The Crusader had such great lines that it's a shame that it was a total disaster as a battle tank, with tissue armour, a pop gun of a main armament and unreliable mechanics to boot. They shoe-horned a half reasonable six-pounder AT-gun into the turret, which left no room for a third man so that the commander also had to double as loader.
The width of the turret ring on British tanks was limited by the rail-guages on British railways in a wonderful example of the tail wagging the dog.
This is a Tamiya 1:48 kit for my 28 mil Brititish army detachment. It was sprayed with FoW Russian Green and coated with MIG black 'oil' wash. It was then drybrushed Revell olive green and highlighted in a Citadel grass green. Finally, Citadel textured paint was scraped on to 'mud' the model and Citdel brown wash used to blend the green tones.
It's sad that the good looking tanks usually were rubbish. :)
ReplyDeleteHow's the textured paint to work with?
It wouldn't have fared so bad but the engineers calculated the sloped armor to be much more resilient than it proved to be under enemy fire. Great looking mini though, I really like the mud.
ReplyDeleteGreat model. I was a bit startled by the shade of that mud though, as I have only seen mud that red in the southern US.
ReplyDeleteGreat work, John!
ReplyDeleteDear PX
ReplyDeleteI am sold on the textured paint. It dries hard very quickly and can be shaped and textured to make footprints etc.
John
Dear Chris
ReplyDeleteSomething was out in the calculations!
J
Dear MP
ReplyDeleteHave a look at Devonshire mud, aka Devonian period.
J.
Thanks Monty
ReplyDeleteJ
When I was little, it was my favourite tank to draw. (although my drawings usually showed it winning in toe to toe fights with Panthers....)
ReplyDeleteNice model, John. (looks into box of unbuilt tanks in the garage) I really should stop getting out more and build some tanks myself.
Dear ZZZ
ReplyDeleteIt's worth having a ruthless clearout sometimes.
J
You are also very wrong. The Crusader was VERY effective; where are you getting your history from? TV? The cruiser/Crusader chassis lead to some of the best tanks of the war. The 6lb gun was NOT a pop gun; it just had to be used correctly. The Russians LOVED this and the Valentine tanks (though Valentine DID have a 40mm POP gun)
ReplyDeleteYou have to know how to use LIGHT CAVALRY to use light tanks correctly.