Hi ,

first post at Armorama.
I have recently purchased the old Tamiya Matilda Mk.II and would like to build it as one of the Matildas that took part in the fighting in France in 1940. Can anyone help me with what sort of changes need to be made to backdate it to this early version?
Also, does anyone know of any websites dedicated to early war British Armour? It is a subject I would like to find out more about.

Any help would be most appreciated.

Cheers,
TimTam27

Welcome!




There was an article in Military Modelling several years ago by Steve Zaloga where he backdated that kit to a BEF version. To start there are a LOT of shape flaws in that kit and the Osprey book on MOdelling the Matilda by Mark Bannerman shows how to deal with them if you are of a mind for some surgery onthe kit. Otherwise the most visible differenc appears to be the replacement of the co-ax BESA with a Vickers MMG in an armoured cover. There may be other differences, though.

HTH

Paul

Hi TimTam27,

EDIT here's the site I sought: http://www.mafva.org.uk/Resources.asp


There are folks on site more knowledgeable than I on the subject, but to start out with, the Matildas were painted dark and light green. In a recent issue of WWII or WWII HIstory is an article about the RTR attack against Rommel at Arras. There were a couple of good photos of Matildas, one begin a pair smoldering in heavy brush; IIRC they had a darker second color area with scalloped edges, much like seen on the gun trucks in North Africa.

A pretty useful site is Military Miniatures
Magazine for Collectors of Figures and Vehicles in 1:72 Scale Look down to section 5 where you can find British Standard Colour Table

Hi Tim,

And WELCOME!

I'm working on the same project.
You can use the Tamiya kit and use the early MG that is supplied in the kit (MKI ?? The one with the round cover over it).

Indeed, the mentioned Steve Zagola's project was a beauty, but I can't find it at this moment anymore...

But on this site you can find some colourscheme's and marking examples of 1939 / 1940 Mathilda's II of the BEF:
http://www.armouredacorn.com/Reference/CVM/Not3.htm All PDF files.

The best source for modelling the Matilda is the Osprey guide:


Btw: ever looked at the Malta scene Mathilda??

Did find it... It's Zaloga, not Zagola
My mistake...

You can find it on:
http://www.missing-lynx.com/gallery/britain/szmat.htm

For a detailed contruction article they advise you to see military Modelling Magazine volume 30 issue #11

Picture taken from Missing Links for forum use / reference only:

Hi Guys.

Thanks for the friendly welcome. A friend recommended the site and I am glad I visited. A very good site.
Thanks also for all the info, book and article recommendations, links and the photo. One little point on the link to the Zaloga pics at the missing-lynx gallery. It needs to have a hyphen inserted between the "missing" and the "lynx". Otherwise you get directed to one of those hijack type sites. When you do get to the Zaloga article the pics are fantastic and extremely useful.

Trawling through the net over the last couple of days I have found out a few things that needed to be done to backdate the Tamiya kit to the early Matilda II and Steve Zaloga's model seems to back these up. Exhaust on left side only, changes to turret roof, sighting vane, new loaders hatch. I also seem to remember that for the early Matilda II the suspension height needs to be raised. It looks like Steve Zaloga's model has had this done too. I will have to dry fit the suspension and compare it to the pics of Steve's model.

I have heard about some size and shape problems with the Tamiya kit but the only one that really grates on me is the wide drivers glacis plate. It looks like this is fixable without a ridiculous amount of work and I plan on tackling this one.

Thanks again guys.

Cheers,
TimTam27

PS: Hi Paul. I have seen the Malta Matilda. Very impressive and different camo scheme. Would be rather difficult to paint I would think.

Hi There

I've just noticed your post. The raised suspension was a field mod in France only. It put a lot of extra strain on the suspension which then broke.

The other good reference is Osprey New Vanguard 8 by David Fletcher.

HTH
Nick

Thanks Nick.

Interesting to hear that the raised suspension was a field mod. I had just assumed that it was how the very early Matilda IIs came out of the factory.
A friend told me that it wasn't seen on all Matilda IIs in France and that I will have to be careful to choose markings that match the tanks that were modded.
The same guy can also provide me with almost all of the references that have been suggested. I didn't know it but he is quite a fan of the Matilda and has lots of reference material.

Cheers,
TimTam27