I’m planning to build a Canadian 25pdr field gun using the Bronco kit once I get a chance to getting around to the build. It’s going to be a two part build that I will combine with another project I have planned for the Canadian forces campaign. Hoping to eventually turn everything into dio that is floating around in the back of my head.

Hi Everyone.

I want to try at least one 'big' build this year, and this looks like a good one.

I'm trying to decide between a Dragon Sherman MK III in the desert, or a kit I've had in the stash for a while

An AFV Club Achilles Mk. IIc

I'm leaning towards the Achilles, as I really like Tank Destroyers. And the black and green camo scheme looks interesting.

I'll have to decide in the next day or so as I want to start..

laters

Delbert

Really looking forward to all your entries this campaign, here's what i'll be building:

Hi. Just thought I'd put in my intended project and the date stamp:



Considering I'm inexperienced in modeling anything without wings, you can bet this will be OOB. The kit does include markings for a Canadian example, though I can find no photos of Tamiya's suggestion. So I cannot comment on the kit's accuracy or its markings.

Bye the way, I tried to do a Sherman for it's namesake campaign, and failed. The bogey's messed me up, so I abandoned her until later, with the idea of doing something easier first.

Looking forward to giving her a go!

Gotta get me a Firefly. Then we'll get rolling with this one...

I'm still in with Academy's M7 Priest. I'll probably do it as a vehicle from the 11th Reg Horse Artillery, 1st Armoured Div, operating in Sicily or Italy. Markings are given for that vehicle in North Africa but I'm not sure if they are the same for an Italian Theater vehicle.

It'll probably be a couple of months before I start. I've got to get some other stuff caught up.

Weellll, I have good news and bad news for you on this kit.

The good news, it goes together well and the bogeys are easier to assemble than most Sherman kits (especially the latest Dragon or Tasca kits). The other good news is... er, ... well, actually, that's about it for the good news.

The bad news is a somewhat longer list...

The kit is almost 40 years old and shows every day of that age. The major accuracy errors:
- The kit was originally motorised so the tracks have the end connectors in the middle of the pads instead of linking two track pads together.
- The track return roller mount brackets are misshaped so the track doesn't sit on the rollers properly.
- The road wheels are too narrow by a noticable amount.
- There is no underside to the hull sponsons.
- The kit is actually of the diesel-engined variant (the air pipes from the air cleaners go to the wrong place), of which there were very few built and which were operated by none of the units on the markings sheet.
- The turret and turret ring are noticably too small, by 0.110" on the model.

And those are just the major issues, there's lots more!

As for the markings:

From a post on Missing Links 10 years ago -

"On the matter of the Tamiya decals, they are correct but not for the vehicle in the kit. The identification is also wrong.
They are not for 22nd Armoured Regiment (also known as Canadian Grenadier Guards) or 4th Canadian Armoured Brigade, but they were applied to a tank of 5th Canadian Armoured Regiment, the 8th Princess Louise's (New Brunswick) Hussars, in England March 1942 who were part of 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade in 1st Canadian Armoured Division. The arm of service marking is for the second of two Armoured Brigades in Canadian and British Armoured Divisions as they were organised for that time. The sequence of numbers was 60 for Brigade HQ, then 61, 62 and 63 for the three Armoured Regiments with 64 for the infantry Motor Battalion on a green square. The first Armoured Regiment used a red square with numbers 50 to 54, and this was retained when the second Armoured Brigade was removed in 1943 and replaced with an Infantry Brigade with three regiments.
The tank was an M3 with the D38976 hexagonal welded turret as in the Academy "Honey" kit not the later rounded D39273 turret as in the Tamiya kit. It had British-style modifications including new stowage bins and grouser racks on the hull sides. The vehicle was depicted in the original Osprey Vanguard 17 "The Stuart Light Tank Series" by Bryan Perrett and is also one of the subjects in the Quartermater's Depot decal sheet no 35034 (now out of print, PAUL). Several books have this or other photos of the same or similar tanks, and I am sure the Divisional sign should have the spur device on it as show in the Osprey plate.
(As an aside, the Tamiya kit decals for British Desert markings are also for an earlier vehicle than that in the kit)"

In addition, the early Canadian Stuarts served only England and did not go into combat.

It still builds up into a fun kit, but there isn't much "accuracy' about it. The Academy "Honey" kit will build the correct vehicle for the markings in the Tamiya kit, but it is only a modified copy of the Tamiya kit and many of the structural errors remain and a few new errors were introduced.

The AFV-CLub M3A3 and M5A1 kits, though significantly more difficult to assemble and with a few construction errors of their own, are by far the best Stuarts available. Exceptionally accurate and very well detailed, they amply reward fixing the construction errors to produce excellent kits.

