1/35 Churchill Mk IV AVRE

Yep. I have gone modeling crazy this time. Its a cycle and yes, its just me. One moment, its electronics, then its model kits, then its comics, then its the Wife, then its photography, then its.... well, you get the picture. Sometimes, I just wonder why I am doing all these when I should be doing something else. But then again, personally, I want to achieve something until to its completion so that I do not feel so empty in my life, even if I have a family now.

The 'Question of the day' is, "Why did I chose this model of all things?". I mean, its huge and well, that was the only think I can think of. Huge. If you must know, it is the British's main tank at that time and they were involved in the Dieppe Raid which had a very unfortunate high casualty result among the Canadians. One look at the tank and you know its that its heavily armoured, a bit too long and very very destructive.

But do I care about this? No. What I wanted from this kit were its tracks for some other project which at this moment, is too early for me to reveal.

The box for the kit is surprisingly quite sturdy, despite it
was made from thinner cardboard. But I can't help feeling
that it might just fail one day when I stack it with other
model kits. Or maybe, I am just used to sturdier boxes of
Trumpeteer which looked very rugged and well, coarse.

There were other Churchill models in Hobby HQ but I
chose this one because it has individual track links
along with the usual vinyl ones. The individual track
links will definitely make the model look more realistic
because in real tanks, the tracks actually sag, which
something vinyl tracks cannot do.

I have never seen so much 'glass' in a tank before but
then again, like all manufacturers, every part is on the
sprue and you only use what you needed for a specific
version of the model. So, I would not be surprised
with the amount of parts left over once the model is
completed. In other words, model like these are a
boon for those kitbashers.

I am very pleasantly surprised
at the kind of detail and moulding
technology from AFV. Just take
a look at the mortar. Its round and
usually, you need to glue to halves
to get it to look like that. Years ago,
apart from Bandai, I have never
seen other manufacturers being
able to do such moulding.

Now, this is the reason why I chose this model. The
assembly diagrams shows that the bottom half of
the model is not a complete piece but rather, made
up of two sides of the tracks and lots of flat sheets to
make up the bottom shell. This means I can now just
use the completed tracks on its own.

Another reason is these 'springs' for the track/wheel
assembly which at first glance, it just a faux spring
suspension. Right?

Wrong. There are some metal springs which you need
to put over it. Now, since I have not built this model
yet, I cannot say for sure, how the tracks will behave
when the tank is placed over an obstacle and under
its own plastic weight. I would just have to bite the
bullet and hope that it is everything I hoped that
it would be.

That is, if I have the patience to assembly the individual
track links first...

And so, there you have it. a very nice model with a lot of 'realistic' parts. But knowing me, its not going to end up as what is should be but rather, another part for my alternative designs. But don't let my weird interest stop you from getting this model. This kit has a lot of detailed parts and especially with the individual tracks (you usually have to but them separately) and metal springs, thrown in, its a real bargain. Try it even if you don't do tanks.