Not the best looking tank in the world…

After a few months without touching models, I decided to restart.

Instead of finalizing the models I have almost ready (and this seems to happen to all of us) I wanted to do something from scratch. I opened the box of a Dingo Mk IB from Miniart only to discover that some sprues were switched at the factory for some of the Mk III version. Miniart is going to send the correct sprues (I do have to say that their service is superb) so I had to pick another kit fro the stash.

The Churchill seemed the right choice. I had all the accessories (tracks, rivets, mg's) and it looks like it's a straight forward build. 

The kit

AFV Club impresses me again. The plastic of excellent quality with very fine engraved detail alone, puts this kit high up with the best. But the quality of assembly is in my view second to none. AFV Club seems to have mastered the art of making multi part assemblies fit together like if they were just one.

The two suspension assemblies are very complicated pieces but everything seems to magically fall into place with no problems whatsoever.

I would like to see the individual link tracks included on the kit, but I can understand that these may only be required by people like me that want the tracks look exactly how they should. However, the vinyl tracks included are some of the best examples I've seen.

The instructions are very complete and clear in spite of the complicated suspension assemblies. In fact these are so complex that the rest of the model seems really simple to do. The sensation I have after building the two sides, is that the rest of the kit will only take a couple of hours to finish.

Even on those complicated steps the instructions make them look simple. Very clear drawings and adequately placed part numbers help a lot in doing these assemblies correctly.

There was a wrong pat number in one of the suspension drawings, but upon parts inspection prior to assembly, the error was not a very big issue. Anyway, take care on step 3.

I love this kit and I will buy more AFV Club for sure.

AM Parts

The Ultracast petrol cans are beautiful and totally made in resin. The handles are perfectly cast and there is just a little flash below the handles. Easily removed with an Xacto. I looked at them for a while wondering how they cast a piece like that without flaws. Awesome.

The RB BESA MG's are probably the most delicate little things I've seen in terms of brass barrels. They are a two part barrel and they add a lot of quality to the final product. Considering the price and quality I would recommend them to anyone doing a Allied vehicle that needs them.

And finally the tracks. What can I say? They are from AFV Club and they are absolutely on par with the likes of Friul and MK, if not better. The only situations where I prefer Friul is where the sag is something to consider. In this tank there's no such need so I bought the AFV ones. They are considerably cheaper.

Building

The build starts with the sponsons and suspension. And what a suspension that is. First the are the shocks and their springs and after that the structure that holds everything in place followed by the wheels. Each side takes a couple of hours to assemble and it's something that needs attention.

The quality of AFV Club is very clear here. Amazing how they can build a kit with so many parts that has a near perfect fit. Looking at these complex assemblies it's very difficult to understand where the separate pieces are.

Each side of the tank has 7 big conical rivets that are included on the kit in their plastic version. AFV Club also makes brass AM rivets that I used on this build. First the holes have to be drilled (1.5mm bit) and the rivets glued in place with a small drop of ciano on the inside.

The tracks

Next I started to build the AFV Club (Kit No. AF 35156) tracks. They are really good and have a very smart assembly method. I would recommend anyone building this kit to go for the AM tracks if the decision is to leave a lot of them visible as I am going to do.

They assemble very well and each run didn't take too much time to complete. Preparing each link is just a matter of sanding an attachment point and it's really easy to do.

As always each run was either too tight or too loose. Even with one more link than the vinyl ones the fit was not that easy to do. Especially because I want to paint them off the tank. It will be a bit tricky to do because the sprocket is enclosed behind armor. For being able to do what I plan I will need to glue that rear plate that protects the sprocket after the tracks are in place with all the model painted ready for weathering.

The only problem I see here is the fact that the tracks need to be in place when the painting of the hull is done. I really don't like to paint tracks in place.

The hull

Again, AFV Club is remarkable in designing their kits. The hull consists of several parts that go between the two suspension sides. A lower plate, a rear plate and the top plates (3).

The lower plate has to be very well aligned from the beginning and mine was a little warped. I had to resort to ciano glue to hold it in place. But when I started to glue the rear and top plates I was amazed with the almost nonexistent gaps on the model.

Like the Stuart, they manage to assemble many pieces together without causing the dreaded gaps. I really like the no nonsense approach that this brand has to designing kits.

The turret

I'm loving this kit. It's incredibly simple to put together (with the exception of the complicated suspension).

The turret consists of very few parts. The main structure (not counting hatches, antennas and pieces like that) is just a dozen of parts. And they all fit like a charm. The rear plate has an odd shape but it all comes clear when placed in the correct position. Assembling the turret took me less than an hour to do.

Painting

Vallejo colors with some modulation effect

Colors, colors colors… This is the point when all the efforts can be reduced to garbage. Hopefully not, because it's at this phase when I usually do everything wrong.

