of the tank. This is 90 degrees out, that line should be perpendicular to the sides as the only two episcopes the commander has are on the outside edge of the hatch halves and one should face forward.

The air intakes are correct, which is a bonus! and other than that it looks pretty spot on

Incidentally, Crocodiles continued to be used for a few years after the MkVII gun tank was retired and were last used in action in Korea. Most of the surviving Crocodiles are from one single batch that was brought up to full postwar spec and trained to Southampton for embarkation to Suez. However, the ceasefire was declared in instead the MOD sold them on the dockside to the highest bidder, which happened to be Pounds Yard in Dorset. They had their turrets removed and were stacked one on top of each other until they were sold either to collectors of for scrap

If you see one in a museum or collection now, chances are it is one of these tanks and they all have postwar interior silver paint, postwar ARV cuppolas and postwar airintakes with three armoured covers, which confused Tamiya, and modellers ever since!

Looking forward to seeing it

thanks for the informitive reply, i have dyslexia but i could really understand all that

i am thinking of doing a DDay one, to go with all my cromwells and er....centaurs, so just need to check reference for correct markings.

i hope to start in in a week or 2, once i have collected all the data (i take it its scc15 colour? and will take fotos as i go along (i have some crew from millicast and mms so hope they are suitible)