Introduction

Resicast have just released an interesting addition to their conversion range for the Tamiya Universal Carrier. This time in the form of the Conger Mine Clearing Device.

Background:
The Conger was a British made flexible line charge mine clearing device. The first of its type, it was developed in the early months of 1944. The ‘trailer’ would be towed, normally by an AVRE of 79th Armoured Brigade to an appropriate firing point and a flexible 300 feet long 2inch diameter hose of the canvas fire fighting type would then be launched by means of a 5” rocket across the path of a mine field that need to be cleared. After the hose was deployed, the hose was filled with 2,500 pounds of a nitroglycerine based liquid explosive known as 822C. The trailer would then be withdrawn to a safe distance and the device detonated by means of a pull igniter by a crew man form an AVRE, at of course a suitable safe distance!

The device was only used once in battle as far as I know, during the Battle for Calais on 25th September 1944. It was then banned after a tragic accident in which two lorries were obliterated, 4 AVREs were destroyed and heavy casualties occurred during a filling operation whilst loading liquid nitroglycerine into several Conger’s.

That said if you are looking for an interesting attachment for your Churchill AVRE then this kit will certainly fit the bill.

The Kit

The kit comes packed in the standard Resicast professional looking, strong cardboard box. It consists of 12 small zip sealed bags of parts, the housing, several lengths of plastic rounds and a 20 page A5 booklet of instructions. All the parts come protected by further wrapping in bubble wrap – no rattles here.

The kit contains 76 resin parts and a listing of the parts is shown on the attached photographs. The parts are cast in a light grey resin and were free from any damage or cause for concern I could see. They are, as one would expect, beautiful in detail and sharpness.
The kit was Mastered by Graham Sellar.

Page 2 of the instructions shows a listing of the various numbered parts that make up the conversion and these related to the photo instructions given in the booklet. Page 15 to 19 show diagrams for assembly of the sub assemblies (piping and include both printed diagrams and actual photos of the real assembly.)

You will need a sharp Xacto blade and razor saw for this build, and remember normal precautions should be taken when working with resin.

Conclusion

The only thing I can see that is missing is a 5” rocket to fire the device, but this wouldn’t have been fitted when the Conger was being towed.

The overall quality is what you would expect from Resicast, fine sharp detail and casting and the instructions and diagrams should provide an accurate and fun build.

As a stand-alone item this is an interesting engineering device in its own right and also provides another grand alternative conversion for the old Tamiya Universal Carrier.

Attached to a Churchill AVRE or even a Sherman it should make a very pleasing addition to finishing off your vehicle with that something extra. For the more adventurous adding the 5” rocket and 300ft of canvas hose to show it deployed and ready for firing would add another dimension.

I have included some images of the built carrier, courtesy of Resicast, at the bottom on the review.