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Churchill AVRE - 5th Assault Regiment
AlanL
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England - East Anglia, United Kingdom
Joined: August 12, 2005
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Posted: Saturday, July 07, 2007 - 07:36 AM UTC
Hi folks,

Following on from my previous post, I've made some necessary changes, thanks everyone for the previous feedback.

Gordon Brown form Cromwell Models kindly provided some new exhausts and the appropriate style bin and Ian at Friednship Models kindly donated some boggies.

This should complete the main part of the build. There are some small PE type things to go on the turret but I've started to do a little water proofing, weathering and added the final trunk. I had to re-arrange the tools on the rear in order to get the exhausts to sit more upright.

Anyway here's some pics of the work so far:




























I haven't yet decided whether the mtr should be covered or uncovered, I'd like to dispaly it with a 'Dustbin in the Tube'

When complete it will represent a vehicle from 5th Assault Regiment, 1st Assault Brigade, 79th Armoured Division who were the folks who landed in support of the Canadians.

Cheers

Al
mattjack
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England - South East, United Kingdom
Joined: July 05, 2007
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Posted: Saturday, July 07, 2007 - 08:07 PM UTC
Hi nice work ......iv also made a churchill avre from 79 division check it out on my pics or you can view all my work via my site

http://freewebs.com/mattsmilitarymodelsite
D_J_W
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Hamilton, New Zealand
Joined: December 30, 2005
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Posted: Saturday, July 07, 2007 - 08:39 PM UTC
Hi Alan,

The Churchill AVRE is one of my favourite vehicles and yours is a very nicely done one. I like the waterproofing, not something you see on a lot of models. What did you use for it?

IMHO keep the tube uncovered and with a dustbin loaded would be different.

cheers
David
AlanL
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Posted: Saturday, July 07, 2007 - 09:10 PM UTC
Hi Matt,

Thanks for looking. Nice gallery you have and some good looking kits.

Hi David,

Many thanks for you comments. I've wanted to build one of these for a long, long time lol, lol. Could be the first of several!!!

On the waterproofing I just use PVA (White Glue) and watery matt black to tone it in. They used Mastic or something very similar so it seemed appropriate. For canvas covering some tissue treated pretty much the same way.

I'm inclined to ageee about the spigot. Thanks for the feedback.

Cheers

Al
erichvon
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England - East Midlands, United Kingdom
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Posted: Saturday, July 07, 2007 - 09:25 PM UTC
Nice build as ever Al! Been contemplating building one of these beasts myself so you may have motivated me to do one...LOL. Lovely to see something a bit different and so well done!
AlanL
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Posted: Saturday, July 07, 2007 - 09:39 PM UTC
Hi Karl,

Well worth the effort and a lot of fun. It's got me interested in the other AVREs and also the gun tanks, which I've pretty much ignored up to now. Thanks for your kind comments. Hope it will look the business when finished.

Cheers

Al
AlanL
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Posted: Monday, July 09, 2007 - 05:13 PM UTC
Hi Folks,

Meant to ask this before. The D Day vehicles seem to have been marked with large red/white letters 1 D, 1E 1F etc. on the sides of the trunking. Is there a decal set for this by any chance, or has anyone seen anything that might suit?

Cheers

Al
Grumpyoldman
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KITMAKER NETWORK
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Florida, United States
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Posted: Monday, July 09, 2007 - 10:47 PM UTC
Looks good Alan, I like the waterproofing job. Nice touch.
grievous
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England - North West, United Kingdom
Joined: November 23, 2005
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Posted: Tuesday, July 10, 2007 - 02:39 AM UTC
Hi Allen
model looking very good ,one sussgestion for numbers /letters have a look in a art or stationary shop for large rub down ,s like letraset you can normally get them in different colors ,then go round them in a white outline(steady hand)
Barry
AlanL
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Posted: Tuesday, July 10, 2007 - 04:35 AM UTC
Hi Dave and Barry,

Thanks for the feedback guys. I'll have a look at Archers German stuff and see if any of the decals might suit.

