Tamiya Cromwell WIP **FINISHED**

Cool, looking forward to seeing your work. I always buy my Verlinden stuff on eBay from the seller 3dverlinden. Not sure but I think its direct from them.

The hull is coming together well. This kit has very good fit. The rear fenders are a little tricky to get lined up. I added the Verlinden back deck and external fuel tank. The PE strap gave me a fit, they keep wanting to pop off when bending them down. I waited over an hour for the super glue to set and they worked fine then.

The handle on the fuel tank also did not make sense they way Verlinden had them. They were not marked on how to bend and broke when I tried to bend them how I though they should go. I ended up drilling holes and treating them like tie down handles.

I added the resin engine detail, but might cover this up with the engine hatch. The details are good, but it is only about 1/4 deep.

The front hull is per instructions. I drilled out the machine gun and only open the driver's viewing slit. There is no interior deatil, so I also closed the gunners hatch. I will use one of the Verlinden figures as the driver.

I look forward to all comments and suggestions. This is my third armor kit and am wanting to try some new techniques.

Tim

I am working on the turret now and will hopefully post more later, but my wife is setting up for our halloween party tomorrow.  I wanted to dress up like Manny, but she said "No Way"

Off to a great start. This was a fun one to build up.

Good choice!

This was one of my very first builds and it was a superb kit!

OOB it built up very quickly due to low parts and it all being pretty straightforward but you should have some fun with it with your extras.

I'd love to have another go at this kit with the PE and an AM barrel / tracks now that I've learnt a bit.

I seem to recall two things to watch out for - the joint seam where the barrel halves join and the plastic 'rim' which fits over the mesh at the rear - mine wasn't wide enough and I had to slice it in half to make it fit then fill the gaps - it was only too small by about 1mm. Perhaps it was just me at the time!

Best of luck,

ATVB

Ben

Great start on the Cromwell.  Watch the turret bins in the Verlinden set though, they weren't used with the hull type that Tamiya has included

Thanks for the comments, guys.

Bronto - I was wondering about these bins. I found pictures of real Centaurs with them, but only other Cromwell models with them. I also like the turret shape as is, so these bins might go into the spare parts bin. I never found any photos of the extra fuel tank, but I have seen them on other British tanks, i.e. the Matilia on this forum header.

Ben -  I was going to see how these barrel went together before getting an AM one. I just got a $1000 root canal, so money is a little tight this month. Did I mess up the screen on the back? I was not sure if this mount went on top of the PE part or under. I did it under, but am not sure now.

Tigerman and Jester, good to have you two along for my first build log.

Nice work so far on this kit--you have to watch with Verlinden stuff though. Do your research and don't necessarily trust Verlinden's accuracy on everything. Some of their stuff is pure guess work, or taken from maybe prototypes or inaccurate museum pieces. Their interiors are especially suspect.

Make sure you always use a face mask when sanding resin, too. That stuff will slice up your lungs if you breathe it in.

Looks like you're off to a roaring start with this one. I don't blame your wife for saying no to you dressing up like Manny...that sort of costume could scar small children for life.

Hey Wildman,

The barrel will clean up ok if you use the kit barrel but a replacement one should be pretty cheap, literally a few Dollars.

I seem to remember that when I built mine there was a suplied black plastic 'mesh' that ou trimmed to size and placed over the big air intake at the rear. When in place you either used the plastic rectangular frame or the 'Normandy Cowling' (the arched funnel) to sit over the top. I remember that during my research I came across an involved website all about the Cromwell and the Cowling was mentioned. The site said that it was designed but there was a very good chance that it never saw service - I might be totally wrong but either way I had no intention of using it. I cut my mesh screen down to size and found that the rectangular mesh cover was a tad too small and needed doctoring to make it fit.

If I remember correctly the mesh should sit under the cover, the cover held the mesh in place. Have a quick look at your instructions and see what it says as I'd like to know now! It was a good year ago that I built my Cromwell so I'm a bit hazy on how it all went together now!

I hope this helps,

ATVB

Ben

This kit is one of my favorite builds! It is an excellent choice! Just what one needs after too many frustrating kits... Yours is coming along very nicely! My only recommendation is to replace the kit tracks with some AM ones. Hobbyboss makes some very affordable ones. The kit tracks on both my Cromwell and Centaur eventually broke...

