The Bridge Pt II

You have my vote, nice work and photos.

johncpo

Beautiful.

Which kit is that?

You got me stumped. Did you find a picture to model the M4 from or was it an actual version I've never seen? Either way it's great!

m1garand:

The Kangaroo was actually a "de-frocked" M-7 Priest. These were used as an interim armoured troop carrier by the British and the Canadians. It's a longer story than I can write here, but it was originally a Self-Propelled Gun built on the M-4 series chassis. When American needs required they were converted back to SPG's when RAM Kangaroo's and RAM 25 pdr armed Sexton SPG's became available for the British and Canadian Units.

Russ has built a Sherman AVRE (Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers) or "ARV" as they are commonly called.

Cheers;

Gregory

Excellent job. Love the rock, soil and weathered wood.

Gregory,

Thanks for the info on Kangaroo!  In what role did it play during WWII (besides being a trooop carrier)?  my kit came with a mortar and crew.  Was it a scout vehicle or a mortar carrier?  I bought one off of E-bay long time ago, but I don't know what to do with it. 

This is exactly as Greg mentioned above,an arv MkI recovery Sherman,turret was replaced with all manner of hoists,tow ropes,cables,chains and tools and a kitchen sink if you can find one! This is not a Kangaroo although Shermans in this configuration as well as the Ram Kangaroo were pressed into service as gun towers for 25pdrs and 17pdrs.The ARVs were stationed near  high traffic bridges as well as field recoverys in order to keep the bridges free and clear of stalled vehicles.

Here are a couple of early build pics of my Canadian sherman ARV MkII.Both the sherman and ram tanks were used in this configuration.

....and this is a Ram Kangaroo...

sasd wrote:

Here are a couple of early build pics of my Canadian sherman ARV MkII.Both the sherman and ram tanks were used in this configuration. ....and this is a Ram Kangaroo...

Russ:

Did you scratch your ARV II in these pictures? Or is it an aftermarket kit? I think I asked you this before as well is the Kangaroo a Verlinden conversion?

Great work on each by the way. I am Khaki Green with envy!

Cheers;

Gregory

psstoff995 wrote:

theres a Sherman III ARV Mk 1 conversion made by Legend Productions, that's the only reason I know what it is actually. squadron has it, im sure it shouldnt be too hard to find- not sure about the kangaroo though

Chris:

I know that Legend and Resicast both produce resin conversion kits for ARV's. What I wanted to know was if Russ actually went to the length of building it himself. The Kangaroo is available from Verlinden and Resicast as well, again I wondered which kit it was that was used.

Cheers;

Gregory

ooh ooh oh sorry Gregory, hope i didnt insult you or anything, but that's a good question though, looks good whichever way he made it. and even better if he scrachbuilt it, i'm having a hard enough time doing some basic pluming on an engine lol.

oh and another question for Russ, did you make that bridge yourself? because it looks great and i was wondering if that was a kit, or if you had any tips for making one yourself, i'm going to hafta make one myself eventually

Guess I forgot to mention this earlier, both ARVs are scratchbuilt,not conversion kits,much cheaper that way! I`ve got a sweet tooth for recovery vehicles,done the Grant arv,the m31 trv,Bergtiger,Bergpanther,Bergelefant and the Bergpanzer IV. I have planned for sometime this year to scratch a Scammal and perhaps a CMP breakdown.All of these recovery vehicles were converted  by scratchbuilding.I don`t have pics of my Bergtiger and Bergelefant,these were built before the advent of the digitol camera and have long since moved on to a new home in another local museum.

Yes the bridge is scratched as well,used lots of balsa in that baby,and pink insulation foam!

Oops,sorry lads forgot a couple,the Cromwell arv and a Churchill arv.Whew,did so many this old mind can`t even remember them all!

psstoff995 wrote:

ooh ooh oh sorry Gregory, hope i didnt insult you or anything, but that's a good question though, looks good whichever way he made it. and even better if he scrachbuilt it, i'm having a hard enough time doing some basic pluming on an engine lol. oh and another question for Russ, did you make that bridge yourself? because it looks great and i was wondering if that was a kit, or if you had any tips for making one yourself, i'm going to hafta make one myself eventually

Chris:

No offence taken. I knew you were trying to pass on information to a fellow modeller. As I thought Russ is a dedicated scratchbuilder.

What is the trouble your having with the plumbing on your engine? I'll leave the bridge building to Russ.

Cheers;

Gregory

glad to hear, the only real problem i'm having is lack of experience, parts, and patience for bending and attahing copper wire lol. it's a T-55 engine, the real basic Verlinden drop-in set, i'll post some pictures soon hopfully. I'm sure it'll turn out better after i fill a lot of gaps, get it painted and hide it inside the body of the tank haha but any ideas or thoughts would be very helpful.

Chris:

The simplest way to do this is, first determine what is visible when it is enclosed. Second is material to use lead solder, fine gauge wire, etc. If you have not read Sheperd Paines book Building Military Vehicles there is a section in there on detailing engine compartments using "Creative Gizmology" which simply put means. Make it "look" like it all belongs there.

With any detailing I do I make sure of a few basic rules Fit, Filled, Finished.

I make sure everything I want to show fits, so as not to waste time detailing what will not be seen. I make sure the seams, gaps etc. are filled and that the space is correctly filled and not just jammed with details that make it look incorrect. Then it comes down to the final paint and touches to finish it. I try and spend as much time on the painting and finishing as I did during the build. That's about it. I hope this helps.

Cheers;

Gregory

Chris:

That's what I am here for,to learn and to pass on information. Anytime you need help ask if I can find the answer I will post it.

Cheers;

Gregory

P.S. I recently went to a friends cottage and took my travel toolbox and three figure kits. No rain but lots of work done when the sun went down and the bugs came out. I am going back in August for a week and taking a few more with me this time to work on too. It is so relaxing to just sit down and build, no phone, no computer, no work....ahh to be so wealthy as to be able to build models all day long and not have to worry about the bills or taxes. Someday!!! Soon I hope...