new w*****d churchill

[sandsmodels]

i have just got my new plastic churchill from w*****d yesterday, nice model but sadly they have not done the avre justice by not making it a proper avre for nwe, no side fittings and worse no sliding petard loaders hatch.
it is ok for the few that were in italy, but an oportunity missed imho.
i do hope when you chaps make yours, if you do an avre, do it properly and not cheat.
now on to making the various conversion kits we have planned

[Pinky]

I got one of these kits as well.  I thought it was pretty good in terms of detail and options (including a commander), but I agree that they skimped on the AVRE version.  Nice to see the NA version included though. 

I found it doesn't have got together with the same precision as Rubicon's latest kits do.  I still prefer Rubicon's one-piece track/running gear, despite the loss of detail on the tracks.

[ripley]

I noticed that omission  on the Beasts of War unboxing .  I guess they figure most gamers won't notice .   Would it be possible to remove the upper track guards to make a Dieppe version ? Or is that going to be a real pain to accomplish . They haven't made the shops out here in western Canada yet , and I like to see inside the box before purchasing

[Pinky]

Would it be possible to remove the upper track guards to make a Dieppe version ? Or is that going to be a real pain to accomplish . They haven't made the shops out here in western Canada yet , and I like to see inside the box before purchasing

I think it's possible to remove the upper track guards.  I bought mine  through Warlord's mail order.

[ripley]

I wish Warlord would post the kit sprues as well as the plans of their tanks like Rubicon do . Its a lot easier to judge the potential problems and omissions of a kit as well as kit bash options   .  I wouldn't have picked up any BA T-34s I've I'd seen that  they screwed up the upper engine deck by making the hatch and engine vents too short .  Its major surgery to fix    .

[Pinky]

If you'd known that, you wouldn't have bought the kits...there is an advantage to not giving us as much information.  It's like pre-internet times, when every kit was largely unknown till you opened it.

[ultravanillasmurf]

Would it be possible to remove the upper track guards to make a Dieppe version ? Or is that going to be a real pain to accomplish . They haven't made the shops out here in western Canada yet , and I like to see inside the box before purchasing

I think it's possible to remove the upper track guards.  I bought mine  through Warlord's mail order

How similar is it to the PSC one?

I trimmed the mudguards on my AVRE, and added a poor representation of the additional bits for the specialised kit.

http://ultravanillasmurf.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/churchill-avre-15mm-psc.html

Probably a market for some resin bits in 1/56.

There is a picture of a tipped over AVRE in the book British Tanks In Normandy (page 26) - though I had not noticed the loader's hatch when I was working on the above.
(Edit - I think I have put the quote back together properly).

.

[ripley]

Looks good smurf . Not 100% , but close enough for those who know  what you are attempting to portray .  Lots of good pictures of the real deal in the Ampersand Churchill books . Hopefully someone like Comp. B or S&S Models with do the bits in resin . I figure I could make one set out of plastic , but if I try to do a troop of vehicles , the parts never seem to match  .  Pinky , in pre internet times , I'm talking the 70s here  , new kits were announced and shown  in Model mags the month before they hit the store shelves . None of this cad teaser , a year or two before the kit is even molded in plastic . Lots of 1/35 scale companies are notorious for this ( Dragon ) , usually as a spoiler for another companies kit . I think Rubicon has a good cad preview / test plastic sprues to released kit  time line . Plus they like to hear feedback on their proposed releases

[Pinky]

Pinky , in pre internet times , I'm talking the 70s here  , new kits were announced and shown  in Model mags the month before they hit the store shelves . None of this cad teaser , a year or two before the kit is even molded in plastic . Lots of 1/35 scale companies are notorious for this ( Dragon ) , usually as a spoiler for another companies kit . I think Rubicon has a good cad preview / test plastic sprues to released kit  time line . Plus they like to hear feedback on their proposed releases

That's the time I meant too.  All you got was an image in a catalogue.  It was fun though - buying something sight unseen. 

[Pinky]

UVS - wow, you even sculpt storage in 15mm!

I think the Warlord Churchill is different to the PSC one; I don't think it's an upscale 15mm kit, as it doesn't have the heavy detail of (say) the M4A4.

[sandsmodels]

the way it goes together is not like the psc one the entire upper hull and track covers are in one piece making removing them much harder.
you can however not use all of the upper run of track and if you cut it short so it just gets under the mudguard you have 2 good lengths of track for up armouring!
s&s are working on the sbg bridge, avre side fittings, a fascine & cradle and the mk1 arv conversions to fit this kit.
the petard loaders hatch is not and easy fix though.

[elias.tibbs]

It's an italieri one, not up scaled PSC

[ultravanillasmurf]

the way it goes together is not like the psc one the entire upper hull and track covers are in one piece making removing them much harder.
you can however not use all of the upper run of track and if you cut it short so it just gets under the mudguard you have 2 good lengths of track for up armouring!
s&s are working on the sbg bridge, avre side fittings, a fascine & cradle and the mk1 arv conversions to fit this kit.
the petard loaders hatch is not and easy fix though.

If anyone is interested, there is a picture of the sprues here: http://ultravanillasmurf.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/warlord-gamesitaleri-156-scale.html

[Pinky]

I messed up the tracks when I built my Churchill.  I may have misread the instructions, but they just didn't sit straight.  The new Warlord/Italeri M3 was similar (but better) - you have to be very careful aligning the track pieces.  I also needed to use greenstuff to fill some obvious gaps in the middle of the track pads.  I much prefer Rubicon's track design.

I see Warlord/Italeri are releasing a Hellcat next.  It's great that Rubicon and Warlord aren't duplicating any more.

[ultravanillasmurf]

At the weekend I started putting this together..

Bracing pieces on the top of the track units would be nice (also support of the upper track run).

MkIII 75mm and mkIV CS, the former from the chapter picture of the 31st Armoured Brigade in British tanks in Normandy, the latter just because (might use the Allied Stowage box).

This has moved up the list because I want to spray paint a West Wind  British Steel suit to compare with a Galahad.

Still wishing Rubicon did a late model Churchill kit with Crocodile option...

(I mention to Empress about CVRT models a lot as well).