Tamiya Churchill Mk VII Crocodile

[RangerNeil]

So in a bit of a hiatus right now
* Rotodyne STILL being rubbed down.
* Mil needing more rubbing down.
* Jagd Tiger waiting for Friuhl tracks.
* Sturm Tiger wwaiting for decals AND Friuhl tracksl.

So in order to retain what little sanity remains another project is started - this time the other side of the firing line. We have Tamiya's offering of the Mk VII Churchill that can be built either as a vanilla Mk VIII with Besa m/g in the hull mount or as the Crocodile flamethrower with the Ronsom flame thrower in the hull mount and the fuel trailer. I am going for the Crocodile version as these have always intrigued me.

The instructions
For the Churchill














For the fuel trailer




The Sprues
Sprue A


Sprue B


Sprue C


Sprue D


Sprue E


Hulls




Tracks (these will not be used)


Decals


The Build
After 4 Tigers the first thing that strikes one is how small the Churchill is in comparison to the Tigers. Which, having stood beside Churchills undergoing restoration, is something of an eye opener!!
The next oddity is the markings inside the lower hull:


I opted for a two pronged attack - one being the tank and the other the fuel trailer. Almost immediately another oddity manifests itself. The instructions call for a pair of polyy caps tho be secured in the rear underside of the lower hull:


Fast forwarding to section 9 it seems these are used to locate the upper hull. For now though assembly of the Churchill is adding the actual flame thrower to the mount in the front panel and the open viewing hatch for the driver.
Then the back panel including the tanks towing coupling for the fuel trailer. At this point the panel fit at the front is not quite to Taniyas standards - the gaps were big enough to need filling.
Having the hatch opened raised the question- what colour was used in the interiors of British tanks? Start of the war they were painted with a special mix silver that, if the exterior was hit, made the paint dissolve into a fine powder thus temoving the risk of in jury to crewfrom paint flakes. However circa late '43, most of '44, material shortages led to British armour being painted a similar cour white to the interior of US vehicles. This vehicles markings are for ones in service during this period so I've opted for the white finish.


Which was duly done. Construction then moved to the fuel trailer.


The inner panels were painted first before adding them to the various parts of the trailer body:






So far - so good!!!

[digger303]

I've always wanted a crocodile, but have been patiently waiting for AFV to release one....it's been a long wait.
All the springs molded to the hull is a new approach to me. Certainly speeds up the build though.

[Stokesy44]

Off to a fast start! Old but good Tamiya - you cant beat it.

[RangerNeil]

I've always wanted a crocodile, but have been patiently waiting for AFV to release one....it's been a long wait.
All the springs molded to the hull is a new approach to me. Certainly speeds up the build though.

An AFV release would be most welcome. This Tamiya one seems to be a very old Churchill moulding with sprue E added (why is it always the "E" sprue with me??) that contains all the additional parts for a Crocodile the lower hull is also changed to accomodate. You can tell because the E sprue parts are crisp and sharply moulded with zero flash or mould lines whereas virtually every other sprue has a little flash and the parts have mould lines. See the photos below for what I mean.

Off to a fast start! Old but good Tamiya - you cant beat it.

Yep - pretty much falls together. Although strangely the joints around the nose needed filling. Possibly these will be hidden by the track packs and could have been left - but then I'd still have known and it would have bugged me.

Anyways - back to the build......
The fuel tank trailer is now more or less completely assembled, just need to add the upper access hatch. But before that goes on I need to paint the top surface of the trailer as it rests back on the support leg assembly.


Rear valve controls


Upper access panel


Assembled trailer






Next step on the tank itself is the suspension pack - tagged B and C in the instructions - this is the completed B pack:


Idler and drive sprockets. Only the drive sprockets have poly bushes to allow them to rotate, not sure yet how the idlers work:


Pack C component parts:


The moulding lines - visible here along the centre line of the suspension block and which followed all the way around on the actual springs and component legs:

[digger303]

All those seam lines around the springs
Going to be a pain I suspect unless they are hidden.

[RangerNeil]

Luckily the springs are hidden @digger303 - I cleaned up the visible parts, looks good. Only caveat if building this one would be paint the suspension first!! Its a right pain doing it once assembled.

