Crocodiles and Fireflies.........

[GeoFF03]

The picture of the Warwells is interesting as it shows how snuggly the Stuart Light tank fits these. If anyone is looking for an accurate 1/76th model of the Stuart type then I would suggest looking at the Milicast Website .

I think you've miss-identified those warwell loads. They look to be M3 Lees with the turret facing the rear.

[garth45]

Yes your right Geoff . Can just make out the small off centre turret .
Interesting picture ,as the Brits didn't use many Lees preferring the later version with the British designed turret and named the Grant .First used in Africa in 1942 at Gazalla. That would date the picture also being around 1942 IMO unless of course they were training examples which could date the picture later .

[Lysander]

They would have either come from or been going to Swansea Docks Garth - so 1942 is interesting. Thanks.

Right, Churchill is complete apart from markings - they'll have to wait until next week. In the meantime, some photos.

I'm afraid the camera reveals the considerable moulding flaws and poor fit in this model - it really doesn't look quite that bad at three feet however. And before anyone quite correctly points it out, I know the chaining is hopelessly incorrect, with one set pulling in the wrong direction ! The size of the model required some additional roping down as can be seen. The casings tied down on the fore deck are the air filter / air intake boxes, which were removed for rail transport. I couldn't find any photos showing how they were transported, so I improvised. It looks real enough. The holes left where the boxes would have been fitted to the tank's sides were covered with cartridge paper and sprayed over. I guess they might have used plywood covers 'in real life' ?











Tony

[GeoFF03]

Looks to have turned out well, for an old model. I wish I'd thought of simulating the covers on the inlets. I had thought of cutting the holes on mine but one of the locating pins was inconveniantly placed.

BTW, earlier in the tread, you asked about the PSC Shermans. It roused my curiosity and I've now obtained one of their kits. Rather than get the M4A1 that the link I gave lead too, I acquired one of the M4A4/Firefly models which I've now started on. While far from perfect, these don't seem as bad as the other review made out.

Still a way to go, but here's some pics
M4A4/Sherman V



Firefly VC

[Lysander]

I look forward to seeing that finished and painted Garth.

Tony

[Lysander]

I spent a couple of hours last night on the Airfix Lee / Grant tank. I'm making the British version and was quite looking forward to what I thought would be a straightforward and quick assembly. Hah !

Frankly, this kit is a disaster and should have been withdrawn years ago. First sold in 1969 [but now with 2012 box artwork !], the moulds are clearly so worn and out of register that inexperienced modellers wouldn't have a hope. The turret, for example, comprises just four pieces, two of which are the turret halves and a third, the gun. This item alone took two hours to assemble reasonably acceptably, and it will still require some filler. I don't think I've ever had to sand away so much plastic before, and add microstrip to aid other parts to fit. The hull / track wheels / tank sides assembly was similarly out of register, although a little easier to manage. All of the wheels needed drilling out however.

The plastic is also far too soft [as Biggles (Ithink) pointed out]. Liquid solvent eats it away, spoiling the surface finish. This is a problem, as Plastic Magic [or equivalents] can often be used to clean up / smooth out irregular joins if applied judiciously. With this plastic it simply removes the joint !

I looked for on-line reviews for this little horror and found some interesting notes on the Airfix Tribute Forum. The kit was lauded for its fine detail, accurate moulding and ease of construction. I noticed that the kit in question was in dark olive green plastic however and so - presumably - if not an original certainly an early example. That may have been the answer - look for a really old one.

So, what to do ?

Well, I'll persevere. I want this marque and don't want to buy another model to start again. We'll see where it goes. Photos in due course.

Tony

[6C]

Darn it, that's one of the next ones up for me - in Desert livery....

When you called this thread Crocodiles and Fireflies - I thought that it might be about tanks before I opened it - but I though the Crocodile in question - would be the flame-throwing version of the Churchill ! , cannot get used to the wacky GWR naming convention - I have no clue how they arrived at Macaw for instance - but crocodile at least works out - low to the ground and powerful

Yes - the current Airfix roll call - is a mixed bag - very much like their parent company Hornby - some bad - some good - some new some old etc...

[flying scotsman123]

Darn it, that's one of the next ones up for me - in Desert livery....

When you called this thread Crocodiles and Fireflies - I thought that it might be about tanks before I opened it - but I though the Crocodile in question - would be the flame-throwing version of the Churchill ! , cannot get used to the wacky GWR naming convention - I have no clue how they arrived at Macaw for instance - but crocodile at least works out - low to the ground and powerful

Yes - the current Airfix roll call - is a mixed bag - very much like their parent company Hornby - some bad - some good - some new some old etc...

The GWR naming is a bit odd, I know why they did it; at the time not many of the people who needed to know what wagons were which were literate so giving them names rather than letters made sense. I'd guess that it wad the illiterate working class who came with the names, maybe they had a zoo guide in the mess room...

[Bigglesof266]

Frankly, this kit is a disaster and should have been withdrawn years ago. <snip>... on the Airfix Tribute Forum. The kit was lauded for its fine detail, accurate moulding and ease of construction.

I think Airfix's Lee/Grant is the only 1/76 show in town isn't it?