Cheers

Al
CaptainA
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Indiana, United States
Joined: May 14, 2007
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Posted: Wednesday, July 11, 2007 - 11:19 AM UTC
Nice build. Do you have any "WIP" pictures? I would really like to see this guy going together.
AlanL
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Posted: Thursday, July 12, 2007 - 04:50 AM UTC
Hi Carl,

Thanks for looking. I'm not a very neat builder lol, lol, but here's a few pics as requested

























And the rest as they say is history. I didn't decide to change the grab handles and use the PE until quite late in the build so there are a number of htings I will do in a different sequence on the next one.

Sorry for the poor pics but they were just shots taken indoors.

Cheers

Al
Brigandine
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Dunedin, New Zealand
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Posted: Wednesday, July 18, 2007 - 12:00 AM UTC
Great work as per usual Alan. Keep the tube open with the dustbin in place.

I wouldn't be surprised if Archer dry transfers have what you're looking for; they certainly have the 79th Armoured Division insignia.
AlanL
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England - East Anglia, United Kingdom
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Posted: Wednesday, July 18, 2007 - 04:47 AM UTC
Hi Jeff,

Thanks for that.

I got some 79th Armd Div decals from Fingerprint Design who I think offer really good value for money.

Had a look at the Archers stuff but for letters and numbers I'd have to mix up 2 German sets at about £9.00 ea which is a bit expensiive. I'll have a hunt around and see what else might be available at less cost. Troubele is I'll need 3 set sone for each trunk.

Glad you like the kit so far.

Cheers

Al
trahe
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Virginia, United States
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Posted: Wednesday, July 18, 2007 - 12:24 PM UTC
Very nice! I like the waterproofing.
goldenpony
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Zimbabwe
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Posted: Wednesday, July 18, 2007 - 01:24 PM UTC
Very nice build.

Thanks for sharing!!

cuales
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California, United States
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Posted: Wednesday, July 18, 2007 - 02:16 PM UTC
I think this is an excellent subject, very good work!

but....I think the paint job is rather monotone, and not very attractive to the eye, some color variation could help a lot.




AlanL
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Posted: Wednesday, July 18, 2007 - 05:31 PM UTC

Quoted Text

I think this is an excellent subject, very good work!

but....I think the paint job is rather monotone, and not very attractive to the eye, some color variation could help a lot.



Hi Gaston,

This is still a WIP mate, but for me the base colour is just about perfect. It will not be receiving anything more than some subtle weathering as the vehicle will be fresh out of the sea so there will only be a little sand on the tracks and lower hull. When the crew and stowage are added there will be plenty of variation in colour.

Hi Tom and Jim,

Thanks for looking and glad you like it so far.

Thanks for the feedback guys.

Al
jjumbo
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British Columbia, Canada
Joined: August 27, 2006
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Posted: Wednesday, July 18, 2007 - 06:17 PM UTC
Hey Alan,
I never realized how much of a shell trap the earlier Churchills had under their turrets,
That's quite a tower the turret sits up on and must have made a plum target for German anti-tank gunners to aim for.
I wish one of the big kit manufacturers would get off their collective duffs and consider adding a few more variants of the Churchill to the mix.
It would be great to not have to convert Tamiya's old Mark VII to make the Mark I, II, III, IV , etc....
I'd love to add a Churchill NA75 to my collection.
Dare we hope that one day the big T, DML, AFV Club or even Academy or Italeri will take up the challenge.
Looking forward to the final product, a great looking build so far!!
Cheers

jjumbo
AlanL
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Posted: Wednesday, July 18, 2007 - 06:29 PM UTC
Hi John,

Thanks for the feedback. I had to sand the turret ring down quite a bit as it's not a perfect fit for the tank. That said they did sit quite high. Given the limited range of the spigot mtr a lot fell victim to German AT fire at close range. Brave men indeed.

Know what you mean about some new varients in plastic. Unfortunately Tamiya didn't develop this kit just like they didn't develop their Bren Carrier. Lots of possibillities with both vehicles.

I'd like to do an NA 75 and a Mk III myself sometime, and will do a few more of the AVRE versions. Still I better finish this one first

Cheers and thanks for taking the time to reply.

Al
jjumbo
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Posted: Thursday, July 19, 2007 - 09:12 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Hi John,

Thanks for the feedback. I had to sand the turret ring down quite a bit as it's not a perfect fit for the tank. That said they did sit quite high. Given the limited range of the spigot mtr a lot fell victim to German AT fire at close range. Brave men indeed.
Cheers and thanks for taking the time to reply.