Progress continues unabated - I swear, if you dumped the contents of a Tamiya box on the bench and just said "build" it would all go together unaided!!

Today the second suspension went together easily and then the idlers were added. Taniya went to great lenths both in the instructions AND in marking the parts to ensure the right part of the Idler carrier went on the right side of the right hull part:




And thus we have the first suspension unit fitted to the lower hull:


Repeating for the otherside:




Thus solving the riddle of how the idlers are meant to rotate - the inner face part carries the axle!! Drive sprockets simply push onto the axles mounted at the rear of the hull in an earlier operation.
From here we move onto the upper hull. After cutting off the bracing pieces of sprue and cleaning up the locations the air intakes were added each side and the entire upper hull given a coat of Tamiya XF61Dark Green, this being the closest to the colour used by the British Army towards the end of WW2.




And hooked to the trailer:


Next job on this part will be to fire up the airbrush and give the upper hull a once-over to smooth the colour and find all the spots the brush missed as the exhaust and tools all sit on top of this.

Also got the turret together as well as the main gun barrel:




First though one of my other "favourite" jobs - drilling out metal links with a 0.5mm as the Friuhl links arrived today. I compared them to the moulded tracks, they pretty much identical so the count was 74/side which also means cutting 148 pins @ 10mm.

[RangerNeil]

Not much of an update tonight - although my finger tips would argue differently!!
The Friuhl links have all been cleaned out with a 0.5mm drill (without any breakage) and the interlocking sections cleaned up with a file then the 9mm long track pins cut.
One side is complete:


One side is ready for assembly:


Now I need to restock on burnishing fluid as the Jagd Tiger and Sturm Tiger tracks are up next........

[Stokesy44]

Good to see the tracks going on, stops it looking all stranded!

[DRUMS01]

Hey Neil, looking good so far. I've noticed that the Tamiya is much simpler with the suspension versus the AFV Club. But I suspect that is because the Tamiya is fixed while the AFV version was a working suspension. I agree with you regarding the need to paint the suspension as you go because it will be difficult to reach certain places if you don't.

With all the variations of the Churchill, its interesting to see the differences on the panniers, turret, viewing ports, hatches, weapons, etc.

Are you going to use the Tamiya figures or go with something after-market, or none at all? There are also several after-market Churchill supplies and accessories packs if you want to toss more on it, are you going that route or building OOB? I was also wondering if you were going to place it on a base / diorama when done?

Did you know that they used a few different types of tracks on the Churchill over its life? Riveted, Heavy Cast Steel, Light Cast Steel and Manganese were all used on her. Mine was wearing the Heavy Cast Steel. Are those fruit tracks the Manganese or light cast type? All four types of track were composed of shoes connected together by pins and were designed to run dry requiring no lubrication.

Any way you build it, it's sure to come out great. My next in the Brit tank line is going to be the Centurian. I got the itch for it once I saw diggers wonderful build. What ever your doing, keep it up!

Ben

[RangerNeil]

Hey Neil, looking good so far. I've noticed that the Tamiya is much simpler with the suspension versus the AFV Club. But I suspect that is because the Tamiya is fixed while the AFV version was a working suspension. I agree with you regarding the need to paint the suspension as you go because it will be difficult to reach certain places if you don't.

With all the variations of the Churchill, its interesting to see the differences on the panniers, turret, viewing ports, hatches, weapons, etc.

Are you going to use the Tamiya figures or go withchhr something after-market, or none at all? There are also several after-market Churchill supplies and accessories packs if you want to toss more on it, are you going that route or building OOB? I was also wondering if you were going to place it on a base / diorama when done?

Did you know that they used a few different types of tracks on the Churchill over its life? Riveted, Heavy Cast Steel, Light Cast Steel and Manganese were all used on her. Mine was wearing the Heavy Cast Steel. Are those fruit tracks the Manganese or light cast type? All four types of track were composed of shoes connected together by pins and were designed to run dry requiring no lubrication.