BTW, yes the Normandy cowl was used operationally. Look at this pic of Guards Armoured Division Cromwells crossing Nijmegen bridge.

Doog - I am finding out what you mean about Verlinden. This photo from Stikpusher is the first I have seen with these storage boxes, but it's from late in the war. At least I think that is a storage box on the back of the turret. Interestingly, it still has the "Normandy Cowling" 9 months after D-Day, but I have read this actually helped with airflow. Also, I will remember to get that mask on.

Stikpusher - thanks for the photo and info on this cowling. It has me looking at XXX Corp Cromwells later in the war for more photos.

Ben - I still have not looked at this screen. I had to take my workbench / folding table down for use  at a halloween party and I will be reconstruction my work area tonight.

Bill - Thanks for the encouragement.

Thanks all,

Tim

At the risk of being brand a heritic I think the Cromwell is my favorite Allied tank of the period. Your off to a good start. cant wait to see it finished.

One question off model topic...what material are you using for the diffusers on the light box?

That pic is from Sept 1944... Not too long after Normandy, and still over 7 months left of campaigning in the war.

stikpusher

That pic is from Sept 1944... Not too long after Normandy, and still over 7 months left of campaigning in the war.

Sorry, I was think Remagen in March 45.

Hercmech

At the risk of being brand a heritic I think the Cromwell is my favorite Allied tank of the period. Your off to a good start. cant wait to see it finished.

One question off model topic...what material are you using for the diffusers on the light box?

Just plain legal size copier paper. I need to get some tissue paper and replace it. I think this would help with the brightness.

Looking great Tim!  I am not into British armor but if somebody had a gun against my head, I think I will go for this Tamiya kit so I will be following your work.   Did you buy it at Hobby Lobby?  I was wondering because one I shop at don't stock this kit. 

I got this kit at My Atomic on the internet, before they went out of business and took me for $35 - I ordered a Tamiya JS-2 Stalin a few days before they closed shop.

I have most of the construction done without any major problems. I decided against adding the Verlinden storage boxes. I could only find these on the howitzer version, the Centaur. I tried out replacing the tie down with brass wire. This is new to me and lots of trial and error.

I also covered up the resin engine from Verlinden. It had good detail, but was too shallow.

I think this will be the storage layout

Primer will come next and some pre-shading.

I love that fule tank.

I wonder if there should be a fuel line running from the extra fuel tank into the engine compartment? Or was this just a storage tank and then pumped into the tank's regular fuel tank?

I quess I should have dusted the resin dust off the engine deck before taking the photos, sorry.

Great job on the extra detailing, it's coming out excellent.

Nate

After a little holiday break, I started back on this project. I have been working on the figure and them priming these cromwell nad figure with Model Master grey primer thinned with Testor's airbrush cleaner. This cleaner seems to give MM paint a good flow through the airbrush.

I preshaded with Tamiya flat black. I also sprayed the road wheels all black and use a circle templete to paint the hubs.

My 8 year daughter liked the tank like this and did not want me to paint it OD green, but  this is a little historical inaccurate.

Glad to see that your back to work on this. I noticed the extra detailing around the spotlight. Nice touch.

Bet you had a nice holiday break because it shows that you are doing very well to your Cromwell.  I have been doing pre-shading for my last three builds and it can be very tricky.  First attempts the base coat just covered most of my pre-shading work!   It works better if you can thin the paint as much as you can.  I used 50/50 and make few quick spraying runs until I am satisfied.  It is very easy to go overboard!

Looking forward to your next update!

Thanks for the comments, guys.

We are having the first ever blizzard in Central Missouri, so it is a good day to stay home from work and do some airbrushing. 40mph winds and 15 inches of snow so far.

Painting was done with all Tamiya paints, Olive Drab with some Buff and a little White mixed in. I really tried to lay on light coats as not to cover the pre-shading. I then added more white and faded the center of the panels. This is my first try at this and I very happy with the look this gives.

It looks like more snow tonight and high winds tomorrow, so another day off. I hope to get a caot of Future on and the decals. But I will probably be too wipped from shoveling the driveway.

Tim

Coming along nicely, paint job looks like it's a good foundation to work off of. Enjoy your extra bench time due to the snow!

I agree with Bill!  I love the pre-shades... it really works if you do it right and you did!

Nice work on the extra details and the pre shading looks great.  Really good work, waiting for more.