Al


Hi Al,
You said the wading trunks are from Cromwell so I'm assuming the turret, front hull/glacis plate and various hull fittings are also from Cromwell.
Cromwell is difficult if not impossible to get here in Canada and Resicast costs an arm & a leg to bring over from Europe,
Dare I ask what this conversion will eventually cost you in Euros or Pounds?
Cheers

jjumbo
AlanL
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Posted: Thursday, July 19, 2007 - 09:50 AM UTC
Hi John,

You must have mis-read the post.

The main conversion ie turret and fittings for the side are from Resicast. The Kit retails here in the UK for £32.60.

The Wading trunck are also from Resicast cost £10.45

The Tamiya kit costs about £17.00 here. I'll let you do the sums lol lol.

The rear boggies were donated by Ian from Friendship Models and the rear exhaust and bin were also donated by Gordon from Cromwell Models.

Add the cost of a couple of decent figures and stowage and it 's a fair amount of cash and all because there isn't a plastic version.

As my only real interest is in British and Commonwealth vehicles, just about everything I build costs double the money but that somehow seems to be the norm in the UK anyway, so nothing new there.

The cost of the average build I do is comming in at around £50.00 to £60.00 by the time you add figures, stowage, paint and decals.

Sad is it not

18 months ago I wouldn't have even have considered that but needs must and all that. Thank goodness I haven't got hooked on PE and Metal barrels it's seriously freightening how much it costs to build a half decent kit!!!

Cheers

Al
Brigandine
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Dunedin, New Zealand
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Posted: Thursday, July 19, 2007 - 11:03 AM UTC
Fortunately the situation is slowly improving, with the likes of Bronco starting to find a place in their ranges for British vehicles.

Still, it is sad that a major AFV like the Churchill is so under-represented, not to mention the Valentine I hope the likes of Bronco become well established and continue to bring out the British.
jjumbo
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British Columbia, Canada
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Posted: Thursday, July 19, 2007 - 01:37 PM UTC

Quoted Text

Hi John,

You must have mis-read the post.

The main conversion ie turret and fittings for the side are from Resicast. The Kit retails here in the UK for £32.60.

The Wading trunck are also from Resicast cost £10.45

The Tamiya kit costs about £17.00 here. I'll let you do the sums lol lol.

The rear boggies were donated by Ian from Friendship Models and the rear exhaust and bin were also donated by Gordon from Cromwell Models.

Add the cost of a couple of decent figures and stowage and it 's a fair amount of cash and all because there isn't a plastic version.

As my only real interest is in British and Commonwealth vehicles, just about everything I build costs double the money but that somehow seems to be the norm in the UK anyway, so nothing new there.

The cost of the average build I do is comming in at around £50.00 to £60.00 by the time you add figures, stowage, paint and decals.

Sad is it not

18 months ago I wouldn't have even have considered that but needs must and all that. Thank goodness I haven't got hooked on PE and Metal barrels it's seriously freightening how much it costs to build a half decent kit!!!

Cheers

Al


Hi Al,
I missed your original post when you started the build.
I'll have to go back through a few weeks of postings and see if I can find your original posting.
Yeah, the hobby's getting expensive, particularly if you want or need to add PE, metal barrels and anything else AM.
At my LHS, the Tamiya Churchill retails for about $50 to $65 CDN and the PE would add another $25 or so.
Add a set of AM tracks, metal barrel, alternate decals/transfers, figures and your talking about $175 to $180 CDN including paint and glue.
I usually go OOTB, adding a minimum of AM stuff, a bit of PE and maybe a barrel.
Anyway, got to go, I've been watching the Argentina/Chile Diving competion , ......err, I mean the FIFA U20 Semi-Final match in Toronto and it's turning into a war.
I'll keep an eye out for further updates on your build.
Cheers

jjumbo
AlanL
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Posted: Friday, July 20, 2007 - 12:16 AM UTC
Hi Jon,

What can I say, enjoy the build. Maybe one day we'll see some plastic lol, lol.

Cheers

Al
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