Any way you build it, it's sure to come out great. My next in the Brit tank line is going to be the Centurian. I got the itch for it once I saw diggers wonderful build. What ever your doing, keep it up!

Ben

Cheers Ben

The Tamiya kit is much older than the AFV release - I wouldn't mind building the AFV one as either a straight gun tank or one of the other Hobart "funnies". Maybe one day..
Sometime ago I had the fortune to be in a restoration workshop where 3 different churchills were undergoing reshoration - a Mk 1 gun tank, a Mk V toad (flail) and a Mk VII Crocodile. It was eye opening playing spot the difference!

I "think" the Friuhl tracks are light steel but open to.correction here as I don't know that mjch about them Over here non-lube is generally referred to as being "squaddie proof" - as in if its possible for something to be missed being oiled, greased etc a sqauaddie will find a way of doing it..

Plans for this are a small dio - perhaps with a Reccemech in the field looking at a fault in the fuel trailer. Still thinking on this. I'll probably use the rwo figures that come with the kit as they look like nice moulding but I want to find a tank commander for the turret hatch and a mechanic figure at least. Maybe a couple more infantry figures......

Centurion is a nice tank to build - you can make it as a BAOR vehicle, Korean like Digger or even Israeli. I am looking at adding a - I think Takom - dual kit of an FV432 and Chieftain Mk5 as I served alongside these in the Seventies (Yes, I am THAT old!! )

Back to the build now - both tracks are completed , just need a good wash in hot wate and then dunking in burnishing fluid. Going to give the upper hull a coat of XF61 later and then I can carry on assembling that

[DRUMS01]

I too was in the military in the 70's and 80's, mostly artillery and Armored Cavalry. I can't tell you why I'm not a big armor builder, especially since I spent quite some time in the field with them. Most my time was in a M577 Command Post but I also had a little time in a M113 APC, M60A3, jeep, and was just being introduced to the Abrams, Bradley, and HUMV before I left. Yes sir, I started in the Vietnam style "pickle suit" green fatigues and flat top hat, then went to the jungle rip stop and then BDU's and a beret for the CAV. Back then only the airborne, Rangers, and Special Forces (along with the CAV) wore berets. Started with the old mess kit, c-rations, steel pot, M1911 45 pistol, Black Cochran jump boots, and the M16A2, M60, and M2. As I was getting out they changed to the MRE's, Beretta 9mm, M4, SAW, etc. etc.

Hey, thanks for sharing your knowledge regarding the British and other NATO country vehicles. While I can still identify them, I've lost some of the details about them, since not being with them very much. I was stationed in Germany for numerous years in the 80's and fondly remember annual REFORGER exercises (war games). Back then it was East and West Germany (The Cold War). I played friend and foe as well as one year as a Damage Control Officer basically doing nothing but writing reports and estimating damage compensation for damage the military vehicles did tearing up civilian property. Heck, actually two of my four children were born in Frankfurt, FRG.

Back to modeling, those tracks sure improve the look of the kit. Keep it up....

Ben

[RangerNeil]

Got the airbrush out whilst the tracks were doing their thing in the dunk tank and gave the Churchill's upper and lower hulls a coat of Dark Green. Once tracks have had the extra work needed they can go on and then the hulls can be joined.

[RangerNeil]

OK - status update on the Churchill. This one got done first out of the three sets of tracks simply because they were the first set I picked up.
To begin with - these are the tracks as they left the dunk tank (fancy name for a plastic take-away container ):










That's a comple length of track, outer face, hence the number of photos. You can clearly see the bright spots where it hasn't worked and the light brown where it's tried to but....
Strangely the inside face worked quite well:


First step was to fill in all the light/bright areas in the bottom run with Tamiya's "Dark Iron" to try and get to a neutral state:


Then coat everything with AK's "Rust Wash" before wiping down:


This gave the end result:






From there it's progress to the next step of adding tow cables either side and then the decals:








And with the fuel trailer hooked on:




So the Churchill is 99% complete as a build, just needs a coat of matt varnish/clear coat. Then it can go on display as-is till I can get a board to make a diorama up!!

[digger303]

It's like residual release agent as it seems to be in the tight spots.
Looks good .