Hi guys a few pictures of the next project.
Using AFV Club's 1/35 Mk III churchill gun tank as a base, I've been working on a Mk IV AVRE.
I'm using the new AVRE Mk IV convesion kit release from Resicast. Top hull plate, turret and fenders are just placed dry at the moment.



also in the mix is resicast's drop in engine bay. Which drops straight in with only a little trim of the triangular supports inside the hull needed to make it fit.



So far everything, on both kits, has fitted perfectly. For the very small turret stowage tie downs and the small loops for holding the engine bay hatches open, Graham has thoughfully provided a couple of spares, of each. ( I needed a couple! )
The turret has quite a lot of details internally, including a really nice radio set, which i haven't started fitting yet. I've balanced the petard Mortar in place for this photo so it's not quite straight. Also included in the set are two mortar rounds, or "flying Dustbins", and spare suspension units, which some AVREs carried on the rear trackguards. The speckled look of the turret is down to overspray from the rattle can primer used on the inside of the turret.



Finally, a look at one of the figures I'm planning to use in a field workshop Diorama. I'm not quite sure how many will be used in total, but there will be one in the driver's hatch and another in the open side door.
This guy is from wolf and is quite nice. He's just been glued together at the moment and needs a little filling on the left shoulder.

Hope to get the turret internals finished in the next week or so then start exterior painting.

Paul
Torquay
England

Excellent start Paul, looking forward to seeing it finished!

Hi paul,

Excellent stuff. What period are you building the vehicle in?

Great work so far. Can't place the figure, is he a Hornet/Wolf chap?

Looking very good in deed.

Al

Nice work so far, great to see these new kits being tackled. They all look very nice. Are you going for the AFV workable track link set?

James

I want to do something set in the early days of the Liberation of Normandy (for the past two years everything I've done has been Italian Theatre or North Africa)
I love this reference photo titled "Passing through Lion De Mer" there's so much going on. So I'm thinking a Garage taken over by Allied mechanics with the AVRE outside getting some basic mantainance. Then maybe some other guys milling around, maybe a dispatch rider or some MPs organising things,as i like to show other branches of the srvice as well as combat troops.
Great North Roads is a local company to me and Simon has recently produced a very nice new dio base which could suit very well.



The figure is Wolf, and is just called "Tanker/infantryman rolling up sleeves". Ultracast have some nice figures too that I'm considering for the crew or mecahnics.

Paul

Hi james I'm not 100% decided on tracks yet, i may see how the kit ones look full exposed, if i don't like them then I;ll think again.

paul

Hi Paul,

Sounds good, you realise you'll need a deep wading carrier or two to busy it up lol, lol.

Glad the PM helped, I did exactly the same with mine lol, lol.

Al

Give my regards to Simon. I painted a couple of his bases for a website called 'totalmodel' when he was just starting out.........I'm glad he's still going.

That photo would make a good diorama - busy scene - could take years of your life that one......

Quick update as pointed out by Al, (luckily before painting started) i had put the early stowage box on, when, for Normandy it should be the later version. As it happens resicast include both types in the kit so, out with the old and on with the new!


In the words of Captain Mainwaring " Well done that man, I wondered who'd notice that first!"

Hi Paul,

Nice fix, I believe the angled box came about as a result of the cables on the deep wading gear catching of the square bin. Not 100% sure on that one but I think that is the case.

Way to go.

Al

great work you're doing. I like!

Yes that seems reasonable, i wondered what the purpose was, as it would have cut down storage space there would need to be a practical reason to change it.

A very nice sart there Paul. Is that the Tamiya Churchill, or one from another brand?

It's the recent release by AFV Club of the Churchill Mk III.

More progress .... The main build is just about done. Now I've started to paint it. First, after a coat of primer, a good coat of Lifecolor Medium Green.

This pullstogether the various parts from the base kit and resicast's conversion kit. The turret texture is really nice and shows much more clearly under a coat of paint.


I've made a start on some highlighting with a 50/50 mix of the green and Lifecolor Light Stone.This has made the base green a lot more subtle and less stark looking. It's concentrated along edges and high points and also in the centre of some panels. To make it more subtle i covered the whole model with a thinned mist of the same mixture.


The engine is just about done and i slipped it in for a couple of shots. It's not fixed yet and isn't quite in squre in these shots.

If you are wondering why i haven't fitted the handles on the rear hatches yet, that's because until i saw these pictures, I forgot to fit them...


That's it for now. Tracks need fitting next.

Hi Paul,

Nice work so far. I like the look of it and the engine makes a great addition. I have one or two ordered up for the same reason lol, lol.

I've been reading good things abut the Lifecolor paints.

Cheers

Al

That looks very good Paul.

Yeah they go on nicely and spray well, I've used them for both my AFV Club Churchills, the first time I've used them as base colours, and like them very much. I'm particularlly keen on their flat varnish, which gives a very flat finish with two thin coats and is good for giving a natural looking flat finish for fabrics like clothing and kit bags.

Paul

Thanks for the info Paul.

Al

Hi guys
Some progress on this one. Thanks go to Al McNeilly and Kevin Tucker for their help with WD numbers, names, and Turret numbers. For turret numbers i didn't have any decals that were exactly what i wanted (3D) so i found some which looked to be about right in size and cut them up. They started life as an 8 and a 0 but a bit of cutting and they were getting close to the 3D shape i was after.



A bit of hand painting and they looked about right. Other markings came from Accurate Armour ( AoS and 79th AD), Carpena (LOCH LOMOND) , Archer (WD) and DML (STAR). The name and WDs were applied one letter/number at a time and it seemed to take forever.



I've now started weathering. I can't seem to get the colour balance right on these pics. The greens are pretty much as the eye sees them but the "Dirt" is a bit orange in the first picture compared to naked eye.




hope to get the tracks on and a bit more work done soon.

Paul

Hi Paul,

Starting to come together really well. Like your colour and that nice mucky look, that looks great. Excellent stuff.

Al

Hey Paul,
So far, so good.
I like the mud and weathering on the track skid slides.
Looking forward to the finished product.
Cheers

jjumbo

That's gotta be one of the best Churchill models I've ever seen!

nice work