Hello. I'm building a churchill Mk V, and I wanted to know if I should texture and hull and turret like an american tank? ie:sherman.

I believe that the Churchill hull was made of plates of rolled armour plate and therefore doesn`t need any texture adding to it.
Some of the later turrets that were cast may benefit from this treatment but not the hull.
As the MK V turret was cast some texture may be ok but not too heavy.


Malcolm

Malcom has the texture for the Churchill correct, just the turret of the Mk V. The Mk IIIs and Mk VIIs, fabricated from welded rolled steel would _not_ have texture.

Also, not all Shermans would be textured all over. All of the turrets were cast, so go ahead and texture them, but only the M4A1 had a cast hull. All other hulls were fabricated from rolled plate plus a selection of castings. You need to look at photos of the vehicle you are modelling (or at least tanks from the same factory & batch) to establish which parts are castings and which are pure rolled plate. It varied by factory, tank version and when in the production history the tank was produced.

Generally American castings had relatively fine cast texture, so don't overdo it but the grinding & flame cutting marks where the pour stubs were removed could be prominant from some foundaries. Again, photos are your friend!

HTH

Paul

Thanx Paul.
Cheers,Ken

The Mk IIIs and Mk VIIs, fabricated from welded rolled steel would _not_ have texture.



Paul[/quote]


The MKV11 turrets were of cast construction onto which the roof plate was welded.
The casting was very good but there was still texture to be seen


Malcolm

Oops, cripes, you're absolutely right. My bad.

Having studied quite a few churchills at close quarters including a I, a II, IVs, a VI, several VIIs and Crocodiles and a 3in Gun Carrier and ARV I can confirm that there is a texture to the rolled plate armour, its just not the same texture as a cast part.

Personally I do texture mine, but its a LOT more subtle than the texture I would add to the cast parts. I texture it though because the AFV Club Hull is glass-smooth, which is not in my opinion correct

I agree that the thick rolled plate does have marks from, well, the rolling. But I find that for 1/35 pieces it's seldom worth the effort as the matt paint plus the weathering pretty much always coversup such subtle levels of detail. However, if I were doing one parade ground fresh, it might be worth my while.

It's defninitely a personal taste thing.

If you do texture the plate sections, though, you really need to ensure that it is obvious that one is plate and the other cast. Over-do the texture on the plate portions and it can throw off the effect on the rest of the kit.

Like everything else in this hobby, the secret is a good technique and lots of practice.

Paul