This time I wanted to make sure everything was ok to proceed with the painting process.

Because of my decision to prepare the tracks off the model and then installing them I had to paint the sides of the tank, suspension, wheels and the bottom of the tank with the tracks uninstalled.

The colors are from Vallejo and they are a mix of 893 and 894 in equal proportions. I tried several mixes but they were either too dull or too bright. This mix gives the balance I was looking for. I sprayed some panels with a few drops of 986 (Deck Tan) to highlight some panel centers or areas where the light would make the color seem lighter. The color balance for these highlight areas is 50% 986 (Deck Tan) + 25% 893 + 25% 894.

Because all these colors are matte, the final effect can only be seen in full when a satin or gloss coat is applied but an can see that I have a nice base for filters and washes that tend to darken the model a little bit.

I'm not going into "full" modulation this time but I'll use the technique in small doses. A plain color model is something to be approached with care. It can either be an excellent model or just a miserable attempt. Although I see a lot of superb CM examples, when they are presented without filters and weathering I always think that the result is going to be very weird. I guess I still lack that confidence that allows certain modelers to know it's going to look "just right".

The tracks were given a coat of black with a few drops of metal and several washes of dust color and several tones of rust from the Lifecolor range.. They'll receive the final treatment with pigments but that's only when the vehicle reaches the weathering phase.

Hull and Turret

The modulation effect is very visible on this shot

The effect of modulation was deliberately softer on this model than on previous examples. I just applied some lighter green on the horizontal surfaces and a little on the sides to give the impression that the color darkens towards the lower parts of the vehicle.

I didn't want to have a very dark base color because of all the filters, washes and pigments that usually make the vehicle darker, but a single color model can be very monotonous and I wanted to avoid that badly.

The trick of changing the colors a little bit from horizontal surfaces to the vertical ones helps break that monotony and gives the impression that light is coming from above or better yet, that the parts of the vehicle that are more exposed to the sun have become lighter. And that's exactly what happens in real life. Or so they say. They? Who? Well, they, the guys that know "stuff" and that know more "stuff" than me LOL.

A "sponge bath"

During my modeling life I tried many techniques with various degrees of success. What determines the choice of one or the other is something I can't really point exactly.

For chipping and scratches I'm using the sponge technique. I made some wear with dark grey and after that a very dark brown to simulate some spots with oxidation.

This adds some character to a flawless green paint. Some may disagree that a tank has that kind of wear, but imagine soldiers climbing to a tank, riding it, things bumping into the paint and you know it's virtually impossible for the paint to be just dirty. Some spots and scratches have to exist. They exist in our cars and we don't treat them with the same level of abuse a tank got treated.

The wear was done in areas where it could happen. Places that get hit by rocks and sand dragged by the tracks, places where the crew walks or climbs to the tank and places where there is real possibility of scratches and paint wear.

This is the minimal I think is logical to have. The rest is now up to the pigments and the occasional touch with oils or washes to give it that final look.

Pigments, pin wash and all the tricks I could think of

In this step I used pretty much all the pigment earth colors I had on my drawer. From the sandy dust to the Russian earth I put them all and blend them with white spirit. On the lower parts of the suspension I added some pigment without blending it and just fixed it with MIG pigment fixer.

A few more chips and bare metal touches (very light) in places where the typical wear could happen.

Some MIG Oil and Grease Effects were used on the petrol/oil cans on the engine deck and on the places of the suspension where some lubrication could occur and spill to adjacent areas. The oil effect on dusty surfaces is very characteristic but not very easy to master. I hope I nailed it

Final Veredict

Price
Accuracy/Detail
Build
Extras
Instructions

AFV Club has become one of my favorite brands. Not only their price is adequate and very far from the insane values that Dragon or Tamiya are charging for their kits, but the quality leaves nothing to desire in absolute terms. It's not just a matter of price /quality ratio – These kits are good, period.

The instructions are clear (after reading the instructions on a Dragon kit with multiple variants you'll know what I mean) the parts are perfectly molded and the fit is superb. Although AFV is not into the sliding mold "thingy" the multiple parts assemble so well that is seems almost impossible. I have yet to use filler on one AFV Club model. There's no need, as simple as that.

Using Tamiya Thin Glue helps a lot in having good builds. There are no glue blobs anywhere and the bond is as strong as can be.

AFV included a lot of neat stuff in the kit. The Alu barrel, PE fret being the most notable. Of course like a good AM freak I bought a few goodies for it. The tracks (also from AFV and excellent), a pair of precious BESA MG's from RB Models and the petrol cans from Ultracast. All of these parts are not absolutely necessary but add some quality to the final product. And after all I usually do the very same thing in much more expensive kits, so the final cost is still below a pimped Dragon kit.

Pictures

No related posts.