Hasegawa has a 1/72 Lee or Grant, and there's the Mirage kit in 1/72 if you can track one down. But that's it. I haven't built that Hasegawa kit, but I have their Panther and Tiger. Here are some pics of Hasegawa's Lee kit parts and I expect the Grant is from the same mould. This site is great for comparing versions of anything modelling including re-releases over the years.

Their 1/72nd Tiger is a decent quality mould if fairly old now leading to the minor inaccuracies in finer detail with superpedants giving it a "not good enough" caning. Unfairly I think. Hasegawa's Panther and Tiger look like . . . a Panther and Tiger. Dating from the 80's as does the Lee & Grant, they are older moulds, and yes standards of newer moulds have improved since in the main. But their old moulds are nowhere near in the same simply dreadful everything category as some of those old Airfix kits.

As for the Airfix Tribute forum. That forum isn't worth a tinker's damn for reviews Tony. Honesty is compromised by the owner's Airfix quid pro quo just like magazine 'reviews' and Hornby's 'forum'.

[garth45]

Oh dear we appear to have a touch of the Airfix blues.

I have built one or two of these and TBH they are showing their age. However the hull is still passable by todays standards and it is in the preferred 1/76 scale which will obviously fit easier onto 1/76 scale rolling stock and look more correct than using 1/72nd scale models . But that's just my opinion.

Hull of the Lee/Grant Airfix kit will go together OK but the fit of the parts isn't brilliant. The worst part of the kit is the very much undersized and wrongly shaped Grant turret . The Lee version using the other turret is passable although a little underscale. One of my Wargaming contacts Shaun at SandS Models does do a replacement Grant resin turret for £5.00 which enhances the appearance of the model no end.

Bigglesof266 has suggested very good alternatives to the Airfix model but they are the larger 1/72nd scale and Hasegawa kits are available at bargain prices if you shop around . I'm not sure if the Grant is still available but the Lee is available from Model Hobbies for around £7.50 .

For accurate 1/76 scale models then check out the Milicast model website . These are resin but are "Rolls Royce" wargaming and Brail scale military models but do come with a price tag.

As regards the PSC Sherman then the M4A1 kit is the one to avoid because it is flawed many areas. The M4A4 / Firefly or British Sherman V /VC is a much more accurate kit but again these are 1/72nd scale and are a little over scale as well, so I am not sure if they will go well together with 1/76th scale rolling stock .

I hope this will be of help

[Bigglesof266]

preferred 1/76 scale which will obviously fit easier onto 1/76 scale rolling stock and look more correct than using 1/72nd scale models

I'm with garth45 on this. I quite like Hasegawa 1/72 kits despite their age, although personally I wouldn't buy any more as I just because I rarely do small scale or volume any more and I'm running out of time to complete what I do have in my 'stash'. I do have a thing about not mixing HO/OO & 1/72nd scales. I know it doesn't irk some, but it does me & it's my railway. Armour looks obviously out of proportion for instance presenting a 1/72nd PzKpfw IV alongside a 1/76 '41 T-43/76 side by side.

So if you want a number of them to fit a train of well wagons my recommendation would be to go with Fujimi Matildas or Valentines or M4A3 Shermans in 1/76 for your load. The scale will be right, the shape is right, and the fit and plastic quality of the kits I had (80's releases) was very good. So they build very nicely, and the former two being smaller types than the Sherman or Grant chassis/hull, they'll fit on the Bachmann crocodile and OO loading gauge well methinks. Especially the Matilda II. And they are British tanks..

[GeoFF03]

FWI this is the Hasegawa Grant I built many years ago




Apart from the misshapen turret, the suspension is not to good. The wheels are oversize in diameter and width, and the tracks are too narrow.

[6C]

TBH - I built the Grant/Lee back in the day and it went together quite well, certainly comparable to their plane kits at the time.

That however, is not a defence if the competition has moved on and the moulds are worn out...

On the 1:76 vs 1:72 front their is not a huge visual difference - unless you place models of the same prototype next to each other, where it does show up.

[Lysander]

Now don't get too excited but I'm beginning - only beginning mind you - to develop an affection for this little shocker. After a great deal of sanding and cutting, I've managed to get a sort-of-fit for most parts and initial part-painting suggests that it may be acceptable in the end. Nothing else has proved so troublesome as the top turret although fitting the rear deck/top was extremely difficult and the sponson was difficult to cover. There are still problems of panel gap, but Milliput will take care of that in due course. Some photos of progress so far to show what I mean. You can see the gaps, but you can also see the potential.........

The tracks by the way were impossible to join with any sort of glue. I stapled them together in the end.







and one with the top turret as a dry fit



Tony

[Bigglesof266]

I don't know if the instructions still elaborate this method? The tracks of the era were intended to be joined by heat flattening the two pins once inserted as you would a conventional rivet. I never found this to last in play as a child, although static display is OK. The obvious. You do need to be careful in application.

Personally, I've used the the staple 'link' method too on most of mine in that scale in the past.

A glue that probably would hold them would be polyurethane glue used extremely sparingly because it foams. It also goes yellow when it cures, so a gunmetal or 'mud' coloured paint?

By the way, you've made a stonking good silk purse from the sow's ear looking at those pix.