Ladies and Gentlemen...
Today lets know one of the prototypes that originated the fast and deadly
British Tank Cruiser A27 Cromwell. Let me introduce to you the
A23 Vauxhall prototype Cromwell II.
History:
The
Cromwell tank, officially Tank, Cruiser, Mk VIII, Cromwell (A27M), was one of the series of cruiser tanks fielded by Britain in the Second World War
(see more about Cromwell cruiser tan, in this Bunker's post...).
Named after the English Civil War leader
Oliver Cromwell, the cruiser tank Cromwell was the first tank put into service by the British to combine high speed from a powerful and reliable engine, the
Rolls-Royce Meteor with a reasonable armour. The intended dual-purpose high velocity gun could not be fitted in the turret and the medium velocity dual purpose gun fitted proved inadequate. An improved version with a high velocity gun became the
Comet A34 cruiser tank.
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| A34 Comet from 11th Armoured Division roaring through a German village- 1945. |
The development of the Cromwell and Centaur dates to 1940, as the
Crusader tank was being readied for service. The General Staff was aware that the Crusader would become obsolete, and in late 1940 they set out the specifications for a replacement tank, expected to enter service in 1942, fitted with the
QF 6 pounder gun. In 1943 Churchill production was scheduled to end and Vauxhall who had been building Churchills until then and were to build Cromwells, in the future.
In the end of 1942,
Vauxhall built the
A23 cruiser tank prototype Cromwell II, a scaled down version of their
A22 Churchill infantry tank, armed with Ordnance QF rifled 57mm, 6-pdr Mark III (43 caliber), the first version designed for use in tanks.
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| Cromwell II prototype with Vauxhall turret with 6pdr. gun Mk.III - 43 caliber |
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Cromwell II prototype with Vauxhall turret with 6pdr. gun Mk.III - 43 caliber
right top side |
It was mounted co-axially with a 7.92mm BESA air-cooled machine gun and a sighting telescope (No 39 Mk IS) on the left.. This would had 75mm of frontal armour, used a 12-cylinder Bedford engine, carried a crew of five and would had the cast/welded turret like A22 Churchill design in the Cromwell hull. Vauxhall completed them with this new composite turret featuring cast sides and a welded roof, but the resulting
Cromwell II never went into production. The Churchills proved very successful in Tunisia... so, production was to continue and Vauxhall would build no more Cromwells.
In Vauxhall, the prototype Churchill turret would be slightly modified and would become the turret of the Churchill VII. And it's exactly this prototype that we will try to reproduce in a 1/35 scale. But first, see a true Churchill in a top of a Cromwell!!
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Winston Churchill inspects a Cromwell Mk IV tank of No. 2 Squadron, 2nd (Armoured Reconnaissance) Battalion,
Welsh Guards, at Pickering in Yorkshire, 31 March 1944. The tank is named 'Blenheim'.
The tank was the mount of Major John Ogilvie Spencer,
commander the No. 2 Squadron, and later killed in Belgium on 9 September 1944. |
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Specs:
| Cromwell II prototype - Vauxhall turret |
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| Type | Cruiser tank |
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| Place of origin | United Kingdom |
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| Service history |
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| In service | never |
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| Used by | British Army |
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| Wars | World War II |
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| Production history |
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| Designer | Vauxhall |
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| Manufacturer | Vauxhall |
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| No. built | 01 (?) |
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| Specifications |
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| Mass | 28.0 t |
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| Length | 6.35 m |
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| Width | 2.908 m |
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| Height | 2.49 m |
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| Crew | 5 (Commander, gunner, loader/radio operator, driver, front gunner) |
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| Armour | 76 mm |
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Main
armament
| Ordnance QF rifled 57mm, 6-pdr Mark III (43 caliber) |
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Secondary
armament
| 2 x 7.92 mm Besa machine gun
with 4,950 rounds |
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| Engine | Bedford engine 12 cylinder |
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| Power/weight | 21.4 hp (16 kW) / tonne |
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| Transmission | Merritt-Brown Z.5 gearbox (five forward and one reverse gear) driving rear sprockets |
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| Suspension | Improved Christie |
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| Ground clearance | 410 mm |
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| Fuel capacity | 500 l |
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Operational
range
| 270 km on roads -130 km cross country |
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| Speed | 60 km/h |
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The kit:
For this project, I'll use the old Centaur hull, from Tamiya, that had been left over from an old project that I used the turret, in the
Matilda II 6pdr.. As the
Law on the Conservation of Modeling Matters says:
"In scale models, nothing is lost, everything is transformed ..."
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| Tamiya kit - British Cruiser Tank Mk.VIII,A27L(#35232) |
But enough with the ramblings and let's go to the fight: here is a photo with some more visible changes that I will have to make in my kit:
- Different shape of the air intake / exhaust at the rear
- Different shape of the stowage compartment
- Early type commander cupola
- 6pdr. short barreled gun with mantlet
- Rectilinear fenders (front and rear)
- Different shape of the driver's hatch
- Gunner's harch with long-axis orientation
- Rounded pistol port
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| Tons of fun by ahead!! |
First of all, the turret: my old Churchill Mk VII was in very bad shape. I removed the original mantel and installed a Mk.III mantel from my spare parts box. As the gunner's hatch was angled on the Churchill Mk.VII and in the Vauxhall prototype it is aligned with the long axis of the turret,
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Left: AFV Club Churchill MkIII roof turret; middle: Tamiya Churchill Mk VII roof and right,
Tamiya's turret Mk VII. Notice the "new" mantlet and breech gun from AFV Club |
I found it easier to change the entire turret roof than to graft the hatch. Something like this:
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| The tamiya's turret with AFV Club roof. Gunner's hatch fixed!! |
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| After plastic internal reinforcements and putty, the new roof appeased Chuck!! |
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The diameter of the Centaur turret was a little too large for the Churchill turret socket.
Like a glove!!! |
Oh my God!!
I was forgetting to make the structural reinforcement crease on the outer side of the front fenders!
Let's do it!!
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| First of all, remove the paint in the region, for better adhesion on the plastic ... |
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| Gluing a 0.4mm Plastruct rod as a reinforcement crease... |
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| Same recipe for the other side... |
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After painting with a brush using the same color variations applied to the fender..
Like a glove!!
|
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| Right fender!! Ufff...done!! |
And the rare girl was finally ready !! Here is the prototype of the Cromwell II with Vauxhall turret - A23 cruiser tank prototype:
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| Cromwell II with Vauxhall turret - A23 cruiser tank prototype |
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| Cromwell II with Vauxhall turret - A23 cruiser tank prototype |
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| Cromwell II with Vauxhall turret - A23 cruiser tank prototype - left view |
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| Cromwell II with Vauxhall turret - A23 cruiser tank prototype - right side |
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| Cromwell II with Vauxhall turret - A23 cruiser tank prototype with Kojak and Rover, the dog. |
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Cromwell II with Vauxhall turret - A23 cruiser tank prototype
Kojak is proud with his rare girl!!
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Cromwell II with Vauxhall turret - A23 cruiser tank prototype and
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| Two Crommies in line!! |
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| Front eyes!! |
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Cromwell II with Vauxhall turret - A23 cruiser tank prototype
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Thanks for following, Ladies & Gentlemen...
... and syphilis in the Coronavirus !!
