Churchill Mk. IV AVRE with Small Box Girder Assault Bridge Mk. II

[Guest]

Well, there's a concise and comprehensive history of the Churchill if ever I've read one
Which I have
A lot.

Probably more than I have, then

And still there's never QUITE a definitive description of what exactly the MkII was. I prefer yours rather than the alternative 'they swapped the guns around'

Yes, that’s what I thought I remembered too, but one of the books I looked in to write the above, mentioned the Besa replacing the howitzer, so I went with that.

Edit, the next day: later yesterday night, I was looking through the book The Churchill Tank by Chris Ellis (Tanks Illustrated No. 23; Poole: Arms and Armour Press, 1987), and on page 11, I came across this photo:

[ATTACH]474893[/ATTACH]

That neatly explains that: the normal Mk. II had a Besa in the hull, but the Mk II CS had a 2-pounder there and a 3-inch howitzer in the turret, effectively making it a reverse of the Mk. I.

[Scratchbuilder]

Hello Jakko,
Thanks for the intro to this new model. I have one on back order from the 'Scale Model Shop' and will get to it as soon as it finally arrives.
I scratch built one of these way back in 1978 using the then 'new' Tamiya Churchill where it was put into print for the long deceased MM magazine.
So will now draw up a chair and take notes on how you progress, as at the moment that is all I can do (see AVLB build).
Cheers
Mike.

[Guest]

I’m impressed so far, despite not having started building yet Having made one of AFV Club’s AVRE kits previously, I know how good they are, of course, and I’m pretty impressed by the bridge parts. I think that will actually be the first thing I’m going to build, because it will be necessary to have at hand in order to know how much weight to put into the model. (The instructions recommend 100 grammes, but that seems a lot and a rather nice, round figure to me.)

[Si Benson]

An interesting build out of the norm.l..and what’s not to like about AVRE!
Looking forward to seeing this go together :nerd:

[Scratchbuilder]

Jakko,
Be carefull of the weight, on my first build I used the steel weights from one of those tv top aerial things, I think they came with three legs on the stand, and even then it was just on the right side of balanced... Here is a pic of my AFV Club AVRE that I was going to use to scratch another bridge untill I saw this kit.

Sorry it is blurred, but the total weight is 298g with the balance weight inside, which are flat metal plates (ebay) fitted inside a plasticard box. Hope this helps with the weight problem.
Cheers. Mike.

[Guest]

What I intend to do is first build the bridge, then fix the suspension so it sits correctly, with the front half or so of the springs compressed (I’ll need to find some good photos to decide how many and how far), then assemble the major parts of the hull and hang the bridge off the front so I can judge how much weight to put in. That’s the plan, anyway

BTW, I wouldn’t mind seeing either a photo of your model from way back when, or the article about it. I checked my collection of MilMods yesterday, but the oldest ones I have are from 1984, so not early enough

[adt70hk]

BTW, I wouldn’t mind seeing either a photo of your model from way back when, or the article about it. I checked my collection of MilMods yesterday, but the oldest ones I have are from 1984, so not early enough :sad:

My exact thoughts!

[Scratchbuilder]

As requested and by popular demand :rolling:....
The pics are not very good, and even photoshop could not do its work with this old photocopy 1978 vintage...
This version was built using the available reference material at the time - the 1/76 scale drawings by Geoffrey W Futter and the book 'Hobo's Funnies' (long out of print). The model did itself proud as you will see.



The large spaces between the images are my fault, I forgot to trim down the borders... And thanks to the mod for allowing these.
Now can we get back to the subject at hand and watch Jakko work his magic....

[Valeron]

Coming on nicely Jakko and thanks for all the backstory and photos. It really does add perspective.

Mike

[adt70hk]

As requested and by popular demand :rolling:....
The pics are not very good, and even photoshop could not do its work with this old photocopy 1978 vintage...
This version was built using the available reference material at the time - the 1/76 scale drawings by Geoffrey W Futter and the book 'Hobo's Funnies' (long out of print). The model did itself proud as you will see.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]n1195506[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH=CONFIG]n1195507[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH=CONFIG]n1195508[/ATTACH]
The large spaces between the images are my fault, I forgot to trim down the borders... And thanks to the mod for allowing these.
Now can we get back to the subject at hand and watch Jakko work his magic....

Great work Mike!

