1/100 Matilda III

[cjwalas]

In my search for WWII Desert War vehicles, I was surprised when I searched my hard disk and found this kit of a Matilda Mk III;


It's a nicely detailed 1/100 B&W kit by Masahiro Takamoto and is available here;
http://www.geocities.co.jp/Playtown-...en/given2.html

I'm hoping to build a nice 1/72 Matilda and this looks like the base kit to use. However, there are no instructions or built photos to go by, so I'm doing this as a test build to see if I can figure out where all the pieces go.
I'll be doing a proper coloring job on the 1/72 version (or at least as good as I can do), but for this one I simply dabbed some yellow ocher watercolor on it.


What's nice about this kit is that the mud chutes are modeled. The inner side are is made up of two separate pieces;


While the main hull is made up of one piece in three sections. It's an interesting design in that one outer section folds over the bottom;


And then the other outer section folds over that to complete the upper hull;

I'll probably cut this into three sections for ease of assembly on my next round. I'm having a little trouble with the 110lb paper I printed this on and I suspect it was designed for 67 or lighter.

The basic body is done; it's a little wonky, but hey, this IS a test build.


That's as far as I've gotten tonight, but I'm hopeful this will turn out to be as solid a kit as it appears to be and will be my basic kit for my 1/72 version.
Chris

[Texman]

Some very interesting logic and concepts Chris. I'll be watching you!

[Don Boose]

This is exceptionally clean and precise work in such a small scale, Chris. The latest in your line of excellent Matildas.

Among British tanks, the Matilda, Valentine, and Churchill are my favorites, but all are complex structures. I have this same model, but have been intimidated by the small size and complexity of the required small-scale knife work. I will watch closely to see how you finish this one. The work so far is impressive!

Don

[cjwalas]

Thanks guys. Among Brit tanks, the Matilda and Churchill are my favorites as well. While there were apparently a few Churchills sent to North Africa, I can't find out if they ever saw action there. I'd like to do a Churchill in this scale! I know Y's has one; are there any other small scale versions out there? I have the Fly model, but I doubt I could downscale that one!

This is a nice kit! Some of the complex hull forms have been separated as box structures;


They are designed as complete boxes, but I think they would be easier to get seated properly as lidless boxes.

This has been the most difficult part so far to form and I'm not sure I got it entirely correct, but it does fit in place;


The vent slats (?) are supplied as separate, optional pieces. I'm making them two layers thick for extra height.



I'm really enjoying this one! Makes me want to build a larger scale Matilda!

Chris

[Don Boose]

This is really good, Chris.

For me, 1/48 is the best scale for AFVs and vehicles. It's the best combination of size of parts to work with and simplification of detail for my skill level.

There is documentation that a detachment of six Churchill IIIs commanded by Major Norris King and called "Kingforce" participated in the Battle of El Alamein. They were in a two-tone disruptive pattern camouflage (I'm betting desert tan and black or brown - Charlie C will know and I bet he eventually shows up here). KingForce

The Wiki Churchill article, which seems to be exceptionally well documented, says that Churchill I Mk. IV's equipped the three regiments (North Irish Horse, 51st Royal Tank Regiment, and 142nd [Suffolk] Regiment Royal Armoured Corps) of the 34th Tank Brigade in North Africa.
Churchill tank - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
North Irish Horse
51st Royal Tank Regiment
142 (Suffolk) Regiment RAC

So there appears to be plenty of scope for you to proliferate Western Desert Churchills. Go Chris!

Don

[thokamous]

looks awesome i have a squadron of "tillys" for my British army for Flames of War

[cjwalas]

Uh, oh. Churchills in North Africa; I better get on this right away!
Looks like the ones in Kingforce were the only ones to actually see combat. The few photos I've found show a sand/olive brown scheme. The kits for this African Campaign binge of mine are really starting to stack up!

More progress on the little Matilda;
Here's that same three fold design approach used for the spare tracks.

It works well and the tracks look good (as far as I can even see them art this size!)

I noticed that with my ham-fisted handling of the model that the upper deck was beginning to sag, so I glued two pieces of meat tray foam in between the layers to maintain the proper level.


I've done small models before, but I haven't done anything this small in a long, long time. This is one of the headlights;


Everything is a bit wonky. I'm oping that's as much a fault of the thicker paper as it is my own weak modeling. Here's the front end finished;


The Hull of the tank is finished and I'm impressed with the level of detail packed into this small kit.


That's it for now, hopefully a start on the turret this evening with maybe a little Churchill research along the way.
Chris

[Texman]

Coming along nicely Chris. I didn't realize you were building it at 1/100 scale. The pictures certainly don't give it away.

[Don Boose]

True words, Ray! This is a great series of images of a very appealing little tank.

Don

[cjwalas]

Well, true to my obsessive and impatient nature, I sneaked away from the computer and finished this little guy off.

The turret is a nice attempt to capture the true form of the prototype and it has lots of challenging forms and folds to it.


Sorry there are no more "along the way" shots. I just raced through to the finish line as I so often do. I'm happy the way this one came out, especially as it really was just a test build for me. There were two pieces I couldn't figure out; one was an optional piece for the inner gun mantle and I forget the other one. I don't think they're missed in the final model, but I do have to say that I found out that I wasn't born to be building armor in 1/100 scale; it's just too small for me. So we'll see how I do on this one when it gets blown up to 1/72.
The last pic is with the BPM 1/72 Matilda for comparison.


I do like the design of this kit, although I think the three fold pieces need to be cut into separate pieces for a really good fit. Masahiro Takamoto also has a kettenkraftrad available that I might give a shot at.
Chris