Tamiya 1/35th Cromwell 1V diorama !!!!

[Tamiyasnob]

This will be my subject for this Group build, sprue shot's and first build update shortly,

Cromwell Mk1V

Brits on patrol, might need a bit of tweaking to suit 1944

Bit of background. So just a few more bit's to get and progress can start, cheer's Dave.

[chief5437]

Like it, a lot!! Good luck with it mate

[Nige201980]

Nice good luck mate.

[fly1ngdutchm4n]

Yeah! Nice one
Good luck mate

[rodrant]

Great entry ! Good luck with your Build !

[generalgrog]

Awesome dude..I know you will do an awesome job.

GG

[Dunhill2005]

Have fun!!!!
This tank looks good (In my opinion, Tamiya is always good)!
These figures are great! I have also built them and had a lot of fun...

[Rob]

Nice choice, can't wait to see what you will do with them

[wappynutter]

Nice looking bits of styrene Dave.....
Good luck mate, will be dropping by often for a look!

[Tamiyasnob]

So, as promised here are the sprue shot,s for the diorama. Firstly the Cromwell.

First sprue, main turret part's, additional turret armour and hedge plough. Probably wont use the plough.

Main running gear, suspension and hull storage box's, there is another identical sprue to this as well.

Upper hull, glasis plate, driver figure and driver,s hatch.

Side skirt's and more upper hull details.

Lower hull tub,vinyl track's transparencie's , plastic mesh for the grill's and thread for the tow cable's.

Instruction's are the fold out type, with a fair amount of technical stuff about the subject.

Painting guide and decal sheet, marking's are for three Normandy division's and one in winter whitewash in late 1944.

Close up of the decal's, I like the look of the desert rat option.
So next the figure's. This one of the few bug bares I have with Tamiya, they produce umpteen German unit's in action figure's, but the brit's are on a nice stroll . It does not leave you with many diorama possibility's {rant over] here's the sprue's

Main torso part's, the detail is pretty good to be fair

Weapon's and gear, the detail on the weapon's is very good. And that's it.

Painting instuction's as usual on the back of the box.
And lastly the building

That's it, one sprue, no painting guide nothing. Might get me a Mini art kit instead. Anyway that's all for now, till next update cheer's and enjoy your modelling Dave.

[ROBOPAUL]

This looks very interesting I will deco be watching this one. Dragon do some WWII British Infantry in some nice action poses. There are some for sale on white ensign models web site.

[UKguyInUSA]

This looks like it's going to turn out interesting....looking forward to seeing the build!

[Tamiyasnob]

So, first build update. I will begin with the obligatory background info,
Tank, Cruiser, Mk VIII, Cromwell (A27M),[nb 1] and the related Centaur (A27L) tank, were one of the most successful series of cruiser tanks fielded by Britain in the Second World War. The Cromwell tank, named after the English Civil War leader Oliver Cromwell, was the first tank put into service by the British to combine a dual-purpose gun, high speed from the powerful and reliable Meteor engine, and reasonable armour, all in one balanced package. Its design formed the basis of the Comet tank.

The Cromwell and Centaur differed in the engine used. While the Centaur had the Liberty engine of the predecessor cruiser tank, the Crusader (and the interim A24 Cavalier), the Cromwell had the significantly more powerful Meteor. Apart from the engine and associated transmission differences, the two tanks were effectively the same and many Centaurs built were given the Meteor to make them Cromwells.

The Cromwell first saw action in the Battle of Normandy in June 1944. The tank equipped the armoured reconnaissance regiments, of the Royal Armoured Corps, within the 7th, 11th, and Guards Armoured Divisions. While the armoured regiments of the latter two divisions were equipped with M4 Shermans, the armoured regiments of the 7th Armoured Division were fully equipped with Cromwell tanks. The Centaurs were not generally used for combat except for those fitted with a 95mm Howitzer which were used in support of the Royal Marines during the invasion of Normandy.

Ok on with the build, first steps should be the running gear, but I alway's leave that till last as the hull, turret and running gear will be kept seperate so as to ease painting later

I began by building the rear of the lower hull, it all fitted perfectly


Construction of the upper hull, the hightlighted area's on the instruction's are where I need to decide whether to put towing eye's or the mounting bracket's for the hedge plough.

Suspension cover's fitted

Upper hull, this had a slight warp from front to back, so plenty of TET and clamp's and an overnight sit should see it sorted.

