British Heavy tank Conqueror Mk2 1/35th scale Black Label kit

[petbat]

Richard, it was definitely an in service vehicle. It was deployed in Germany as part of BAOR. It had many innovations that have become standard since then, such as the ability of the commander to take control from his position, lay the gun and fire it…
Interesting training clip from 1956

Conqueror Tank Firing Control

20 Mk 1 were built, then 165 Mk 2.
28 ARV vehicles were made as well.

Whilst called out as Mk 1 and Mk2 there were actually iterations of the Mk 2 build - 3 sufficiently different to call out.

Grouser - the kit barrel is way out of scale and comparing it to the Aber one should just highlight that in a big way. Good call on getting a replacement.

Dragon issues on barrel a and missing fuel filler caps is just scratching the surface… check out the PMMS review for full details.
https://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/reviews/vehicles/dragon/dr3555.html

Not sure about your version Brian, but the 3 people in my club that bought the Dragon version all have exactly what Terry Ashley had for the review.

I have the Amusing Hobby Mk 1 version and whilst better in most respects, it still has its own faults. I touched on these in the Build a photo group build a while back if anyone is interested:

Build A Photo 2 Campaign

Made a start on the Conqueror. What a beast of a machine; it is huge. Anyway started with the Step 1 which was the suspension as usual. The kit comes with 2 suspension options, an all in one moulded piece or separate arms and a spring. I felt the spring was a bit anaemic for such a beast, so decided the all in one was a better option. I commenced removing a large section underneath the spring where there should be a void. [image] Having done that, and knowing much of all this will be covered…

Build A Photo 2 Campaign

Had to do a bit of scratch building for another model, so did some work on this at the same time. The Amusing Hobby kit has later model stowage bins provided. I am assuming they researched the ex-Littlefield, now at Bovington one. That was refurbished and the bins are not correct for a mark 1. [image] [image] The issue is the corner is cut off on later versions, but the mark 1’s are perfect rectangles. Not a big issue to fix, just a matter off cutting into the bend on the side piece so you c…

Build A Photo 2 Campaign

Yes, they are parts of the hatch locking system. The interesting part is they are located differently to the kit but overall this pic has a lot of differences to the kit, but also many differences to actual period vehicle pics. Compare the aspects of the cut out/raised area on the side of the bolted plate and the notch at the rear of the plate in the video capture to this pic. [image] Note also a prominent bolt on the gun mantlet not visible as a bump under the canvas cover in the video stil…

Build A Photo 2 Campaign

Okay, I am officially not doing the picture that I chose. I have struck some issues: I can’t for the life of me (or with the help of friends) make anything that looks like splashing water - at least reasonable enough. Tried various methods and it all looks awful and really fake. I added the canvas cover around the mantlet and forgot to do the surgery required to enable the barrel to be raised sufficient to match the picture. The PVA/water mix I used on the mantlet cover seeped through into th…