RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

Hello all,

I bought a churchill kit from Ludwigs recently and just started putting it together. This is my first build of any of his kits, as well as my first foray into any sort of kit building like this in general, so its been an interesting experience so far. But as I wait for things to dry and look forward in what is left to do, as well as what I am doing now, I have been building up a barrage of questions I have no answer for. If any of you have built this could you please chime in your thoughts?


For now I just want to continue as I am, but I don't understand entirely how the gearbox is supposed to mount. From ludwig's instructions I take my two styrene mounting plates and angle them in the back of the hull with the channels provided in the hull serving to line them up correctly and stacking them both provides the proper mounting height. This seems easy enough.

But I don't get how its supposed to actually thread in- I have the stug gearboxes from ludwigs for this, and they came with a small bag of screws and two thing plates I assume are for mounting it to other vehicles...? I don't see any pictures with them in the instructions. But the holes in the styrene are a good bit larger than the screws included - that said they are offset enough from the gearbox mount holes that I guess they might thread against the edges of the hole? This doesn't seem right at all though, correct me if I am wrong.

Christian's kits are in a class of their own, but the accompanying instructions are..shall we say.. a bit limited. Quite a few crucial details will appear to be missing to the new, and enthusiastic, first time scratch builder.. Maybe that's because Chris assumes that 'old hands' won't need a manual as long as 'War and Peace', to complete the assembly. A smattering of blurry pics and a paucity of written instructions should suffice. He's probably right; but as a fellow first timer I can confirm that more detail would be appreciated, as well as more 'DOs and DON'ts'.
If the plates can fit between the motors/gearboxes, and line up with the holes in the hull walls, then they may be there to add a little stiffness to the setup. If not, perhaps they are for another model. Here's the thing; you'll need to improvise.
I had to work out how to fit the motors to my Cromwell, and that came with no instructions (online or otherwise), nor any mounting screws; but that's another story.
You'll need two or three screws per motor, and screws that can self--tap into the styrene without stressing it too much. Unless, that is, there's room on the other side of the mounting plate to accommodate nut and bolt arrangement.
Good luck anyway, and enjoy. His kits are brilliant, but can be a source of self-inflicted torture for the builder

The kits are in a class by themselves......so are the instructions.

Another option- a direct one- (and it's not admitting defeat) would be to email Chris and ask how he fitted the motors. I'm sure he'll put you on the right track. Having just has a quick look at the photos of his build, I can't see any additional
plates/ gaskets, or whatever, in use. You have the correct orientation though: mounting plate on a slope or bevel, with gear units attached to that. Unfortunately, there are no closeup shots available. Nor any text.