Ugly & reliable
The Churchill certainly isn't going to win any beauty pageants.. And is been said that it got some laughs from the Americans and even the Germans at Dieppe snickered at its appearance and fairly weak gun.. it was till later Mk.'s things started to improve..
It was clear after the battle of France in 1940 that the Matilda, although proven, couldn't be upgraded with a bigger gun due to its small turret and its off-road speed was less that satisfactory.. So in November of 1940 and new design prototype was introduced and the first batch of mass production Churchill's seen service in June the following year.. Given the name Churchill after Winston Churchill what was First Lord of The Admiralty at the time for his contribution Of the tank as a weapon..
At the time, the British had three classifications of tanks and their roles in combat... light tanks, cruisers & infantry tanks.. The Churchill is a Infantry Tank, designed to help Infantry exploit heavily defended areas.
I had shopped around for a while for a Churchill kit for months, never really liking any of them until I came across this AFV Club offering of the 1/35 scale Mk. VI . I have to say it's fairly detailed and quite accurate far as I can tell.. The 11 bogie suspension system on each side makes for some tedious work on the undercarriage, but is workable with real springs.. I recommend taking your time here and being careful about glue placement so your suspension will indeed be workable.. Should be great for those modelers who build dioramas and could pose the suspension over obstacles it may be rolling over..
Kit goes together pretty great actually, yet there are some very small parts and care is needed when handling, placing and gluing them.. I don't think this kit would be for a beginner, only intermediate to experienced modelers as the instructions are clear, just a bit advanced..
Nice photo etch details along with a turned aluminum barrel, decals are fantastic, not a real fan rubber band style tracks and think AFV Club should catch up with Meng and Takom when it comes to track options, but they can still look the part..
Paint is of course as always mixed shades of green that's pleasing to my eye. I rarely use call out specific colors because, well, paint gets worn and faded and lightens on Military vehicles.. Washes are Tamiya enamels and weathering is done with artists oils and Tamiya weathering master sets.
Really enjoyed this build as this was my very first British armor kit.. Highly recommend for the moderate to experienced modelers.. Cheers and I hope you like it!
I think the first time I ever saw a Churchill tank, it was a diecast model (Corgi? Dinky Toy?) when I was a kid, and it looked soooo strange. I had to have it, and got it as a Christmas present that year. I've always had a soft spot for this ugly beast.
Yours looks great! Superb, realistic detail and lots of hard work very apparent in a great result.
Thanks for the kind words!
The design of the Churchill tank is immediately recognisable, it’s ugly heavy and typically British. Just the other day I revisited a post here where an issued manual to German tank crews had a “gamification” of how to kill a Churchill tank, so I guess this tank was feared by the foe.
Superb model if I may say so, even if I’m more of a propellor modeller, can’t avoid liking it. Thanks for posting Justin!
Thanks for looking, and for the kind words.!
Thanks for sharing these pictures, inspiring work!
Too kind! Thank you
Another great armor build! I agree with you on the painting.
Yes I think the correct color crowd would have panic attacks if they seen all my builds! Lol Thanks for the kind words.. ?
IPMS Switzerland was never allowed to post Kolourpolizei in all the factories on both sides during the war to be certain they only used "proper" colors. 🙂
Built an Aifix Churchhill when I was a kid. Trying to line up all the little wheels put me off tanks for life. I take my hat off to you for this superb build.
Thanks.. Maybe one day you can try another tank, one with minimum amount of wheels? Lol , Thanks for the compliment..
Great looking Churchill!
I just had a battlefield tour the other day on the Dutch-Belgian border (because of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the south-west of Holland) and apparently both regular Churchills and the flamethrower Crocodile version were used around the area. So ugly as they might have been, but they did their job quite well.
I'm now looking for a Dragon 1:72 kit of the beast to build one myself 🙂
Peter
That must be something to see! Thanks for the kind words.. have fun with that old airfix classic
Looks fantastic - well done!
Cheers!