D
DBridges
Guest
Hello all!
The past several years haven't been too productive for me modeling-wise. In 2007, I began work on my Master's degree, and in 2008 I started a two year term as a union rep at my place of work. Fortunately, my term as union rep ended on January 1st, 2010, and I finished my degree back in March. So now, mercifully, I have time to continue with my hobbies. The last time I finished a model was back in November of 2008 - the AFV Club kit of the RAAC Centurion Mk. 5/1. I wasn't able to finish anything in 2009. However, I did start a number of kits last year, and among them was the Accurate Armour 1/35th scale kit of the British A39 Tortoise superheavy assault gun.
History
The A39 Tortoise can trace its origins back as early as April of 1943, when the British War Office realized a need for extremely heavily armored tanks in the coming battles in mainland Europe. Nuffield Mechanization Ltd. was tasked with coming up with ideas, and in February, 1944, their AT16 design proposal was approved. Later given the designation A39, the 6 Tortoise that were built were not completed until well after the war was over. A couple were sent to Germany for trials, were they were found to be reliable and hard hitting, but hard to transport at almost 80 tons weight and 10 feet in height.
The Tortoise weighed 77 tons and had a maximum armor thickness of 279mm. It mounted a 32-pounder cannon and also carried three 7.92mm BESA machine guns. It was powered by a Rolls-Royce Meteor V engine, had a top speed of 12mph, and a maximum range of 45 miles on hardball roads. The only surviving example now resides at the Tank Museum at Bovington Camp, Dorset.
The Model
The only available kit of the Tortoise is made by Accurate Armour of Scotland, in 1/35th scale. Having built their kit of the American cousin of the Tortoise, the T-28 superheavy tank, I was keen to have a go at this kit as well. The model is molded in various colors of resin, as well as a few white metal and photo-etch parts. It also comes with a small decal sheet. A few of the suspension parts, as well as the transmission cover housing, were broken when I got the kit, but the good people at Accurate Armour sent me replacements double-quick and at no charge. Other than that, the kit is very well cast with an absolute minimum of air bubbles.
Construction
Construction was relatively straight forward. Due to the number of parts, the suspension was a bit tedious, but not nearly as bad as some of DML's more complicated Panzer IV's. A bit of pre-planning was required to paint the suspension as well. Once the hull, all the suspension units (8 total assemblies) and drive components, and the side armor skirts were joined together, I went ahead and painted the suspension with and undercoat of ModelMaster flat black, and then with a base of olive drab. From there, I added the fenders and the superstructure.
I didn't feel that the cast texture of the superstructure had a heavy enough feel, so I used Gunze's Mr. Surfacer 500 to add texture. I applied two full coats over the superstructure, stippling it with a cheap paintbrush to add texture. After these coats, I then added a bit more in certain areas, and once everything was dry, I gave it a once over with some sandpaper to even things out a bit.
After this was done, I finished up with the rest of construction, which presented almost no difficulties. The only area I found where I had to do a little extra work was where the fenders and side skirts meet. The join here wasn't exactly even, and I used Squadron Green Stuff putty to fill the gap. Once this was done, I had to re-do a number of rivets along the side skirts, as well as build some new support structures for the fenders. Both of these tasks were completed using a punch and die set and a little bit of sheet styrene.
It should be mentioned that Accurate Armour, unlike many resin kit manufacturers, includes some very good instructions with their kits. The assembly pictures are clear, big enough to see well, and most are in color. The text instructions are also quite good, both in content and in grammar. On the whole, I really had no problems building this kit. I think it would be a decent first or second complete resin kit for someone who's built maybe a few small resin conversions or used some resin accessories in the past.
So far, this is where I'm at now:
Today, I hope to be able to put down an undercoat of flat black on the rest of the model, and tomorrow I'll hopefully begin the painting process with the first of a few shades of green. I plan to use a sort of "color modulation" method of painting, so we'll have to see how that goes.
