Alan McNeilly provides an In-Box review of the Churchill Interior Set from Inside the Armour, a brand new company making their debut with this multimedia set for the AFV Club Churchill Mk III.

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If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!

A good review as always Alan. I do have a question though, why buy an interior that costs more than the base kit that is never going to be seen due to the limited viewing areas in most AFVs? I understand people going overboard on AFVs with open fighting compartments such as most SPGs, but the Churchhill has 3 openings through which only some if any of your hard work can be seen.

Hi Darren,

That's a fair point, and one that comes down to individual choice I suppose. You could say whay build a model at all. However, I'd say build one and see. My most pleasurable builds have been those where I add an interior, the M3 Grant springs to mind as do the Centaur Dozer and Cromwell ARV Mk I.

Remember the Churchill has two large side hatched as well as those on top so yes you won't see it all, but you will know it's there, and those can all be left open for effect.

Just a personal thing in the end, but if you were expert enough you could do a cut away which woud be neat.

Al

Ok Alan I understand your reasoning there, I just wanted to understand what you get from all that added work and expense. I have the Academy late or mid Tiger 1 with full interior. I know it is not accurate but I plan on building it with the hull top removed or cutaway reveiling whats there, it is not of the same quality as what you have here but I really wanted to know your reasoning.

Hi Darren,

There is an argument as to why buy AM at all I suppose, just build OOB and use platic card, but where would that lead us .

My understanding is that the Turret conversion parts will be available separately at some point for those who don't want the Full Monty.

The other thing I find is that the more complete the model the better your understanding of how the real thing actually worked becomes as it requires that extra bit of research.

Enjoy the Tiger.

Al

I've been looking forward to this one! Great review Alan, enjoyed reading it

I dunno, I always thought the British WW2 tanks were often the best candidates for interiors, what with pivoting hull hatches and the like. For the Churchill, you have sponson hatches, the hull top hatches, the big swing-out port for the driver, etc. Open those up and you can probably see an awful lot!

Matt

Hi Matan.

Thanks, should be fun.

Hi Matt,

Lots of interesting developments coming along on the British front.

Al

The more i think about it, the more i want to buy this set, but 60GBP is a bit high. Anyway, Ill follow your build before i decide

Hi Matan,

Yes, cost seems a bit high, but this is their first kit, so I assume there will be set up costs and associated expense just getting things up and running.

Also to a degree, this will have a limited market, so price would be set on a given number of sales to at least break even and if sales exceed that then make a small profit.

The price of resin kits seems to have gone up a bit this last year or so, but none of them come cheap, unfortunately.

I passed on a number of the Plus Models British Trucks for that reason.

Al

Review Update

As a result of customer feedback and the build blog on site here:

https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/154977&page=1

Chris at Inside the Armour has re-designed some of the parts contained in the set. These new parts will be contained in all kits sold from next month. My understanding is that for customers who have already purchased the kit due to the cost involved Inside the Armour will not be able to issue these for free but will be able to offer them at cost. For more details please contact the company directly. If I get a listing of the updated parts I will add it in.

This is a very positive step and a big commitment from a new manufacturer to listen to the feedback and take the time and effort to make some fixes where necessary.

Personally I'd like to see Chris offer the fuel tanks and transmission for the kit but realise that these might have limited apeal.

Thanks

Al

Wow, 6 years since the last post. I sure thought that the Churchills would have had a lot more attention that they have gotten, they are awesome tanks that could do at least on thing most tanks couldn't, that is, climb a very steep hill and fight while doing it. Plus, they were more survivable than the Shermans, the 6 pound ammo was updated to a discarding sabot and could do decent damage to a Tiger if they could get up close. But that's not a problem in France and Italy like it was in the east.

Despite promises from two different aftermarket makers who have been around a long time longer than Inside the Armor was, there is no new aftermarket interior stuff. Maybe I am the only person in the world that wants to see this. I have a stock of almost every different Churchill offered but the aftermarket kits never came out, so looks like I'll try to build one based on drawings and one lone After the Market Churchill III rebuild (I forget what they called the IIIs which were upgraded with thicker armor and other improvements.). So. Here I go.

Well, here's a bump from 2018... I can't find this set anywhere.