Which specific Churchill variant is the Black dog resin model kit designed to represent? Apologies for my lack of knowledge regarding the Churchill tank series…
ahh I got it, thanks
Quick Churchill recognition lesson, then
It has rectangular side doors, which makes it not a Mk. VII or VIII, as those had round doors. It’s also not a Mk. I, II or V because the gun is a 6-pounder[1], so that leaves a Mk. III or IV. It’s hard to say from this photo, but if the turret is angular it’s a Mk. III while if it’s cast then it’s a Mk. IV. From the full box art, I conclude it’s a Mk. IV ![]()
You could add a muzzle brake to the gun to make it a Mk. IV* (with 75 mm gun), or add a muzzle brake, a small plate on the lower right side of the turret and an extra antenna mount on the rear turret roof to make it a Mk. VI.
(Note also that whoever built the kit for the Black Dog box art, put the air intakes upside down … And the amount of stowage on the back deck is ridiculous. The crew would never be able to service the transmission and have a difficult time with the engine. Even more importantly, they can’t even refuel the tank or top up transmission and engine oil without removing half of that pile of junk.)
The gun has no muzzle brake, but is too thick for a 2-pounder ↩︎
AFAIK, Black Dog stuff is not renowned for its accuracy ![]()
H.P.
Thank you for providing the accurate and vivid introduction. By the way, I would like to ask if there is any difference between the MK3 and MK4 types in terms of the chassis? Currently, I only have these two Dragon kit options.
Only the turret is different between the Mks. III, IV, V and VI, they all have the same hull. There are small differences in the hulls of Mks. I and II compared to the later variants, but in 1:72 you would probably be hard-pressed to notice them (other than the early vs. the normal air intakes, but that affects very early Mk. I tanks only).
The old Tamiya book about the Churchill is still a pretty good resource for seeing the differences between the marks, though like almost everyone, it seems to be confused about the Mk. VI. A good site about the tank is Armour in Focus, though I must add it’s not that well-written. It has a lot of detailed information on the tank, but you will need to read back and forth to make sense of some of it — the site has a tendency to talk about things as if you already know them, but only explain about those things further down. There is also a good deal of information in this thread on Missing-Lynx.
The Mk. IV NA 75, as I suppose you already know, is a Mk. IV with the gun and its shield from a Sherman grafted on. They were used only in the Italian campaign.
Thank you for the introduction. It seems I can choose a Churchill Mk.IV kit as the base for the Black Dog resin conversion set, since I won’t be using that NA 75 turret anyway. Additionally, I’d like to ask whether the front fenders on the Mk.IV hull are a single-piece casting?
A 3” howitzer sticking out the front of the hull is a small difference?
The Mk. IV NA 75 is a standard Mk. IV other than the new gun, so yes, you can easily just put the Black Dog turret onto its hull.
Churchill mudguards are very complicated things
Rather than try to explain it in words, I’ll just show this diagram from the instructions of an AFV Club 1:35 scale kit:
There would normally also be rounded sections at the front, like in the box art for the Dragon Mks. III and IV NA 75 you posted earlier, but crews often removed them. The centre sections, parts B18 and B31, were also often removed in muddy terrain, because mud built up under them, which eventually would push these sections upward against the turret, jamming it.
It is for the purpose of discussing the differences between the hulls themselves.
Thank you very much for a lot of new information. It´s unexpected end of the year - a real pleasuse of an source of information. Thank you.
Are these Dragon models good? I´m asking because I heard, that some part of Dragon models are too simplified and too expensive, in addition.
This Dragon Churchill model’s quality isn’t as good as their Sherman series. The main issue is that there are no compatible 3D-printed tracks available for it, so I had to stick with the original rubber tracks. However, its market price is much lower than the Sherman series—I bought it for less than 100 RMB.
Thank you. These 100RMB - is it the price in your friend´s “private shop”
? And what kind of glue do you use for these rubber tracks? Cyanoacrylate one?
No, this Churchill kit was bought on Taobao, where their average price is around 80 RMB. I did use instant adhesive to bond the rubber tracks.
Thank you.





