Construction, Combat Engineer, and Bridging Equipment

[nev]

OK, so yesterday I picked up the 1/76 Revell (ex matchbox) Churchill AVRE.

So now I need a suitable platform to stick them on.  Pershing?  KV-1?  I think a Sherman might topple over....

[Captain Canada]

Do somat with an articulated trailer, maybe another Sherman. Tanks always look better in pairs.

Or you could use it in a diorama.....especially with the talent you have for painting wee figures.

 

[Geoff_B]

A Centurion hull might do for a post war one, to be honest the Churchill is kinda the ideal hull for it which is why some carried on in use to the 50's. How about a crusader tank as that has a longer and lower hull for than the Sherman but could be a tad lightweight for the job. The KV-1 might do as we did have some for trials along with the T-34 (russian were hoping we would build them instead of some of the stuff we were sending them.

Only mods i could see us doing to the Pershings might to replace the 90mm with a 17 pounder due to its better performance. As a medium to heavy tank we would likely keep them a heavy tankes to counter the German armour.

G

[nev]

But thats assuming the war ends in '45 and there are no more wars between then and Korea

[Mike Wren]

I've been planning a whole load of US Army Funnies which they should have used on D-Day; mine ploughs (plows), specialist bulldozers, fascine carriers, bridgelayers etc. all based on Shermans (& maybe Lees?), basically the same specialist gear as the British 79th, including Petard mortars

I'm gonna use some modified pontoon bridge sections which were really used on field modified ARVs in Italy & Germany, there are pics in the recent Concord book on US Funnies

so a Sherman with the turret removed & plated over carrying an SBG would look rather lovely, but as you said, add some big old counterweights on the rear of the hull...    

[nev]

Or you could use it in a diorama.....especially with the talent you have for painting wee figures.

Thanks Todd, I really, really enjoy painting those little white metal AB Figures.  Working on a couple more atm to go with my Cromwell.

I am tempted to do the Churchill AVRE as a real one and place it alongside my part completed Black Prince in a diorama to show the difference in size between the Churchill and the BP.

[jcf]

There was the Sherman Ark experimental:


From this page:
Funnies

So a turretless Sherman would probably be OK with the Matchbox bridge.

Cheers, Jon

[nev]

Just found a snippet of info that the Russians used old T-34s for bridging - they just drove them into the river and everything else drove over the top of them    

[Joe C-P]

I have some armor from my teenage years, including a couple Shermans. Some fun ideas there for re-purposing them.

Yes, they're in plastic, not wood and bone.    

[Captain Canada]

Yes, they're in plastic, not wood and bone.  

Well obviously ! We all know the wood rotted away a long, long time ago ! You meant dust and bone, didn't you !

I just noticed the track extensions on that Sherman bridge-layer thing....what's that for ? Traction ? Stability ?

Makes for a mean looking tank.........

 

[Mike Wren]

I just noticed the track extensions on that Sherman bridge-layer thing....what's that for ? Traction ? Stability ?

they look like Italian theatre duckbills, the standard ones weren't often available to they were made locally, usually quite a bit wider than the ones you see in NW Europe. they provide better flotation on mud

[Jeffry Fontaine]

http://www.revell.de/en/ RoG (English Page)

http://www.easykits.de/index.php?id=11&L=0 (German language only)

These are 1:32nd scale snap together kits of european manufactured construction equipment.  I was able to acquire a couple of these kits here in the states when they were first offered.  They are very detailed and are molded in the colors that you see in the attached links.  There are soft rubber tires with good tread detail.  While most of us would consider a snap together kit to be something that is quite basic in design, these are very well designed and assemble into a rather convincing model.  There are three vehicles in this series, see link for an image and kit description which is in German:


http://www.easykits.de/index.php?id=28 (link to page)
The L538 Wheel Loader can be assembled and painted in NATO three color camouflage or any other military finish and it will pass for a piece of military engineering equipment. 


http://www.easykits.de/index.php?id=29 (link to page)
The R900 Crawler Excavator will also pass muster with a good coat of paint. 


http://www.easykits.de/index.php?id=30 (link to page)
The A900 Wheeled Excavator is a different story, I personally have never seen one in real life and my first inclination is to take the cab from the wheeled base and mount it on an armored vehicle hull, maybe the MLRS or a tank hull. 

When I purchased these kits here in the states, the price was around $15.00 each.  Since that was a couple of years ago and the dollar has dropped in value, I am pretty sure that the next time we see these on the shelf the price will also be considerably higher.  If you want to build models of construction equipment in a scale that is close to your armor models, these are the only options you have that do not require taking out a second mortgage to purchase the kit.  It would be nice to see a fork lift and a bulldozer in this scale from Revell, perhaps that can happen if enough interest is taken in the existing kits. 

[Hobbes]

The A900 Wheeled Excavator is a different story, I personally have never seen one in real life

The A900 in particular, or wheeled excavators in general?

[B777LR]

I beleive a new Terminator movie should come out in 2009, featuring the war between the survivors and the computers. The surviving humans would need weapons, for which these could be good for fitting them on!

[Jeffry Fontaine]

The A900 in particular, or wheeled excavators in general?

Just the A900 excavator on wheels.  The other equipment is quite common over here and manufactured in a variety of sizes.  The wheeled version is not something I had seen before Revell released it as a kit.  It does make sense to have an excavator on wheels but around here they are most often mounted on a tracked chassis. 

The other models do provide sufficient detail to allow them to be used in a variety of construction type of dioramas and adding armor to them would not be much of  problem.  They are definitely cheaper than the Mig resin kit.