Scratchbuilt Churchill Mk.IV AVRE SBG
Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2023 2:10 pm
Hello guys,
My next project will be a Churchill Mk.IV AVRE.
It will have the metal DKLMRC tracks.
There is a nice Mk.IV AVRE at Graye-sur-Mer. It's story is quite nice, itt felt in a hole on June 6th, 1944, trying to put a fascine in it. Instead of recovering it, they let the Churchill in a the hole and use it as a bridge. Later, concret as been poured over it and it stayed there for decades. It has been recovered in the 70's I believe, in a perfect condition, just like it was on D Day. That's probably the Churchill with the most original parts on it.
Anyway, I let you find more on internet about that particular Churchill, but this is not the one I'm going to model (because it has the early heavy tracks), and I had already seen it a lot of time in the past so when I was in Normandy again in October, I decided to see another Churchill I had never seen before.
This is a Churchill Mk.IV (not AVRE) which is very rusty, but a very good candidate for photogrammetry. You can find it a Colleville-Montgomery, Hillman site.
I took about 450 pics of it and then recreate it in 3D using photogrammetry. It will be my first reference when it comes to shape, size, thickness of the part etc...
You can see the result here :
Some things to take in mind : it's missing some armor plates, top rear engine doors, it has some boggie units from a Mk.1. etc...
To help me, I get the AFV Club Churchill AVRE from my wife for Christmas. It's a very nice kit, however the photogrammetry of the real Churchill will show that AFV club is wrong in many aspects. A nice base to help me figure things though.
I then started to 3D model the Churchill in 3D.
You can see the first draft here, the 3D model has been greatly improved since.
And the first styrene parts :
Left panier is more or less done, and you can see most (but not all) of the parts for the right panier.
My next project will be a Churchill Mk.IV AVRE.
It will have the metal DKLMRC tracks.
There is a nice Mk.IV AVRE at Graye-sur-Mer. It's story is quite nice, itt felt in a hole on June 6th, 1944, trying to put a fascine in it. Instead of recovering it, they let the Churchill in a the hole and use it as a bridge. Later, concret as been poured over it and it stayed there for decades. It has been recovered in the 70's I believe, in a perfect condition, just like it was on D Day. That's probably the Churchill with the most original parts on it.
Anyway, I let you find more on internet about that particular Churchill, but this is not the one I'm going to model (because it has the early heavy tracks), and I had already seen it a lot of time in the past so when I was in Normandy again in October, I decided to see another Churchill I had never seen before.
This is a Churchill Mk.IV (not AVRE) which is very rusty, but a very good candidate for photogrammetry. You can find it a Colleville-Montgomery, Hillman site.
I took about 450 pics of it and then recreate it in 3D using photogrammetry. It will be my first reference when it comes to shape, size, thickness of the part etc...
You can see the result here :
Some things to take in mind : it's missing some armor plates, top rear engine doors, it has some boggie units from a Mk.1. etc...
To help me, I get the AFV Club Churchill AVRE from my wife for Christmas. It's a very nice kit, however the photogrammetry of the real Churchill will show that AFV club is wrong in many aspects. A nice base to help me figure things though.
I then started to 3D model the Churchill in 3D.
You can see the first draft here, the 3D model has been greatly improved since.
And the first styrene parts :
Left panier is more or less done, and you can see most (but not all) of the parts for the right panier.