Universal Carrier Mark II in Italy by Riich Models

[TIM FORSTER]

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This vehicle is destined to be part of my WWII diorama 'Liberation, Italy 1944'.

See the blog at: http://www.scale-models.co.uk/thread...ly-1944.30350/

The last time I built a Universal (or Bren) Carrier was the old Tamiya kit back in the 80s. While it certainly has a lot to commend it (simplicity for one), it is clearly let down by the overly-thick armour (especially in front of the driver's compartment), rubber tracks, etc. So I was looking forward to getting to grips with the (relatively) new 1/35 kit by Riich Models.

I chose the Mark II, probably for nostalgic reasons, because it was the same model as Tamiya's offering. Anyone choosing an Italian diorama before 1944 should probably choose the Mark I, because all the photos that I have seen from that period (of which there aren't many) seem to show the earlier type, although my understanding is that the Mark II was in production from 1942 onwards.

Well, I can certainly say that most of the detail on this kit does not disappoint. Having said that some of the photo-etch (of which there is really quite a lot) is testing, to say the least. The build sequence also needs to be carefully considered, because much of the driver's compartment will be hard to access if none of the interior is painted before the upper armour is fitted.

There are some useful build blogs already on line, although these are predominantly for the Mark 1. However, since many of the components are the same, these are worth looking at which ever version you are building.

For example:

https://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/reviews/vehicles/riich_models/rv35011.html

It was from this that I learnt (too late) that there is a (rare) error in the instructions: in step 6 the small axles (D10, D11) and (D18, D19) should be on the opposite sides of the differential from what is indicated in the instructions as they are different lengths.

Otherwise, despite some vagueness elsewhere in the instructions, the kit builds very nicely indeed...

Wheels and tracks

Having assembled most of the interior (and given a coat of paint to the lower inner compartments), I moved on to the running gear.

Here is one of the challenges of this fine kit: unlike the robust (but over-sized) Tamiya equivalent, the wheel assemblies are very delicate. The suspension includes real springs held in place by the pivoted wheel brackets. I had read on-line that these were extremely difficult to tackle and so I had acquired the resin replacements from Sovereign (S2KA020 Bren Carrier Spring Set).

These are beautifully moulded, albeit in a slightly 'artistic' rather then realistic way, and they fit the kit parts perfectly. However, after I lost one resin spring to the carpet monster (and I don't even have a carpet!) I was forced to fall back on the kit's real springs. With considerable irony, I found these to be somewhat easier than I feared. You can spot the odd one out below.

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One tip I would pass on to anyone building this kit (or the Mark I) would be to insert brass rod all the way through the hull as a torsion bar for each wheel assembly. This is because the method of attaching the wheels brackets to the hull sides is very weak. My compromise was to drill out the holes a little in the hull and insert short lengths of brass tubing on which to mount the wheels.

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[Guest]

Nice start.
I like those ideas....

[TIM FORSTER]

Thanks Polux!

The Tracks

The tracks are certainly one of the more challenging aspects of the build. These are of the link and length type. There is no doubt that they are beautifully moulded and they fit the running gear like a glove, but the real challenge is getting them off the sprues and cleaning them up first. It's a shame that the attachment points are so large. Every other track pin is very finely detailed, but, after you have removed the large sprue residue, you are left with a much less precise look for all the rest. No doubt a little extra cleaning up will help.

For assembly, Tamiya extra fine cement was used throughout. I suspect that, once the whole has been painted, this will look less unsightly, but I cannot help thinking that there might have been a better way to preserve the detail. Having said that, I am very happy with the overall look. Because my Carrier will be positioned just over the brow of the bridge and thus on a downward slope, it works well that the tracks are quite well tensioned - but the typical sag is still there on the upper runs.

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The Photo etch

For a kit of this size there really is a lot of photo etch.

A lot of it is for the engine. Beautifully detailed as this is, it simply cannot be seen once the model is completed (unless you opt for some open inspection hatches). So I left the engine out completely, merely installing the radiator (which is quite visible through the aperture behind the driver / gunner's compartment). Of course, the engine can always be used elsewhere - perhaps on the back of a truck in another diorama.