And here it is, still slightly warped but nothing that wont impede the build. Idler and sprocket guard's fitted left side

Storage box's

Same for the right side

Gun breech completed

Turret, construction of this kit is a doddle, the engineering of fit is superb

Starting to grt there

Commander built and positioned, Normandy cowling fitted and just a look see with the plough. Still unsure on that one

And that's it for this update, I love the way this kit go's together, no fit issue's or filler, a real joy.
So next it,s the road wheel's, then primer and then track's, speaking of which I think Hobby Boss do a set of link and length for this tank Any till the next update, enjoy your modelling, cheer's Dave.

[UKguyInUSA]

Great start!....Will be watching closely!

[AchtungPanzer]

Looks good . Well done !

[Tamiyasnob]

Update#2
Some stuff I ordered for the build turned up, so now I can carry on with the build

I wont bother doing a review of these, checkout Gav 909,s WW11 "Achillies" build as he does an excellent review therein

So, carrying on from the last update the Sprocket,s, idler,s and roadwheel's done. Easy peasy, just a quick clean up and some TET. I have been keeping an eye on the 'dangerous cat sig', and credit to you guy's , all those roadwheel's to clean up, jeesh.
At this stage I hoped to show some shot's of the kit after priming, but my darling wife deleted them from the memory card before I had chance to upload them

Paint time, first off a primer coat of Vallejo Black polyurethane was applied to everything before Tamiya XF62 Olive drab was sprayed all over in thin coat,s leaving the black to effect the shadowing



I overdid the olive drab a little and lost alot of the black, but I will sort that out next.

Highlight's were achieved by addiing a drop of Tamiya XF 3 Flat yellow to the olive drab and thining 70% thinner to 30% paint and building up coat,s on the upper portion's of the tank to achieve fading.

Road wheel's next, the outer rubber portion's were painted with Tamiya XF 69 Nato black thinned heavily and brushed on , letting the capillary action flow around the wheel's.

Now I added some of the XF 69 to the Olive drab and post shaded the darker area's around the panel's and the running gear , this was to remedy the shading I lost by over doiing the base coat

Decided to make a start on some of the figure's, got carried awy and forgot to take photo's
So just a mock up with the tank to gauge some idea's for the diorama

Umm, need's a little something .....

So a quick trip to Shrewsbury MC and got this,
Got one of the Tamiya figure's done, must admit after being swayed away by a couple of Merkava build's I am getting back into this one. Anyway ,just ordered some more figure's , but more on them when they arrive. Till the next update , enjoy your modelling, cheer's Dave.

[UKguyInUSA]

Sweet!

[Tamiyasnob]

UPDATE #3


Track's and cable sprayed XF 56 Metallic grey

Then it was time to start work on the second kit in the diorama

Running gear and differential all done.

Constuction of the main body


This middle section will be kept seperate for now, this will make painting it easier


Just a quick look to gauge some idea's for the diorama. Again I wasn't happy with all that space on the back of the tank so

These will find there way on the vehicle's at some point

So now back to the Cromwell.


Cable's added, these would not sit right at all, in hindsight I shouldn't have painted them first

The track were then super glued to the top of the track's

Track tensioning bar sprayed Mr Metal Dark Iron buffable

The same colour for the other tool's

Pad's for the Commander's cuppola given a coat of Tamiya XF 64 Red Brown

Then the whole tank was given two coat's of Klear.
So that's the end of update 3, next time more construction on the carrier, the extra figure's and then some work on the diorama base. So till then enjoy your modelling, cheer's Dave.

[chief5437]

This is looking great! Can I send you my Churchill to sit along with them? Lol! Looking forward to the dio, kutgw!

[UKguyInUSA]

Looking great so far...love the color.

[Willem]

Loving the faded paintwork. Great thread.

[rodrant]

Looks very good and a very nice thread ! The paint job is just right , and your diorama idea is very well planned !

waiting for further developments

[Gav0909]

Its all coming on really great Dave. The fading on the Cromwell looks awesome, brilliant! All those figures will really add to the final diorama.

[Tiger131]

love the colour of the cromwell...

[Tamiyasnob]

UPDATE #4
But firstly, thank's for the kind comment's and positive post's it mean's alot .
So ,first up a quick look at the new figure's

Miniart tank rider's

Just two sprue's of light grey plastic

Some nice moulded detail, although the plastic is a little soft
So back to the carrier build

The main part of the hull is built up , so a quick check of the track's for fit.

