Tongde Churchill Mk Vii ....toy or model

[KeithT]

Hi Everyone, when I introduced myself back in October, I mentioned that my Churchill had just arrived. Having had a good look at it, I was seriously disappointed. It seemed to lack detail and there were some glaring inaccuracies. For me, the Churchill was not at all up to the quality of the Coolbank Crusader I had just finished, this was after a gap of about 30 years of doing any modelling.
I resisted the urge to put it straight onto eBay and after a visit to Bovington (I'm lucky enought to be just an hour away) to take some pictures of their Mk Vii (crocodile) and viewing lots of images of other people's, mostly 1/35 models, plus contemporary photos, I decided to try to improve the "toy" and attempt some weathering for the first time ever.
I guess some folks find some inaccuracies irritating while others are happy to live with these yet cannot tolerate other "issues".
For me the 3 mm gap where the rear deck joins the rear vertical plate and the "step" on the front deck, were probably the 2 errors that made me contemplate eBay. This was closely followed by the innacurate periscopes,
First job was to saw down the four location points for the join between the hull and the deck. This was surprisingly easy and immediately fixed the "gap" and step issues. I fortunately kept the sawn off pieces as they'd be needed later in the build, although I didn't know this at the time. Next the 2nd drivers periscope needed reducing in height and detail needed to be added around the drivers and co-drivers periscopes as well as covers to all five scopes. As the build was done (and is still in progres over about 10 weeks it's hard to remember what wss done and in which order. I think next step was textuing the turret and adding welds to the turret top and where the top was attached to the cast turret. All this was totally new to me however there is guidance from this site and YouTube, for which I am deeply grateful I'll add some pictures now and post more later in the week...
Files too large I'll have to reduce them and post later

[PainlessWolf]

Good Afternoon!
I am interested in seeing some 'Before' pictures of your Churchill showing the gaps in the upper and lower. Your mention is not the first time I had heard of this issue with the Tank. The basic detailing and accessories are something I am used to from early Heng Long releases and will be updated once I get around to doing a Build on this Tank. Mine had no gap issues fortunately and the only build quality issue that I noticed was one panel of the top loaders hatch does not lay flat. I worked on the hatch a few minutes when I first got the Tank charged up to test but can see it will need some re fitting. The Tank is a solid runner and the metal tracks and suspension give it some heft. Looking forward to seeing what you do to yours.
regards,
Painless

[jhamm]

Hello,
here pictures:

Churchill-21042024-002.jpg (386.5 KiB) Viewed 135 times

Churchill-21042024-003.jpg (382.31 KiB) Viewed 135 times

Churchill-21042024-004.jpg (400.68 KiB) Viewed 135 times

Churchill-21042024-005.jpg (406.75 KiB) Viewed 135 times

[Kaczor]

Unfortunately, different RC "toys" require more or less work to become closer to the original. My Churchill is still under construction because of these missing details:
viewtopic.php?t=37068

[ColemanCollector]

Currently, Tongde and Coolbank are more on the toy side of things. But that's where we come in! They all make concessions (HL/Torro?Taigen included) to make the molded bodies and parts feasible to produce and economical in price. Some interesting discussions on the Coolbank facebook site over the use of Phillips head bolts/screws vs hexhead. All about cost and production streamlining. So for excellent detail you have Tamiya due to the model kit process. But, prices are eyewatering.

I'm pretty sure you'll see Tongde and Coolbank evolve and become more sophisticated, and by all accounts the Crusader is a good omen.

Mike.

[KeithT]

Cast texture to turret and back to turret bon

Screenshot_20251216-224831_Photos.jpg (1.33 MiB) Viewed 113 times

Deck lowered and mods to periscopes

Screenshot_20251216-224809_Photos.jpg (1.37 MiB) Viewed 113 times

Churchill in black undercoat

Screenshot_20251216-224856_Photos.jpg (1.49 MiB) Viewed 113 times

White highlights

Screenshot_20251216-224935_Photos.jpg (1.22 MiB) Viewed 113 times

[KeithT]

Quickest way to reduce photo size was to take screenshot. Thanks for adding gap / step photos. This issue can also be seen in the images on the Motion RC site. So I guess it's a problem with the majority of the Churchills.
To avoid dragging on the deck scratching paintwork, the turret needs to be raised 1mm. I did this by adding a ring of plastic card to the turret base. This of course raises the turret ring which no longer engages with the turret motor gear. This is where the cut off parts of the hull bosses come in. I used these cut and shaped to lower the turret ring. While doing this I made new teeth in the turret ring, using a file and soldering iron to cut new teeth so allowing 360 degree rotation. Care needs to be taken using this feature to ensure cables aren't stressed!
Next was a coat of black primer followed by white highlights. Top coat was AK interactive SCC No 15 Olive Drab, in several light coats which to me looks fairly authentic. This was the first time for me using an airbrush and did indeed prove challenging at first and I'm glad I could practice on the undercoat lol. After a few weeks, I now feel pretty confident with the airbrush having gone through all the pain of learning.

[KeithT]

Hull after olive green topcoat

Screenshot_20251216-232849_Photos.jpg (1.55 MiB) Viewed 104 times

How the Churchill is looking now

Screenshot_20251216-232949_Photos.jpg (1.59 MiB) Viewed 104 times

Vane sight in primer & not yet attached

Screenshot_20251216-233021_Photos.jpg (1.68 MiB) Viewed 104 times

[KeithT]

I've added some details including lenses in the lights additional spare track ( more to come ) a scratch built "birdcage" vane sight which i think is somewhat over-scale. I might have to remake smaller
I have some stowage which needs painting and lots of spare track also got some waterslide transfers (decals) in order to make it into BRITON blatantly plagiarising a 1:35 model I saw on YouTube.
Also I've experimented with panel lining. I initially tried black but I didn't like it, just looked harsh and unrealistic. I settled on "old rust" which I think looks ok.
Once everything is added including transfers, I'm going to try a light spray of "dust" around the wheels and lower hull. I'll post some more images of the finished Model providing this last stage doesn't ruin it

[Herr Dr. Professor]

Given the quality of reworking and re-detailing you have accomplished, I was surprised that this was your first experience with an airbrush. Nonetheless, you've learned to handle the airbrush faster than Superman changes in a telephone booth. Thank you for all the explanation and photos. I have a Crusader waiting for work, and I will have your example to follow, no matter how fumbling I may be.