Churchill SP 5.5inch

[Buzzbomb]

Found me another project !
a box of Churchill bits popped up from previous conversions. As the 5.5inch Crusader has been shoved to the back of the pile, I thought time to do something with this stuff and sort of resurrect the SP 5.5 Inch gun idea but using a Churchill. There was a project to SP the 5.5inch with the Centurion but perhaps in a '46 scenario it was done in redundant Churchills as Centurions came online as gun tanks.

OK, the first gotcha as lack of running gear (again !!!) stil,l can work around that for the moment.
This is what I have achieved this weekend
Built up some superstructure using the usual suspects of placcy card and bits. Gun tube is from tube stock.

had a rivetting good time drilling holes for Tichy Train Rivets

Using up some Tamiya and AFV Club Churchill bits.


At this stage this build will be fording a stream, what better way to hide the lack of running gear

Cheers
Brian t

[GTX_Admin]

Off to a good start!

[Jeffry Fontaine]

No tracks?  No problem!  Churchill hover tank! :)

No chance that Centurion tracks will work on the Churchill? 

If not, then there are several sets of replacement tracks for the Churchill from AFV Club and FruilModel:

AFV Club (35156) Workable Track for Churchill

AFV Club (35183) Churchill Track (Workable) HCSBSST / BTS 3 Heavy Built Up

FruilModel (ATL-060) Track Link Set - Churchill (170 Links)

[Queeg]

Coolness like that deserves to have running gear and tracks !!!!!

[Buzzbomb]

Thanks folks.

Tracks are not an issue, I have most of the AFV Club sets and left over Tamiya track, the missing bits are the sponsons with the springs and all the road wheels, which are a major component of the Churchill look.  All that gear was used on the Black Prince scratchbuild.

I now have some tracks on around the idler sprocket and some tube to replicate the drive sprocket position. Enough to give the impression of tracks in the fording scenario, which is a nice challenge itself to pull that off convincingly.

Cheers

[Cliffy B]

The thing about water in an armor dio versus a naval dio is that for the most part you're dealing with shallow versus deep water.  Naval dios can get away with painting the gel or resin a number of different shades of blue, gloss coating it and calling it done.  Armor guys seem to go for clear water so that you can see what's beneath it.  I'm not just talking about the vehicle but the plant life, river bottom, fish, etc...  That's not to say you couldn't give it a naval treatment but I wonder how convincing it would look given the larger scale?  That being said, you could go a winter route and have a bunch of ice on top of the river that could conveniently mask any missing bits below the waterline.  Could serve for some interesting field applied camo and equipment options too.  Winter of '46 anyone?

Just thinking out loud  :)  Love this vehicle idea by the way!  Please continue regardless of the route you take!!!

[Gingie]

Very cool! Turret has a kind of PzH 2000 look to it!

[Old Wombat]

The thing about water in an armor dio versus a naval dio is that for the most part you're dealing with shallow versus deep water.  Naval dios can get away with painting the gel or resin a number of different shades of blue, gloss coating it and calling it done.  Armor guys seem to go for clear water so that you can see what's beneath it.  I'm not just talking about the vehicle but the plant life, river bottom, fish, etc...  That's not to say you couldn't give it a naval treatment but I wonder how convincing it would look given the larger scale?  That being said, you could go a winter route and have a bunch of ice on top of the river that could conveniently mask any missing bits below the waterline.  Could serve for some interesting field applied camo and equipment options too.  Winter of '46 anyone?

Just thinking out loud  :)  Love this vehicle idea by the way!  Please continue regardless of the route you take!!!

Ah, but a tank (or, in this case, SP gun) fording a sluggish stream or river would churn up lots & lots of silt & sludge, which would make the water all clouded & opaque!

In MMI, Issue 97, May 2014, there is a great diorama of a French LCM & LCVP in a river in Indochina & the water is a murky green/brown with a thin, clear surface layer. Looks stunning!

[Buzzbomb]

Mega quick update... I have sourced some suspension. Even I gotta say it does look much better.

Next is paint.


Big shout out to local supplier Hobby HQ here in Melbourne (and worldwide). They can supply individual sprues for Tamiya kits on occasions for suitable kits. Got the C and A sprues and Churchill SP back in business.

[Jeffry Fontaine]

So much for the hover tank :)

Sure does look much better and the contrast in plastic color really highlights the suspension parts from the original kit parts. 

[Brian da Basher]

I was rootin' for the hovertank too! 

Jeff's right, the suspension looks absolutely aces!

Brian da Basher

[Buzzbomb]

Painting done.. went for a late war "normal" scheme of the blackish over the olive drab




then the weathering...
GAAAARGHHHHHH !!!! over did it

time for a nice clean up with some more white spirit to get most of this off


More later.. if I don't botch up the recovery process

[Old Wombat]

Looks great, Brian!

Weathering may be a little over done, perhaps, but not ridiculously so & much better than my poor attempts.