And the other side, the join for the track,s reacted badly to cyano and a bit of the join melted. But perseverance paid of and they are together....just.

All the smaller detail's ready for primer, and the main hull stuck to an empty Ultimate airbrush cleaner bottle for easier handling. Even when empty they still have their use's, amazing

Next the primer coat



Vallejo black polyurethane was used, never realy liked this stuff at first, but mixed with a few drop;s of Ultimate thinner and smooth and easy as you like.

Ok, forgot to photo the basecoat, so a quick description. Tamiya XF -62 Olive drab sprayed 50/50 paint to thinner's and then the XF-62 was lightened with a drop of XF-2 white for the post shading. this is a shot of this above and in the next photo


The seat cushion's and backrest's painted XF-68 Nato brown, and the rubber rim's on the road wheel's and spare wheel XF-69 Nato black

Radio, againXF-69

Another shot of the road wheel's


Rear tool's picked out , Shovel handle again, XF-68, shovel and pick axe head Mr Metal dark iron buffable

Steering wheel and driver's radio XF-69

Bren gun's and Lee enfield rifle's added, plus rear stowage XF-49 Khaki and Vallejo Olive green

Rope added to the front, XF-78 Wooden deck tan, which as you can see furred it up quite badly
Extra stowage on the bren gunner's side, the bren gun will not be fitted here in this build

Pick axe handle Xf-78, I think this is a good likeness for the hickory used for these handle's
So that's it for this update as I have used up all of my available photobucket space. So till the next update enjoy your modelling,cheer's Dave.

[jbellos1]

Great builds. Looking forward to the finished dio.

[wappynutter]

WOW Dave.....
That carrier looks the dog danglies mate.....
Impressed muchly!!
Keep up the detailed updates... Nice touch listing the colours and ratios used... Helps when trying to achieve a similar colour/finish...
Thanks and good luck.....

[Tamiyasnob]

Hi to all, here is the final build update before the reveal. I must ask you to bear with me on this one as photobucket space is extremely limited so photo's are few and far between. But I will give as good an explanation as possible to make up for the photographic shortcoming's
Firstly the decaling of the two vehicle's

The Cromwell, this was fairly straight forward, a combination of Micro set and sol were used on the the raised area's such as the allied recognition on the turret, left to dry overnight it snuggled down perfectly.

Next the carrier, no lump's and bump's on this one so even easier. Two coat's of Klear helped eliminate any silvering.


So after leaving the Klear coated decals to dry [ I like to give them a minimum of 3 day's] weathering could commence. Ultimate wash's were first, Dark dirt first followed by Light dirt and then mud. A cotton bud moistened was then used to remove the excess to leave only the recessed area's covered. The wash's on the side of the vehicle's was pulled doen from top to bottom to give a streaking effect. Here are the result's


Next both vehicle,s were given a light dusting of Tamiya XF-57 Buff [thinned 75% thinner to 25% paint] to give a dusty look overall


And so with the vehicle,s done, attention could turn to the figure's.

Firstly primer[ Halford's grey plastic]

Then the infantry were given a coat of Tamiya XF-52 Flat earth and the tank crew XF-60 Dark yellow. As you will no doubt have noticed the infantry are completly the wrong colour, so out came the airbrush again and I re-sprayed them XF-49 Khaki.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this update photo's are few, hence the completed figure's.
Now with the figure's and vehicle's complete this left only the base for the diorama

A standard 12"x10" photo frame was chosen. Then Javis 3mm cork from a 3'x 2' roll was cut to the same size as the glass, and glued down using PVA wood glue.

Then Woodland scenic's fine brown and dark brown ballast was sprinkled onto the cork having firstly spread a coat of Pva all over. This was then sprayed in a combination of grey's and brown's to break up the blandness.

The back and front area's were treated to larger ballast, this time Games workshop was used. This was in preparation for the foiliage.

Again, lack of photo space beckon's, but suffice to say the greenery is all Javis lichen for the large stuff and scatter' and static grass for the finer.
So that's the update complete, I am now going to post the reveal shot's so if you want to take a look be my guest. Till next time cheer,s and happy modelling, Dave.

[UKguyInUSA]

Sweeeet!! hose figures look awesome along with the two vehicle...this'll look great once completed.

Excellent job, mate!

[AchtungPanzer]

Fantastic work . I look forward to finish of this dio