Panzerserra Bunker- Military Scale Models in 1/35 scale: Churchill Mk IV - NA 75

Lads...
Time for another kit....and again, another British Girl.

I´ll introduce to you the amazing Churchill Mk IV NA 75. I built this beast in 2009, but she's still one of my best kits in my collection.

Churchill Mk IV NA75 roaring in an Italian village

The same pic above, colorised.

History:

While on campaign in Tunisia a young Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineer (R.E.M.E.) officer, Captain Percy Morrell, noted the tank crews of the 21st and 25th Tank Brigades complaints about the poor performance of the 6pdr with HE.

Capt. Percy Morell

As the second in command of the 665 Tank Troops Workshop, R.E.M.E, Captain Morrell oversaw the scrapping of battle-damaged vehicles. During this process he noted the large numbers of Sherman 75mm guns that remained intact despite the damage to the remainder of the tank. What if these could be mounted on the Churchill?

His idea found its way to his commanders and the idea was soon presented to Major General W.S. Tope. Under the threat of “get this right and you’ll go far, stuff it up and your military career will go no further”, a new Churchill IV was presented for test conversion.

The conversion was a complete success; the Churchill actually proved a superior platform to the Sherman, the added weight of the Churchill improving accuracy. The conversion process presented few major issues. The Sherman mantlet was modified to increase elevation and the breech mounting was rotated 180 degrees to move the breech feed from the left to right to suit the Churchills crew positions.

Sherman 75mm. M3. Gun - standard assembly

The same gun adapted for the NA 75 Churchill. Notice the breech aperture turned in 180°

The Churchill Mk IV turret modified with american guns: 75mm cannon and .30 coaxial Browning, plus yankee periscope for the gunner

The combination proved successful, with the Churchill being an excellent gun platform.

Churchill Mk IV - NA75 - "BOYNE"

Approximately 120 Churchill tanks were converted to take the 75mm gun between April and June 1944. The name NA75 comes from North Africa (NA) where the conversions took place, and 75 is for the gun. Churchill Mk IV - NA 75 tanks were sent into action in Italy in June 1944 with the 21st and 25th Tank Brigades.

Churchill Mk IV NA 75

Specs:

George Bradford drawing

Tank, Infantry, Mk IV (A22) - NA 75
Type	Infantry tank
Place of origin	United Kingdom
Service history
In service	1942-1943 (British Empire)

Production history
Designer	Vauxhall Motors (A22)
Manufacturer	Regimental Workshops of 1st British Army
Produced	1942 to 1943
Number built	120

Specifications
Weight	39600 Kg
Length	7.44 m
Width	3.25 m
Height	2.49 m
Crew	5 (commander, gunner, loader/radio operator, driver, co-driver/hull gunner)

Armour	16 to 102 mm
Main armament	75 mm Gun M3 on M34 mount - 75 rounds
Secondary armament	2 x 7.62 mm .30cal M1919A4 MG
Engine	Bedford horizontally opposed twin-six petrol engine 350 hp (261 kW) at 2,200 rpm
Power/weight	9.1 hp/tonne
Transmission	Merritt-Brown 4 speed constant mesh epicyclic gearbox
Suspension	coiled spring
Operational range	90 km
Speed	24 km/h
Steering system	triple differential steering in gearbox

The kit:
To built this girl, I used an old Tamiya Churchill Crocodile and a conversion kit from Legend.

Old Legend conversion kit for the Churchill NA 75

Churchill Crocodile, from tamiya

This conversion kit required tons and tons of surgery ....First step: cutting the suspension sponsons to adapt the resin parts.

Adapting the Legend parts

The front hull must be changed, too...

Legend front hull in position...

Putty to seal the gaps....

The Crocodile retrofitted to Mk IV.

The images talk thousands words:

Using Legend photo-etched parts:

The hull, almost ready....

The turret building. The turret's ring was too narrow. I put a plasticard stripe to fix the error and add latches.

latches made with plasticard

I added a RB Models Sherman 75mm gun and a mantlet shield (the Legend shield was twisted) from my spare parts box .

increasing details in the Legend turret

notice the .30 caliber in resin.

The track front guides in metal. Legend parts. notice that the hull machinegun is still a Besa. This error will be corrected later

right side of the NA 75 under construction. The metal Besa is RB Models.

rear view

Adding accessories and finishing the building...

Painting time:

gray primer

British green, by Jove !!!

I used the Tamiya's tracks. No problem...

love the Churchill tank with tracks exposed....

The kit, ready for markings.

For the markings, I did this profile:

Churchill Mk IV NA-75

When I was in the final stages of construction of the kit, I was alerted by Roy Chow that the hull machine gun was a Browning .30 and not a Besa. This change was made as a matter of standardization of ammunition carried by the tank. Nothing more logical...
The fix was easy .... It was just remove the Besa barrel and put a Browning. As I had kept the coaxial gun in resin, I would not use a metal barrel on the hull, because they would be very different. I decided to put a plastic barrel on the hull, to become more homogeneous with the turret one.