Hi there

Has anybody built this kit before. I was very kindly given this from an old stash and thought it was perfect relief from the monster detailed Dingo I have recently finished.



I know that these 70's Tamiya kits can often be a little out of proportion, but I am building this simply for the fun of it , and to test out the new airbrush and compressor my girlfriend is buying me for my birthday.



I am quite impressed with the figure included. After a little clean up, it has scrubbed up very nicely.



I aim to try out this paint scheme, but maybe with soft edges to the camo. I realise that Allied armour didn't often have soft edge paint scheme, but again, this is simply for the fun of it, a refresher if you will.

Thoughts anyone?

Stuart

I built one back in the 70s, I really enjoyed it. I can't vouch for overall accuracy but it looked right and lets face it, for one of the important tanks in the Desert its the only game in town! I think that if you can get some modern P/E-resin for it you should be able to really detail it nicely. I know that you want to do it for the western Desert, but there is a company that makes a lot of stuff to convert it to the Southwest Pacific in Australian Service.

John

I built it a few years ago. I thought that it turned out fine considering the age of the kit. I enjoyed building it and if you are having fun with it that is all that should matter in our hobby.

HARV

Was one of my favorite kits, years ago, build quite a few of them in my younger days.
Shaping up nicely Stuart.

I've considered building this kit but as a Matilda used in the battle of France. Was this an earlier variant than the Tamiya kit? if so is any major conversion needed etc? Any other info i'd need to know?

Cheers,

James

Hi James,
I'm no expert on the Matilda but have picked up a few tid-bits of info that are relevant to BEF vehicles, teh suspension was "lowered" to improve ground clearance (the opposite of lowered suspension on cars today) and they also had a tail skid akin to WWI tanks to aid trench crossing as well as host of other tiny details that were different.
If your truly interested in what is needed to bring the Tamiya kit up to date (not a great deal to be honest) I recommend the Osprey Modelling book #5 "Modelling the Matilda Infantry Tank", it also has features on the Aussie Frog flamethrower conversion as well as a couple of desert schemes and a interesting looking German one mounting a 50mm AT gun in place of the turret nicknamed "Oswald" finished in a strange camo scheme.
HTH

Thanks Mark, thats another idea on the to-do list!

James

Stuart, I believe that scheme you want to model is on a Matilda that was based on Malta.

I have a picture somewhere of a Matilda in that scheme pulling a Beaufort down the runway at Malta - the aircraft had had to make a wheels up landing, hence the need to drag it along by its belly, and clearly only the Matilda was up to the job!

Would make a hell of a diorama if you wanted to scratchbuild a 1/35 Beaufort

Hi there

Nice one with the picture, I would really like to see it if you are feeling generous.

Many thanks

Stuart

Have really enjoyed experimenting with my new airbrush and am quite happy with the results. Bearing in mind that a soft edge provided by an airbrush would not replicate this camo scheme 100%, I spent a great deal of time masking off areas with bluetac.



This was made all the more difficult by the fact that I spent most of the day, and last night throwing up!! I'm never eating again!!!



I realise the colours may not be accurate, but this was a bit of an experiment.



Next up I will be applying washes of burnt sienna to bring some depth to the detail.

thanks

Stuart

Very nice camo pattern. A REALLY good job you've done there. I think I will do it the same way on my Ferdinand.

Keep in mind the fact that the Ferdinand, like many german armour camo schemes, had soft edges to the pattern. You would be better simply setting your airbrush to a low psi and spaying the lines on.



Best of luck

Stuart

Stuart,

Looks good so far! I built one of those back in the early 80's when I first got into the hobby (and still have it). Recently got another one. Will be interesting to see how the passage of time and experience affects the outcome!

hi Guys
For all you interested there was an article in Military Modelling a few years back by (I think) Steve Zagola.
regarding correcting this kit for the battle of France
I 'm sure I still have it in my old mag collection I'll Be happy to scan and send if you are interested.

CHRIS

GO TEAM NEW ZEALAND

Hi Chris

I would be interested in that article if you would be kind enough to scan it. I have built this Matilda OOB and am considering doing a fully detailed build with some extra resin and PE; to show how it effects the finished product. The Tamiya kit is nice and crisp, but a lot can be improved. The front idlers are less than adaquate. After gluing the side armour skirts on, both of the idler arms snapped under the pressure of the tracks. Not the end of the world, but something to improve upon if I do another.

I will be appearing myself in Military Modelling this month, the Humber Scout 1/35. Keep your eyes peeled!!

Stuart

It was a great article, congratulations!

James

Thanks James!!

It's great seeing your work in hard copy. It's been hard work though, there is a lot of competition, but luckily there are some really helpful guys out there to lend a hand.....Thanks to Ken jones and Marcus Nichols in particular.

Almost finished the Matilda, just the hatch and figure to do. I fiited lenses and view ports from party scatter.

Had some problems with the decals though, Think I will stick to cartograph in future! The rear decals peeled off and the front one is starting to lift!



the front idler arms have completely gone now. If anyone out there is about to attempt this build, make sure you strengthen part B3!

thanks for watching.

Looks good. Too bad about the idler.

Thanks for sharing

I LIKE the paint job! Very nice!

Looks good so far Stuart, the camo has come out very well, with the decals did you apply them over a gloss coat? when I do mine I future the kit, apply the decals then spray another coat of fuure to seal them in, this should stop them lifting off by themselves..

Thanks Mark; I have a bottle of Johnson's, so I will try that next time. Makes sense when you think about it.

Special thanks to chris brennan though, who took the time to dig out an old article to inspre me. I think I will do an up-detailed version of the Matilda next time, this way I can display the benefits of using PE and scratchbuilding for people to make their own minds up. I believe the kit is becoming harder to find now, so I will have to get one soon.

Extra special thanks to Paul Trainor who very kindly gave me the kit in the first place.



Here is the finished article. I really enjoyed testing out my new airbrush with the camo design and I think I will continue to use card scatter for the headlights, maybe with a little modification though.



Hope you enjoyed following.

Stuart

Great to see an OOB build that comes out as good as that. Great work.
Scott

nice. No weathering though?

Nice It's very, very clean if you know what I mean On the photo all the turret has the camo pattern. On your model the gun and area nearby is brown. I guess you wanted it like that.

Nice job