Churchill
 

I have always wanted to build a Churchill, but the suspension and road wheels looked like a bad dream to me. I finally decided to try it in small steps to see how it would go. I got some of the big parts done and thought that maybe I should build one side at a time so that I could build the opposite side without the mistakes and modifications I experienced building the first side. I have built the first side two or three times so far, but I think the second side will go faster. I started this project on July 17th and this is as far as I have gotten. Then all I will have to do is build the other side and all of the stuff between the two sides, plus the trailer. It's going to be the Crocodile version (someday). This project is a big pile of little scratch built parts. What you see is around 400 individual pieces. It made me wish I had a 3D printer. I think this project is going to take some time to finish.

At some time in the future I am considering painting this tank with one of these spray paints. Has anyone used them? Any suggestions for another appropriate color for a Churchill?

Tamiya TS-9 British Green Synthetic Lacquer Paint.
Tamiya TS-61 NATO Green Synthetic Lacquer Paint.
Tamiya TS-5 Olive Drab Synthetic Lacquer Paint.

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rex

Beautiful job!! Whats the material you used?

As usual Rex, a really nice example of craftsmanship

Cheers

Dan

Not again, how many times are you gonna start something I now want and will stop at nothing to get!

I used styrene plastic sheet and assorted shapes made by Plastruct and Evergreen, some resin castings I made and a few details that I got from an HO train site. The track and road wheels are from Mato. The track is from their Jagdpanther, I had to buy two sets of the track loops to get enough for the Churchill. The road wheels are from their Walker Bulldog (they are the track return rollers) and I had to buy 24 of those and turn them down 2 mm on my lathe to get the spacing right. That took me 3 hours to do all of them.

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rex

Do not worry --- I'm sure that when the paint is dry on my static shelf queen, HL will come out with one for $200 and it will do everything everything.
rex

This project is really going to test my patience and skill. I have no choice about finishing it no matter how long it takes at this point. NOW I remember why I have avoided it all these years!
rex

Oh gawd... now he's building a Churchill. :eek: I don't know whether to admire you or hate you.

One armored vehicle I think ALL OF US want. :p


(just kiddin' ya 'bout hatin' ya)




Jeff

Trying to decide which Churchill to build was frustrating. There are so many versions of the Churchill it ain't funny, especially if you get into the special purpose "Hobart funnies" that got built in WW II. I finally decided on the A22f Heavy Churchill because it doesn't have rivets, and the trailer rig looked interesting. Just getting the suspension to look like the real thing was a challenge ---- building a working spring suspension is waaaaaay beyond my skill and capabilities. But this critter will be operational if I use the old tried and true S/S power source I used when I was a kid.

A String to pull it, or a Stick to push it
rex :rolleyes:

I have ideas of doing the NA-75 version just cause I have so many 75mm barrels about...

Wow Rex. Mine wouldn't look that good even if it was a kit with instructions. I always thought that was a crazy suspension system for a tank, scratch building it would drive me crazy.

yessss, finally a churchill! This is one of my favourite tanks of ww2 and can't wait to see how it turns out!

Hi Rex
Nice. Once you've finished with that, you'll be able to do a Black Prince, too.http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2175609

Mal

Hi, I think Chris has already made a plastic sheet kit and DKLM is planning to do a metal one in 1/16. It would be interesting to see how you do the suspension - many tanks are based on this hull after all.

For much of the WWII you will get a close match with TS-5. I use TS-9 on my post-war Centurion for the bronze green tone.

Oh yeah... the A43. Now we're talking about MY favorite Churchill version.

Building one of these will require a larger, wider hull... plus I think only 7 or 8 of the 'prototype' were made, so it was not a standard production vehicle. It IS an interesting read if you guys find the time.

Still... the Black Prince looks like a Churchy mated with a Centurion. :cool:




Jeff

I was half crazy before I started, but this Churchill may take me the rest of the way. I like complicated suspensions, but I like simple ones too. I am having trouble deciding which one of these will be my next project. :confused:

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rex

I vote for the four man machine gun. That's cool!

I knew the second side of this would be faster to put together and it only took three days of bench time ---- not two weeks. I knew what to do and what not to do, so It was more of an assembly project than a scratch building exercise. I'm glad this part is done. Now all I have to do is fill in the middle part with a top, bottom, front, back, sides, turret and trailer.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/atta...mentid=2175901

rex

you are the Master of Detail

Beautiful Work Rex

As I finished both sides of the track suspension of my Churchill, I sat there and looked at everything to make sure I didn't miss any minor details. That was when I noticed an incredibly horrible, dumb thing that jumped out at me and told me I am a senile old coot who knows a lot of cuss words when he makes a mistake. The armored side plates did not extend out far enough to allow for the proper installation of the fenders over the tracks.

The width of the track on a real A22f is 22 inches. The track I thought would work for my toy project is from the HL Jagdpanther, and it is about 26 inches, in 1/16 scale. Since there was no way to cut the track down a bit, I figured this was close enough and thought I had considered and compensated all of my parts dimensions to deal with that, but I was dead wrong. I was really bummed out. It might not have been that noticeable if I didn't do fenders, but I wasn't happy with that. I wanted fenders and the only thing to do was redo the armored side plates. Soooooo - I carefully cut, sawed and chiseled off what I could manage to salvage and will spend all day fixing things up.

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Tomorrow will be a better day.
rex

Well, we ALL experience a slight cringe factor when creating is involved. At least it was caught before it went too far along and even at that rate... there's more that's RIGHT than wrong and it will still shine on. :o




Jeff

Jeff ---
Making mistakes really doesn't bother me - I'm an expert at that. it's the work it takes to correct them that bites my butt. There are a lot of things where a few millimeters really doesn't matter, at least if it doesn't show, but this detail was critical in order to look right. The armored side plates only needed to extend out passed the track edge 1 or 2 mm for fender clearance. I needed to bring those plates out about 4 mm to get that clearance. That worked out ok.

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rex

Yeah while working on measurements for my tank, as no precise blueprints exist for it, the mm drive me crazy.

I got a little more done on this critter, but it's going slow because I am spending more time building this thing in my brain more than I am building it on my bench. Also, the Olympics are distracting me a bunch. I'm trying to think ahead far enough so that I don't have any more big corrections to make like I did on the suspension assembly. So far, so good. I think the next step will be to finish the turret and then do the fenders.

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rex

Rex, you are still the Master. If the only requirement to being King of the World were scratch building skills, we'd all be referring to you as "Your Majesty". :cool::cool:;);):p