I will not be the first to admit that I find photo etch daunting in the extreme. Bending it is one thing - and some of the assemblies on this kit are challenging - but gluing it to other parts of the kit is also something which I find very hit and miss. I have lost count of the different type of glues that I have used, but I have yet to find one that will work every time in every situation.

Having said that, there is no doubt that there are details which look so much better in brass than plastic. One example with this kit concerns the brackets for holding the deep wading screens. These are dotted all around the upper sides of the hull and I was not looking forward to them at all. However, in the end they went together (and in place) very smoothly. The trick is to find a metal pin (or drill bit) of suitable thickness and then to 'crimp' each one around the metal rod to create the hollow part of each bracket.

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But, as you can see from the tweezers above, they are small. And there are loads of them!

The tow rope

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Despite the undoubted quality of the Riich tooling, there are some aspects of this kit where they let themselves down. At least in this respect they are not alone. Why is that kit manufacturers so often include a lousy bit of thread to serve as the tow rope?

This is made all the more mysterious by the fact that they have gone to great lengths to reproduce each end of what is, in the typically stuffy British nomenclature of the time, officially entitled: "Towing Rope, Steel, Light, Mark II, 15 feet."

Unexpectedly, this is actually one of the most challenging aspects of the build because at each end of the 'rope' there is a length of chain attached with eyes, loops and hooks. And whilst the string 'rope' is both coarse and woefully out of scale, the length of chain also provided in the box is actually pretty good.

In place of the kit string I used a length of metal cable from a very handy set produced by the Polish company Karaya (www.karaya.pl). It's called the 'TC Set: Tow Cable suitable for all scales'.

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Something else which Riich neglect to tell you is how long the rope should actually be (now Tamiya would never do that!) Luckily, as you can see from the blow-up from the official stowage diagram above, there's a clue in the name: 15 feet. Reducing that to 1:35 scale, that works out at just over 5 inches. I wasn't sure if this meant the length of the actual rope - or the whole thing - so I hedged by bets and went for about an inch more for the whole thing.

Having gone to all that effort, I decided that I wasn't going to hide all my work away by putting the rope at the front of the carrier - where I have plans for stowage in any event. So I decided to wrap it around the towing pintle bracket at the rear where I can show off all that detail to good effect...

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One of the remaining tasks before painting can begin concerns the radio.

This is another aspect of even the highest quality kits where the manufacturers tend to leave the modeller in the dark.

Riich provide a very nice example of the no.19 Wireless set and two aerial mounts. They also provide a set of headphones, a microphone and even a mysterious small tubular object (about the same size as a German gas mask canister) which, my research has led me to discover, is a 'Variometer'.

But radios need power cables. And aerials and headphones need wires. Unfortunately, in an open-topped vehicle such as the Universal Carrier, there is nowhere to hide!

[Jon Heptonstall]

That looks a very fiddly exercise but the model looks excellent.
Where are all the glue marks and fingerprints?
Brilliant build review which will be very useful.
Jon.

[TIM FORSTER]

Well I guess they're all in 1/35 scale!

[Tim Marlow]

Great build, really well executed....
Tim

[JR]

Tim .
Not forgetting , ". For the use of ". at the end of the designation on the tow rope :smiling3:
Nice tip on the use of the brass rod. Found the upper track rollers on the StuG's I built were very probe to snapping because of the short pin length .
John .

[TIM FORSTER]

A final field mod for my Carrier

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Although taken in North West Europe rather than Italy, this wonderful shot shows the lengths that some Carrier crews would go to 'armour' their vehicles. Notice the length of wood simply wedged in place with two wooden stakes rammed into the towing eyes and all of the stowage crammed behind... also notable is the re-located rear-view mirror (presumably the thing kept getting knocked off) and the detached headlight.

So I decided to add a similar mod to my own Carrier by simply shaving down two plastic cocktail sticks and adding a trimmed-down length of of 'wood' from a MiniArt bench set. This will soon be crammed with stowage!