David
The past several years haven't been too productive for me modeling-wise. In 2007, I began work on my Master's degree, and in 2008 I started a two year term as a union rep at my place of work. Fortunately, my term as union rep ended on January 1st, 2010, and I finished my degree back in March. So now, mercifully, I have time to continue with my hobbies. The last time I finished a model was back in November of 2008 - the AFV Club kit of the RAAC Centurion Mk. 5/1. I wasn't able to finish anything in 2009. However, I did start a number of kits last year, and among them was the Accurate Armour 1/35th scale kit of the British A39 Tortoise superheavy assault gun.
History
The A39 Tortoise can trace its origins back as early as April of 1943, when the British War Office realized a need for extremely heavily armored tanks in the coming battles in mainland Europe. Nuffield Mechanization Ltd. was tasked with coming up with ideas, and in February, 1944, their AT16 design proposal was approved. Later given the designation A39, the 6 Tortoise that were built were not completed until well after the war was over. A couple were sent to Germany for trials, were they were found to be reliable and hard hitting, but hard to transport at almost 80 tons weight and 10 feet in height.
The Tortoise weighed 77 tons and had a maximum armor thickness of 279mm. It mounted a 32-pounder cannon and also carried three 7.92mm BESA machine guns. It was powered by a Rolls-Royce Meteor V engine, had a top speed of 12mph, and a maximum range of 45 miles on hardball roads. The only surviving example now resides at the Tank Museum at Bovington Camp, Dorset.
The Model
The only available kit of the Tortoise is made by Accurate Armour of Scotland, in 1/35th scale. Having built their kit of the American cousin of the Tortoise, the T-28 superheavy tank, I was keen to have a go at this kit as well. The model is molded in various colors of resin, as well as a few white metal and photo-etch parts. It also comes with a small decal sheet. A few of the suspension parts, as well as the transmission cover housing, were broken when I got the kit, but the good people at Accurate Armour sent me replacements double-quick and at no charge. Other than that, the kit is very well cast with an absolute minimum of air bubbles.
Construction
Construction was relatively straight forward. Due to the number of parts, the suspension was a bit tedious, but not nearly as bad as some of DML's more complicated Panzer IV's. A bit of pre-planning was required to paint the suspension as well. Once the hull, all the suspension units (8 total assemblies) and drive components, and the side armor skirts were joined together, I went ahead and painted the suspension with and undercoat of ModelMaster flat black, and then with a base of olive drab. From there, I added the fenders and the superstructure.
I didn't feel that the cast texture of the superstructure had a heavy enough feel, so I used Gunze's Mr. Surfacer 500 to add texture. I applied two full coats over the superstructure, stippling it with a cheap paintbrush to add texture. After these coats, I then added a bit more in certain areas, and once everything was dry, I gave it a once over with some sandpaper to even things out a bit.
After this was done, I finished up with the rest of construction, which presented almost no difficulties. The only area I found where I had to do a little extra work was where the fenders and side skirts meet. The join here wasn't exactly even, and I used Squadron Green Stuff putty to fill the gap. Once this was done, I had to re-do a number of rivets along the side skirts, as well as build some new support structures for the fenders. Both of these tasks were completed using a punch and die set and a little bit of sheet styrene.
It should be mentioned that Accurate Armour, unlike many resin kit manufacturers, includes some very good instructions with their kits. The assembly pictures are clear, big enough to see well, and most are in color. The text instructions are also quite good, both in content and in grammar. On the whole, I really had no problems building this kit. I think it would be a decent first or second complete resin kit for someone who's built maybe a few small resin conversions or used some resin accessories in the past.
So far, this is where I'm at now:
Today, I hope to be able to put down an undercoat of flat black on the rest of the model, and tomorrow I'll hopefully begin the painting process with the first of a few shades of green. I plan to use a sort of "color modulation" method of painting, so we'll have to see how that goes.
David
Wonderfull paint job 