Sorry if that bursts your bubble a bit on that kit. I've built 6 or 8 of them in various guises over the years, and they produce a really nice early Stuart if you are willing to do the work, but it _is_ a fair amount of work for such a small kit.

Paul

Paul, thankyou for taking time to make those notes. Considering my inexperience in armour modeling, I thought the Tamiya Stuart kit would be a good starting point. Perhaps it's not such a good subject for a campaign, though, if it falls so short on accuracy.

So, I believe I'll change my entry to the MiniArt Dingo Mk.II, which may reflect a greater accuracy level. I have both kit and AM decal in the stash. Photos to follow.

The Tamiya kit might be better suited to a what-if, such as the Apocalypse campaigns.

After the heads-up that the Tamiya Stuart kit has accuracy issues in both vehicle and markings, I've decided to save it for another time. Instead, I'll try this kit:





With this, I have access to a period photo of the actual vehicle and a pair of color 3-views. The intent is still OOB, but, at least it depicts a factual example.

Ok I decided on what I will build for this one..


The AFV Club M-10 Achilles IIc.

and here is my start photo.



This kit comes with an aluminum barrel, and I have a British Antenna set for it.

Happy building everyone..

Delbert

My entry is the old Tamiya Bren Gun Carrier. It may be a while before I get started though. I've got a few campaigns over on Aeroscale to complete first.

I'm going to do a M3 Grant in Australian service. 2/9 Armoured Regiment.

I haven't got all the pieces together for a Sexton so I think I will do a "Black Bulls" Cromwell in Normandy.

I’ve decided to ditch the 25pdr gun and instead will build a Canadian Kangaroo using the Dragon M7 priest kit since I used the 105mm gun for another project I did. So now I’m left with the basic hull that will work perfectly for the Kangaroo.

Here is the work I have started on so far. I’m going to build this as the few that were rushed through the conversion process for operation totalize. These kangaroo’s supposedly still had their gun supports in place as the idea was to reinstall the guns at a later date. The supports came from the acdemy kit and the hole blanked over with a piece of scrap plastic.

Hi

Got some bits of plastic glued together on my kit. The AFV Club M10 Achilles.

I must say that the interior is a little on the bare side. Esp compared to the Academy M10 I did a few years back.

There are no control levers for the driver, no gear or anything for the interior walls, and no ammo for the hull ammo bins. I know not much of this can be seen from the outside, but at the very least I think I will try to cast some 17 pounder rounds for the racks, just to add interest.

Otherwise the detail is pretty good on the kit, and everything is fitting well.



Delbert

Starter pictures of my entry. It's the 1/35 Academy M7 Priest.

Having built a full interior for the ancient Tamiya M10 many, many years ago, I can tell you that a fair amount of the interior can be seen if you leave the driver's hatches open, so getting the interior sorted becomes important.

There are significant accuracy problems with all of the M10-based kits so a quick look at an online build review will help you out. I believe the AFV Club kit is the better one overall. One thing I _think_ I remember is that the 17 pdr rounds were not stowed in the standard M10 type racks, the British preferring to keep them in the metal ammo boxes until actually fired. Double check, that, though.

HTH

Paul

Howdy

I hope no one minds progress shots.. cause here comes one.

Been doing the suspension, it goes together a little fiddly as it is 12 parts for each wheel assembly.

There is good texture and casting numbers on the parts along with good looking grease fittings. When finished they are fully articulated.

There is one down side to them, for some reason AFV Club opted for a single piece hollow backed wheel.



now back to work..

Delbert

Hi Paul.

From some of my research I've read they kept the 17 pounder rounds in the ammo racks in a heal to toe configuration.

But that said a lot of information out there is conflicting and I've looked through my reference books and cannot find a wartime shot showing the racks.


I'm Most likely going to button this one up a bit. The details on the hatches and outside look pretty good.

Delbert

Nice to see some steady progress starting here, can't wait to see more.

I started work on the Bishop on the weekend and should get some photos up this weekend. The Bronco kit is really detailed , the box was literally packed to the rim with sprues.

Hey all, Great starts to everyone. I am home from Afghanistan!! I am getting settled a little and then I ll be getting to it, still toss up Cromwell or Sherman. But just wanted to say hi.

Euge

Hello to All! Finally can get back into it with this oldie from the stash...

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I was inspired by this foto, but if at all a problem I can submit another subject...

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I'm hoping to build this in tandem with my "Panzers Return Campaign" choice.

Cheers
Dave

I meant this -


Cheers Dave