British Tanks? What British Tanks?

[Rubicon Models]

I agree that one or two British vehicles should be part of the range soon.  I'm assuming that you'll want to stick to the more common vehicles to start with, and you're probably going to focus on mid to late war.  That means a Sherman, Cromwell or Churchill.  It's a bit obvious, but my vote would be for an M4A4 with options parts to build a Firefly.

The M4A4 design would require us to start it as a completely new project, may be somewhere along the line, we will do one!

For British tanks, we would love to do the Churchill, but need a lot of planning ahead... this is due to the fact about it's size and features on the hull.  To make it multi-option and/or multi-variant, we will not be able to fit the tank onto 3 sprues.  Some British tanks are actually used throughout the war, mostly as close combat support; we might look into that direction when we pick our first British tank!

[Pinky]

The M4A4 design would require us to start it as a completely new project, may be somewhere along the line, we will do one!

Fair enough.  How about the M4 (either the initial version or the cast/rolled hybrid)?  Then you could use your existing Sherman chassis, tracks and running gear.  All you'd need to do is an M4 hull and the Firefly turret etc.

[Rubicon Models]

The M4A4 design would require us to start it as a completely new project, may be somewhere along the line, we will do one!

Fair enough.  How about the M4 (either the initial version or the cast/rolled hybrid)?  Then you could use your existing Sherman chassis, tracks and running gear.  All you'd need to do is an M4 hull and the Firefly turret etc.

We have plans for two more M4 variants on the line, should expect to see some drawings later!

[Laffe]

Seconded the M4A4 -- with bits for a Firefly it would be stupendous value for money, but even without it just doing an M4A4 that was common with the British forces would be splendid. The Firefly can be added later or as a separate kit, I think people would buy both anyway. (I would.)

[sam034]

On my personal wish list is the Comet and the Cromwell since I want to do a late war tank unit which looks British.

[trick34]

churchill tanks with open tracks......

[Dominic_payne]

Look ma I'm famous! 

As I stated in my facebook post, I would love a Valentine, however I do also agree on the Mk5 Sherman with the firefly option.

But regardless I think any British tank will be awesome.

Keep up the great work. 

[Hessian]

I would prefer a matilda. One of the greater tanks in the North-African Campaign.

greetings

[Patrick R]

For British tanks I think that both the Valentine (Bishop/Archer ?) and the Churchill series have the most potential.

[sandsmodels]

I think a Churchill would be the best option as italeri/warlord already make a Cromwell so making it a different vehicle would help all gb ww2 gamers and less duplication as well.

[bull-nut]

Comet was essentially a revised Cromwell, so it should be possible to dual purpose a Cromwell kit to make Comet as well. Some Cromwells did have the revised type D hull with the Comet style hatches and 15inch tracks, so that's not a problem. So you need an extra turret, extra gun, and separate upper track runs to include the comet return rollers. Given that Cromwell/Comet is quite a bit smaller than Sherman, I would imagine there would be room on the sprue.

From a commercial PoV, dual kitting would cut down on tooling, and widen the appeal of the kit.

Cromwell single kit = Uk 7th armoured, 1st polish, and armoured recce units of UK Armoured divisions
Comet = Guards armoured post Battle of the Bulge
Dual kit = All of the above

Edit: Actually, include the parts for the 95mm Howitzer as well, and you'll also get some of the Royal Marine players.

So that's two turrets, three guns, 1 mantlet and a pair of track runs. should fit fine I would think.
Of course ideally I'd like to see that most widely exported of british tanks, Centurion, but seeing as we are focusing on WW2 vehicles, I'll accept that I won't see one in any scale other than 1/35 for a long, long time.

[sandsmodels]

comet would be a good model but it is quite different than the cromwell in many respects so would be a new model I reckon given the room on the mould frames and price ect.

[bull-nut]

How different do you mean. It was a little wider than Cromwell, had a different turret, gun and front hull, and the tracks had return rollers. As far as I can tell from reading David Fletchers book on the two tanks, most of the other changes were internal to do with ammo stowage, transmission and so on. The suspension units, wheels, engines, etc were mostly interchangable between centaur, cromwell and comet.
Rubicon have already shown that they can fit two turrets and two track units into one model with the T34/76

[Laffe]

If the hull is bigger you need more than a spare turret though.

[ripley]

The Comet body is a foot longer than the Cromwell , and it has 18 inch wide track versus 14 on the Cromwell . The actual body width is the same , but more internal room in Comet due to torsion bar suspension . So not really a great 2 in 1 kit option .