Well, Gentlemen ... Christmas Eve and I at home without being able to build my kits because, my workbench is under construction... So, let's see some kits that I built and not published here. And as my last presentation was a AEC vehicle, we will continue in this brand, but with British markings...
AEC Mk I British Armoured Car. I built this beast in 2007...wow !!!
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| British Armoured Car AEC Mk I |
History
AEC Armoured Car is a series of heavy
armoured cars built by the
Associated Equipment Company (AEC) during the Second World War. The firm AEC of Southall, Middlesex was a manufacturer of truck and bus chassis and its
Matador artillery tractor was used for towing medium field and heavy anti-aircraft guns. The armoured car based on the Matador chassis was developed initially as a private venture and shown to officials in 1941 during
Horse Guards Parade in London, where it made a favourable impression on
Churchill. A total of 629 units were produced in 1942-1943.
AEC tried to build an armoured car with firepower and protection comparable to those of contemporary tanks. The first version carried a
Valentine Mk II turret with 2 pounder gun. Subsequent versions received more powerful armament - a 6 pounder or a 75 mm gun. The vehicle also carried two machine guns, smoke grenades discharger and
No. 19 radio set.
The Mk I was first used in combat in the
North African Campaign late in 1942, where a few vehicles were reportedly fitted with a
Crusader tank turret mounting a 6 pounder gun. The Mk II / Mk III took part in the fighting in Europe with British and British Indian Army units, often together with the
Staghound.
The vehicle remained in service after the end of the war until replaced by the
Alvis Saladin. The Lebanese Army used the car at least until 1976.
Variants
Mk I - original version with turret from a Valentine tank. 129 units built. Equipped with turret armed with a gun of 2-pdr (40 mm) and a coaxial machine-gun Besa of 7.92 mm. These two weapons pointed in elevation of -15° to +15°. The traverse of the turret was assisted but for the elevation the shoulder of the gunner was used. The AEC Mark I was also equipped with a grenade thrower (smoke-producing) and an anti-aircraft machine-gun Bren .303cal (7.7 mm). Carrying in ammunition was of 58 rounds for the 40 mm, 2925 rounds for Besa of 600 rounds for Bren. The shielding had a thickness varying between 6.35 mm and 57 mm. The driver was installed in front of the vehicle, the station of combat and the turret in the center and the engine at the back. In the turret the commander was located on the right and the gunner on the left.
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| AEC Mk I in the African Campaign |
Mk II - heavier turret with a 6 pounder gun, redesigned front hull, 158 hp diesel engine.
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| AEC Mk II with 6pdr. gun |
Mk III - It was nearly identical (some minor modifications) to Mark II but was equipped with an armament even more powerful (a gun of 75 mm). It accomodated moreover one fourth man of crew.
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| AEC Mk III with 75mm gun |
AA - a version mounting
Crusader AA turret with twin Oerlikon cannon capable of high elevation to engage enemy aircraft. Did not enter production due to Allied air superiority in Northern Europe.
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| AEC Mk III AA with Oerlikon 20mm twin guns |
| AEC Armoured Car |
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| Place of origin | United Kingdom |
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| Production history |
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| No. built | 129 |
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| Specifications |
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| Weight | 11 tonnes |
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| Length | 5.18 m |
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| Width | 2.74 m |
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| Height | 2.54 m |
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| Crew | 3 |
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| Armor | 16–65 mm |
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Main armament
| Mk I: QF 2 pounder |
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Secondary armament
| 1 x Besa machine gun, 1 x Bren light machine gun. |
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| Engine | AEC 195 diesel
105–158 hp (78–118 kW) |
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| Power/weight | Mk I: 9.5 hp/tonne |
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| Suspension | wheel 4x4 |
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Operational
range
| 400 km |
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| Speed | 58–65 km/h |
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The kit:
I build my AFV with the mix-media kit from Maquette. This is the box art:
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| Maquette AEC Mk I |
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| Maquette's booklet |
The kit presents resin parts (wheels and hull) and plastic (turret):
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| mix-media kit |
The resin parts was well casted and aligned, with no warps or twists...In this case, Maquette surprised me wonderfully well...
