The Unofficial Airfix Modellers' Forum

Really nice work, indeed.
I'm studying you tank builders work, trying to figure the makings of a decent tank.

59North wrote:Really nice work, indeed.
I'm studying you tank builders work, trying to figure the makings of a decent tank.

hanks

Thanks. If you are interested in tank building, you might want to look into local clubs. The "Armor Modelling and Preservation Society" has four Canadian chapters in London, Ottawa, Edmonton, and Toronto. If any are close to where you live, you might want to attend a meeting or two. My local chapter in Atlanta, Georgia is meeting this upcoming Saturday and I have always had a good time.

http://www.amps-armor.org/SiteMain/Chapters.aspx

Chuck Finley wrote: The "Armor Modelling and Preservation Society" has four Canadian chapters in London, Ottawa, Edmonton, and Toronto. If any are close to where you live, you might want to attend a meeting or two. My local chapter in Atlanta, Georgia is meeting this upcoming Saturday and I have always had a good time.

http://www.amps-armor.org/SiteMain/Chapters.aspx

Thank you for that information, it's very good to know about these groups. As it is, I'm too far for regular attendance. Nice to know I can drop in, though, if I make a pilgrimage to the city on meeting day.

Dan Taylor came out with both decals and a conversion set for the Matildas used by the Australians in the Pacific. Naturally, I had to build two more of the excellent S-Model kits in 1/72 and take advantage of Dan Taylor's products. My fifth Matilda is a Matilda Frog. This is a Australian version where they replaced the gun with a flamethrower. This particular conversion is a combination of Dan Taylor and Modelltrans. The flame thrower, turret ring armored collar, and boxes are from the Modeltrans kit and the PSP protection over the back deck is from the Dan Taylor set. The kit was painted with humbrol paints that were mixed to make the SCC 16 Jungle Green paint.

Nicely painted and weathered.

Nigel

That is a superb looking Matilda, Chuck, very nicely done indeed. The maximum fording height indicated on the side is interesting and it would seem that the vehicle was capable of traversing a fair depth of water without major modifications.

ShaunW wrote:That is a superb looking Matilda, Chuck, very nicely done indeed. The maximum fording height indicated on the side is interesting and it would seem that the vehicle was capable of traversing a fair depth of water without major modifications.

Thanks. If you look closely, one line is for open flaps and the other for closed flaps. The Borneo and New Guinea campaigns saw a lot of stream crossings. It turned out the Matilda was perfect for fighting the Japs in the jungle. They had nothing that could penetrate the tank's armor with the exception of a few 4.7" (120mm) 50cal naval guns that had need landed from older Japanese warships. Being naval guns, they did have a AP round that could knock out the tank. Of course those guns were in permanent emplacements and could not be moved.

My last Matilda from this batch is a standard Matilda with a 2pdr main armament. This kit was converted using only the Dan Taylor conversion set and decals. The Dan Taylor set included resin equipment boxes on the front fenders, the resin armored collar around the turret, and a resin telephone box on the rear fender so accompanying troops could contact the crew while they were buttoned up and tell them where to shoot. The set also included a second type of engine screen to prevent the Japanese from taking out the tank through close assault.