Hello everyone,

Is there anyone out there that has built a 1/35th Valentine?

I think the kit makers are maquette, are these manufacturers upto the tamiya/dragon standard?

If not, does anyone else know of a good kit to build.

I'm going through the British armour stage of my modelling habit at the moment, after spending years on WWII german armour.

Can anyone recommend a good british tank kit such as the Covenenter (I may have to convert the Italeri Crusader for that one) or cruiser Mk III A13.

Also, I wonder if the Valentine kit is any good for kit bashing to make the A9 or A10 cruiser tanks?

Any help appreciaited.

CROMWELL

Dragon boxes the Maquette Valentine and Bishop (same kit, different turret). I had both of them, but traded the Bishop away. The Valentine looks like a decent kit to me, but I haven't tackled it yet. In 1/35 scale, all these kits are basically the same mold. Some have a "VM" logo on the front.

I have the DML Valentine. It was the first non Tamiya kit I'd ever tackled. I got to step two in the instructions and the parts didn't match what the diagrams showed. I had plenty other kits to make so I shelved it. Haven't started back up on it yet though I plan to. From looking over the kit in the box it seems to me the detail is a bit crude, about what Tamiya was doing in the 70s, and the instructions a bit vague. The first thing I looked at were the instructions for assembling the individual track links and I was underwhelmed. Instead of a step by step procedure, which I hoped I'd find, there was a pretty undetailed drawing and a notation on where to put the glue. That was about it.

I bought the kit on Ebay, and I think I paid about $12USD plus shipping. It's a British tank, so that's a plus, and for the money I paid not too bad, but I wouldn't give it more than a 6 or a 7 from what I've seen so far. Either Track Link or Missing Links has a full review on it.

All in all it's a good kit !
It's not as easy as some modern tamiya stuff... but the fit is not bad.

this is a Valentine XI Mk.III I have on my website
I don't know if this can help....hope yes
sorry but I don't know which brand is...


cheers

the tank is a Maquette...I just asked :-)

Thanks, Chaps for your replies.

I'm after the earlier versions for 1941-42 for the desert campaign.

The model looks cooool, by the way.

Does anyone know if the chassis/running gear is any good for an A9 or A10 cruiser conven as well?

Keep the replies coming and cheers once again

yes you could use valentine running gear for an A9 or A10 conversion its the same,
BTW that would be soooooooo cool!
are you gonna try it?

cheers

joe

The A9, A10, A13 & Covenanter are all available as resin kits from Cromwell, rather expensive though. As for converting the Italeri Crusader into a Covenanter, that would be a major undertaking. Apart from the wheels and turret there's not much else that could be used.

http://www.xs4all.nl/~cromwell/

ukgeoff
I know these resin kits are available, but are a bit on the pricey side. The last resin kit I done was the Accurate Armour Warrior, which cost a small fortune (on my wages). I was thinking of using the Italeri crusader to do the Covenanter.

Greatbrit
I know the wheels were pressed stell spoked on the A9/A10 and are flat bolted on the Valentine (From the pictures I have seen) I wonder if you can get the replacement wheels?
The only other problem I need to think about is the machine gun turrrets on the A9 and the main gun mantlet for both (I was thinking of scuplting them from milliput) is there detail sets or after market mantlets?

The bodies and turrets shouldn't present to much of a problem, also some 1/35th scale drawings wouldn't go amiss.

Venom
Again the Val looks TOP! But the turret is of later types. I would need the older type of turret for the version I want to do. Apart from the turret, is there any other changes to the body of the valentine I should know about between the earlier and later Vals, I think the Version I want ot model is the Mk III, the model you done is the Mk IX I think.

Hi Cromwell,

There was a series of articles in Airfix Magazine back in 1973 or '75 featuring scratchbuilt tanks including an A13 Cruiser MkIV (my current project), an A9 Cruiser Mk1, a Light Tank Mk VIA and a Matilda MkI, the articles include 1/35 plans.

The A9 project involved casting wheels and suspension components (a revolutionary idea back then?), but with the advent of the VM/Maquette/Dragon Valentine this is a whole lot easier. I'm taking a similar route with my cruiser MkIV, I intend to use an Italeri Crusader for its suspension, sprockets, idlers and tracks.

My first attempt at the hull was not bad but I decided I can do better and am just waiting to give it another go once we get Christmas out of the way. Most of the projects only rely on a good supply of plasticard and a whole load of patience.

I have copies of all the articles and will copy them if you wish.

I have a couple of the Maquette Valentines by the way, a little rough in places (lots of sink holes in awkward places) but not bad on the whole, just don't expect it to fall together (modelling skills will be needed;) )

Happy modelling :-)

The A13 hull is completely different than that of the A15. The best reference is the New Vanguard and there are a couple Ground Powers with excellent 1-35th scale plans for each vehicle.

The Valentine could do with some help, there is an article in Military Modelling about detailing this kit, there are also a couple articles around the web. A good reference is the Darlington booklet. Get the DML kit if you can since the plastic is of better quality.

I've got an ancient Scale Modeler magazine that has a small article on how to scratchbuild an A-13 Cruiser from some older kits. (To give you an idea of the magazine's age, there is a review of the new Aurora MBT-70 that cost a whopping $1.50).

I've got an ancient Airfix 1/32 scale Crusader III. They did some interesting kits back then that were really nice.

AntPhillips:

How are you doing the mantlet?



Is there after market sfuff available?

Keep all your thoughts coming.

A lot of your ideas have been great.

Cheers

Hi Cromwell,

Love that picture, if you don't mind I'll save that one to my hard drive for reference. I was going to try and recreate the complex shape of the mantlet from laminations of plasticard and maybe then cast a resin copy of it. The Airfix Mag articles somewhat avoid / oversimplify this part of the build.

I have bought a few of AA' s 2 pdr barrels, one for the A13 Cruiser, one for the Italeri Crusader and one for the Maquette Valentine.

Italeri are supposedly bringing out a limited release of the Crusader as a dedicated Mk 1, the picture on the website shows a desert capaign Crusader with the plated in wheels and early mantlet, if this incorporated into the kit when released, I will have to get at least a couple or six, one or two to build, one for parts for my Cruiser, at least two in the stash.

See the picture here :

http://www.italeri.com/articolo2.asp?ProCodice=6432&ProDescrizione=Crusader+Mk%2E+1

If Santa or the New Year sales brings me a digicam I'll post pictures of the build.

Happy modelling.
Ant

Ant:

I have sent you a message, check your letter icon by the time and date.

That picture can be found at http://www.wwiivehicles.com along with hundreds of others.

This site covers every country that took part in WWII and more than one shot of each vehicle
(ususally).

Hi Ant.
Azimut used the same moulds to make a Valentine 111 with 2pdr gun and early turret, so if you can find one of these or some kind soul that has a spare turret and extra fuel tanks you'll be ok. I've made both versions and there are spare wheels forlate and early pattern in the box ( at least there was with mine!). The only problem area is the glacis to lower hull joint, so tape the joint tightly overnight and you should be ok. I really hate individual link tracks, but these fit quite tightly when pressed together. Make them up in sets of 5-6 links, apply liquid glue and then join them into longer lengths.
If it helps I've put pics of both my tanks into a gallery called 'valentines' under my name.

https://armorama.kitmaker.net/photos/showgallery.php?cat=12260&ppuser=1920