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| cutting the resin... |
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| resin parts of the hull cleaned |
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| chassi alignment...Smooth and easy...left view |
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| hull and chassi - front view |
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| hull and chassi - right view |
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| adding details... |
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| upper hull - almost ready.. |
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| belly details...the alignment is very important... |
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| done !!! |
Building the fenders. Much care in this stage...
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| fenders with superglue...notice the pin and hole... |
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| pin and hole... |
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| Fenders in perfect alignment... |
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| fenders - under view |
Suspension and transmission time:
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| Mechanical parts... |
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| Installing the leaf semi-elliptical springs |
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| The transmission axis and transfer cases... |
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| testting the wheels, Gents...wheels !!! |
When the hull dries, I'll build the turret...Oh, my God...Maquette strikes again !!!! See the gun mantlet...
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| Jesus !!!! |
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| The (in)famous Maquette Control of Quality !!! |
Plastic and putty for surgery...
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| the surgery of the mantlet... |
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| the turret alignment..awful!!! Plasticard to reinforce the joint... |
The plastic parts were rotten, but the parts in resin, excellent... Who understands Maquette??
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| resin front bumper and little details... fixing with plasticard a little fracture... |
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| The girl is growing... |
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| details from my spare parts box... |
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| On your feet, Soldier !!! |
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| Valentine tank turret |
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| adding details with metal wire |
In this stage, I decided scratch the sand rails with aluminium foil (beer can)
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| metal surgery... |
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| sand rails done !!! |
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| plasticard scratch... |
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| ...for sand rails... |
It's the primer time:
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| primer |
And desert yellow, with tonal variations:
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| Painting the wheels...(barbecue sticks for clean job) |
I decided baptize my girl of Maggie (nickname of Margaret, a beautiful British name for my beautiful girl). This is my decals, made with Laserjet and transparent decal film. Desert markings
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| Panzerserra's decals... |
The girl almost complete:
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| adding decals and painting the sand rails... |
Desert markings: Maggie !!!
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| the best part: decals !!! |
And Maggie was born !!!
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| AEC Mk I - "Maggie" - African Desert - 1942 |
I decided correct the pistol port of the turret (the Maquette kit uses a turret with pistol port reversed). As there is a version of this car without the pistol port in the turret, I decided to eliminate one as it is much less laborious than making a correct one. I switched the 2 pdr. gun barrel in plastic by a metal one from RB Models (much better..).
And I also closed the turret hatch. With that,
Maggie was definitely ready !! See the pics below:
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AEC Mk I British armoured car "Maggie"
Western Desert, 1942. |
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AEC Mk I with kojak and
Rover, the dog. |
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AEC Mk I British armoured car "Maggie"
Western Desert, 1942. |
See you soon, Lads!!
And I also closed the turret hatch. With that, Maggie was definitely ready !! See the pics below:
Merry Christmas from Germany, Marcos! Like that stuff, VERY BRITISH!
ResponderExcluirRichard
Hi, Richard !!!
ResponderExcluirMerry Xmas to you, too...
In july, I traveled by Germany, in vacation. What wonderful country...Congrats !!!
hello marcos merry christmas from france and a wonderful original vehicle to add to your collection, I also like your so "british" humour with Churchill.
ResponderExcluirhubert
Hi, Hubert !!!
ResponderExcluirJoyeux Noël, mon ami ....
Une bonne année nouvelle!
Cheers !!!
congratulations, amigo. the kit is really ugly and you did excellent surgery on it!
ResponderExcluirFeliz Navidad!
Hi, Bizarre...Thanks for the comments !!!
ResponderExcluirA big hug and happy new year ...