[Guest]

As requested and by popular demand :rolling:....
The pics are not very good, and even photoshop could not do its work with this old photocopy 1978 vintage...

It still shows the model very nicely.

This version was built using the available reference material at the time - the 1/76 scale drawings by Geoffrey W Futter and the book 'Hobo's Funnies' (long out of print).

I’ve got that, and it’s obvious that was your source: the girders under the bridge deck are about twice the width they should be, just like in the book But it’s a very impressive model, especially if you consider you didn’t just have to build the bridge, the winch and the generic AVRE details, but also backdate the Tamiya Mk. VII to a Mk. IV. Is the turret completely scratchbuilt or converted from that of the Mk. VII?

The model did itself proud as you will see.

It deserved to, IMHO.

Now can we get back to the subject at hand and watch Jakko work his magic....

I’ll be finishing the Grant CDL and JPK 120 first — they’re being painted but I haven’t posted photos of that yet. Once they’re out of the way, I’ll start on this one.

thanks for all the backstory and photos. It really does add perspective.

I often like to build something more than a generic model, and in that respect, what better than something from your own immediate area?

[JR]

Its the history that makes your builds so interesting , great photos as well.:thumb2::thumb2::thumb2:

[Scratchbuilder]

It still shows the model very nicely.


I’ve got that, and it’s obvious that was your source: the girders under the bridge deck are about twice the width they should be, just like in the book :smiling3: But it’s a very impressive model, especially if you consider you didn’t just have to build the bridge, the winch and the generic AVRE details, but also backdate the Tamiya Mk. VII to a Mk. IV. Is the turret completely scratchbuilt or converted from that of the Mk. VII?


It deserved to, IMHO.


I’ll be finishing the Grant CDL and JPK 120 first — they’re being painted but I haven’t posted photos of that yet. Once they’re out of the way, I’ll start on this one.


I often like to build something more than a generic model, and in that respect, what better than something from your own immediate area?

Jakko,
The turret was scratch built using 80thou plasticard, laminated to get the thickness to be able to sand and file to shape.
Mike.

[Guest]

OK, it’s taken a bit longer than originally envisioned, but then, that’s always the case for me With the CDL being just about done, I’ve started on the bridge for the AVRE.

As shown in the instructions (which I posted to Scalemates), in step 47 on page 22, the basic girder is two side pieces joined by zigzagging parts top and bottom. Here is one side piece and both of the zigzags, as well as the narrow end and the middle plate:

[ATTACH]477022[/ATTACH]

Yep, this is four parts, and fit is rather good, as I would expect from AFV Club. A minor difficulty is taking the sides off the sprue, because this is how they are attached:

[ATTACH]477025[/ATTACH]

The gates are very wide, but need to be trimmed against the parts. I ended up snipping through them further away from the parts, where the sprue is still round, and sawing through the flat, wide gates I circled in the photo above before cutting and filing them down to the actual part.

Next, adding the other side and the end piece on the thick end:

[ATTACH]477023[/ATTACH]

This is slightly tricky because you need to ensure the zigzags go inside the side plate, but it’s not actually hard to get right. Just keep checking that things are square, though.

Note that the two side pieces, U7 and U13 are not identical! They look like they are, but their zigzagging struts go the other way. If you take all the pieces for all the sides off the sprues, don’t mix them up, or you may have the struts going the wrong way on some of the girders.

After that, some crosspieces need to be put in to connect the two sides, and a piece added to the narrow end:

[ATTACH]477024[/ATTACH]

You then “need” to build the other three before you can continue adding parts, because the narrow ends of the girders need different parts added depending on whether they’re left or right and at the tank end or the far end. Sure, you could do that first and then add the girders together to make a bridge, but that will mean paying much more attention to which one goes where. So, on to the other girders first!

For comparison, this is what you get in the International Models Asia conversion set (now discontinued, it seems) for making these same girders (this is for four, BTW, not just one):

[ATTACH]477026[/ATTACH]

Lasercut sides and a lot of L-angle strip.

And after having pictured yourself not really wanting to build that and getting it all square, imagine Mike not even having had those side pieces (and lasercut decks plus resin other bits) but having to make everything himself …

[Guest]

All four done now:

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Here’s an idea of the size of this thing:

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The halves of each girder are still loose there, a few parts need to go between them before I can glue them together.