El Alamein Sherman

Posted on March 25, 2012 by miniarmour

After some time I had also laid my hands on the El Alamein Sherman that is sitting on my desk in the final phases of the construction.

One of the last major steps that were in front of me was addition of tools. For this I planned to use Formation set of Sherman tools which I got from my friend Dave Brown loooong time ago. This set contains all the tools that can be found on Sherman tank. It is very finely cast in beige resin. Removal of the tools is rather straightforward – razor saw and then some trimming with X-acto knife. The look of the tools is great, it might not be as perfect as when using the photoetch tie-downs and straps, but given that I had all the tools attached on the model in something over one hour, the benefit is clear.

The resin tie-down straps were little too long, so I had to cut some of those mounted on the right side of the Sherman, as there are four tools and space is at premium.

Given the changes Formations brand has gone through recently I don’t know how easy (or difficult) it is to get this set, but if you have chance, take it. It’s worth its price.

Dorchester – Build continues

Posted on March 22, 2012 by miniarmour

I have been also looking at the Dorchester sitting on my desk over the past days.

One thing that I have decided is that I will not paint it in the camouflage from the North Africa as I originally intended, but rather in the colours of the Independent Czechoslovak Armoured Brigade. The reason is simple – as much as I don’t like to admit it, I am bit disappointed with the kit. There are definitely very good parts of it (nice surface details on the walls, very well done photoetch parts by Hauler, very nicely done instruction sheet, very nice resin parts), overall I think I expected more from this kit. Especially given the price.

Since I definitely want to build the African version, I will wait for the AFV kit with that one.

So, having thus changed plans, I have studied what changes on the construction and there is a quite a bit of difference. First of all, very prominent “nose” was added to the front of the vehicle. Not sure what this was for…? This has to be built from the photoetch parts. I decided to use soldiering as a method of attaching the two parts comprising this nose. As much as I had fear of soldering some year ago, I find it actually extremely simple and dare to say even faster than trying to fiddle with super glue.

I also added a door step to the back of the vehicle. More photoetch parts to come… (there is quite a bit of them).

ACV Dorchester

Posted on February 10, 2012 by miniarmour

I have started to build the Dorchester from SKP, here are few photos after spending few hours with the kit. It’s by far not finished, basically I have put together the main body, undercarriage and temporary mounted wheels. At this time I haven’t spent much time with the details, just the hinges on the roof hatches.

Unfortunately I don’t think I will be able to spend much more time on it now, I have some other project with a deadline…

One Dorchester, Two Dorchesters,…

Posted on January 10, 2012 by miniarmour

It was just few days ago, that SKP have announced release of AEC Dorchester on January 25. Since one Dorchester is apparently not enough, AFV Club has today announced that its version of the same vehicle will be released in June this year.

This might be good news for modellers, and not so good news for SKP models. I quite understand AFV Club, they had to release this if they still want to have some guys buying their kit in June. So if you are willing to wait and believe AFV club’s kit will really come out in June… the choice will be yours.

ACV Dorchester by SKP Models – New kit

Posted on January 3, 2012 by miniarmour

Now here comes a model, that will make many fans of British armoured vehicles happy. SKP model from Czech Republic just announced release of ACV Dorchester plastic kit in 1/35 scale.

I might be mistaken, but I believe this is the first time this vehicle is being released in 1/35 plastic model kit. Based on the pictures released by the SKP model, marking for 4 vehicles are to be provided, including what I believe will be the most popular - vehicle of 2nd Armoured Division in Libya 1941 sporting Caunter camouflage scheme.

Sales are supposed to start on January 25 this year. I have already tried to place a preorder, so hopefully one will be coming soon my way.

SKP website, where you can order the kit is here.

UPDATE as of February 6, 2012: I have posted first impressions from this kit – you can find it here.

UPDATE as of February 12, 2012 – See my first impressions of this kit here and build pictures here.

Churchill AVRE Mk.III

Posted on November 25, 2011 by miniarmour

This is Churchill AVRE Mk.III by AFV of course. I have built it also some year ago.

The kit was bit of a mixed bag. Some parts were very well done and overall model has very nice details. I liked the running gear, which is very detailed and realistic. The kit is bit overcomplicated in my opinion and needs a lot of dry fitting during the construction. This is sometimes extremely difficult due to the high number of parts into which it is broken down. Example: Upper track guards are made of three parts. These need to be aligned perfectly with the main hull body, both in front and at the back, even small misalignment may cause noticeable gaps at one end. But dry fitting 4 parts at the same time is not that easy unless you have an extra pair of hands.

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Humber Scout Car Mk.I

Posted on November 24, 2011 by miniarmour

Humber was my first Bronco model which I have built about 3 years ago. It was one of the Bronco’s early releases if I remember correctly. Sitting on a shelf for quite some time the model has already suffered some minor damage (broken rear view mirror).

It was rather easy build with nice detailed interior out of which very little can be seen. Model was built completely out of the box. Vehicle is painted in the light mud with blue-black camouflage, though looking at it know I think the light mud is bit too dark and greenish.

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