A few shots of the Carrier in an almost finished state before painting (and I haven't found the courage to add the mirror yet, lest it also get knocked off..!)

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[JR]

Tim .
That's a great photo, and it will look great loaded up .
John

[TIM FORSTER]

Thanks John.

Smoke discharger

Now there was another 'one last thing' that I wanted to add to my carrier. I first saw a smoke discharger installed on a restored Carrier at the War & Peace Show a few years back. It may possibly be the one shown in one of the pics below.

I remember at the time being somewhat sceptical about it. Was the British smoke smoke discharger really made up of a sawn-off Lee Enfield screwed on to the back of a smoke tube? Well, yes, it was...

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It was only then that I realised that I had seen exactly the same thing on the Matilda tank - except there were two of them. Apparently the triggers were pulled by means of wires - a bit like brake cables on a bike!

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In the case of the Universal Carrier mount, of course, the Bren gunner simply had to pull the trigger with his finger...

Anyway, I set about making my own. The mount was simply constructed from plastic card, judging the shape and size by eye from the images above. Note that the mount is fixed and sticks up above the side armour.

The first one was little too large and clumsy, but I am happy with the second one which you see in the pics below. The tube is a piece of brass and the rifle was simply a cut-down Lee Enfield that came with the Riich kit. Note that it should have the magazine removed.

The screw attachment between the rifle and the smoke tube was made using a large Masterclub hexagonal bolt ('bolt head on a washer size S 1.4mm MC435068).

I kept the rifle detachable for easy of painting, inserting a short length of metal rod into the end so that it could be slotted into the back of the mount. In the shots below it has only been loosely put in place.

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All I need to do is add some bolts to the outside of the side wall and, as far as I'm concerned, this Carrier is ready to paint!

[scottie3158]

Tim,
Some great additions, it's these small touches that make a great build. Bring on the paint.

[JR]

Tim .
That was well spotted, and a neat rendition you've acheived .
John .

[TIM FORSTER]

Thanks guys.

The smoke discharger is a nice little touch. I'm surprised that no one has made it as an aftermarket addition (at least not as far as I'm aware).*

* Actually it turns out that Resicast do make the tank mounted version: 352297. UK turret smoke mortars (2 sets)

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I noticed that it's in the same manual drawing for what appears to be the standard Mk.II that I showed a small part of when I was dealing with my tow rope. Here's the complete image:

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Notice that it also states that an alternative 2" mortar mount was supposed to be supplied with each vehicle.

That looks like this:

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The red circle indicates where the four bolts were that held the smoke discharger mount in place. In the interior shot the mount has simply been turned upside down...

[TIM FORSTER]

Once you start looking for them, the smoke dischargers turn up all over the place.

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Here's a shot of what is said to be a MkII (I can never tell them apart from the front, although this has the earlier pattern track guards) in Normandy. It apparently belonged to the Lake Superior Regiment (Motor), 4CAD at Cintheaux, France on the 8th August 1944.

And look at this one - this is clearly the photo used as the basis for the box art on the Riich kit! [See top of this post]

The smoke discharger is there - even if it has disappeared from the box image and isn't included in the kit...

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Carriers of 1st (Motor) Grenadier Guards, 5th Guards Armoured Brigade, Guards Armoured Division, cross 'Euston Bridge' as they deploy for Operation 'Goodwood', 18 July 1944.

[TIM FORSTER]

I've had quite a busy weekend.

As well as finishing the basic paintwork on my tiny Topolino staff car

see http://www.scale-models.co.uk/thread...service.30585/

I also managed to get the base coat on by carrier. This was achieved with Tamiya acrylics, using a mixture of Olive Green and Olive Drab (about 60/50) to get what is supposed to be S.C.C. 15 Olive Drab - the British equivalent to the (slightly different) US Olive Drab.

I also sprayed the tracks with Vallejo track primer.

It looks a little dark (and shiny) because I also gave it a coat of gloss varnish.

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Now for the next bit I'm looking for some help. Suitable markings for a British unit north of Rome circa September / October 1944. Anyone got any ideas?