 deadhead  | 05 Nov 2024 6:23 a.m. PST |
Well it made a change from a Sherman and any chance to get any Dragon kit locally I snap it up. Not quite the Churchill's debut at El Alamein (that was Dieppe) but six of then were there. Different exhaust system, rails along the side to store kit and that apron that was meant to shield the driver from blinding sand (which did not work). Just needs aerials and I suddenly noticed the kit is all defying gravity. None of it is tied to the rails, well not yet anyway.
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| JMcCarroll | 05 Nov 2024 2:09 p.m. PST |
Looks like a late War Churchill with a 75mm gun to me. |
| Tango01 | 05 Nov 2024 2:44 p.m. PST |
Best of luck with your project my good friend… Armand |
| deadhead | 06 Nov 2024 1:31 a.m. PST |
No, that is a six pounder with a welded turret. The NA75 looked very different turret wise. Saying that, this is no Sherman, so I had to buy two reference books on the Churchill.
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 Dal Gavan | 06 Nov 2024 3:07 a.m. PST |
Nice work, Deadhead, for an under-valued tank. I don't think any Mk. III survive (apart from the AVRE at Duxford), do they? Bovington, Cairns and Saumur all have Mk.IV and Mk.VII. |
| deadhead | 06 Nov 2024 7:49 a.m. PST |
I will bet the odd one exists as a wreck on some firing ranges. I know there are two Churchills in N Ireland (one is ex Irish Army) but they are a IV and a VI. The tank museum has worked on one; link YouTube link Straps for baggage and two aerials added, so now spray undercoated. The dark colour will be a dark chocolate brown, not green or black/grey as on many another Desert tank of the period. I have convinced myself that is correct…I think |
 Silurian | 06 Nov 2024 10:08 a.m. PST |
Great job! Looking forward to a photo of the finished model. |
| Dal Gavan | 06 Nov 2024 3:11 p.m. PST |
So there is one! Thanks for the links, mate. One of my favourite tanks, for some reason. The first Airfix tank model I built, I think. About half of Bovington was closed when I was there (mid-October 2019), due to a large function being held the next day. I knew about the closure, but my schedule couldn't be nudged to avoid it. |
| Col Piron | 06 Nov 2024 3:23 p.m. PST |
The Churchill Mk III* was armed with a QF 75mm Mk V gun .
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| deadhead | 07 Nov 2024 1:45 a.m. PST |
Good point. The Churchill III could indeed be fitted with a US 75 and become a III*, but the six in Kingforce had the 6 pdr. I will say again that I am no expert at all on the Churchill, but read everything I could find on its use at Alamein. and I now see the guard around the left aerial was not used then> every photo confirms it…..sob. Off it comes and onto a Sherman one day. |
| troopwo | 07 Nov 2024 8:17 a.m. PST |
Always ahd a spot in my heart for the Churchill. |
| Black Bull | 08 Nov 2024 4:15 p.m. PST |
It wasn't a US gun it was a rebored 6pdr but it did fire US ammo, first used in Italy so too late for Kingforce |
| Col Piron | 09 Nov 2024 1:37 a.m. PST |
It wasn't a US gun it was a rebored 6pdr but it did fire US ammo That was the Churchill Mk III* , the Churchill NA75 the guns were taken from disabled and knocked out Shermans in North Africa . |
| Black Bull | 09 Nov 2024 4:44 p.m. PST |
Deadhead wrote "The Churchill III could indeed be fitted with a US 75 and become a III*" this is incorrect hence my reply |
| deadhead | 10 Nov 2024 12:21 p.m. PST |
and you were right. I really did think that it was a spare Sherman 75, but even I knew that the NA75 looked different, back from Airfix Magazine days. I will only again apologise about my Churchill ignorance (I have bought two more Churchill books in London, before watching a mind numbing game in East London. I read one in the second half….and I am serious) |
| Black Bull | 10 Nov 2024 1:56 p.m. PST |
No need to apologise I have a feeling you know more about Kingforce Churchills than 99% of people on here certainly more than me (I'm a NWE guy) |
wonders: Can Fernando do 1/285th?
