fabulous build Ezra, well done indeed.
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Looks like a repaint session is in order then… 
Fighting compartment mostly done just have to do the radio but I think till will require pre painting.
Actually I think I am at the stage where I need to do a good amount of painting. Except for the ammo bins nothing in the fighting compartment is glued down so I can paint easier, and before I glue the top and bottom hull together I think I’ll paint the bottom hull, suspension, and running gear as it’ll be tough when fully built it
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Nice progress, Mead!
Thanks for sharing the photos, Peter.
The colors on wheels and gun might be off a bit, Ezra, but it still looks good none the less!
Timing is everything… AAAM launched the first of a video series yesterday, on the rebuilding of their JP. At 1.24 in the video, you can see the stack of pieces and a clear shot of the never fitted piece of plate that I mentioned above:
Watch the full video here:
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Mead, looking at your build again and is a bit confused. I might be looking at this wrongly, but the archer is driving with the gun pointing to the rear? In a fixed superstructure?
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Mead that is looking really good
You are correct! The archer was a stop gap to mount the 17 pounder to help anti tank divisions have something that could defeat the heavier German armor. They decided to mount it to an obsolete chassis and chose the valentine. But the 17 pounder was far too long to give the crew a fighting compartment if the gun faced forward as the engine and transmission were in the way so they mounted it backwards. One plus is it could reverse (drive forward) out of trouble very fast
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Thanks! It’s a really fun kit, only a couple minor fit issues so far
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Did the same thing fitting a gun facing rearward as a prototype SPG on the Centurion tank. Search FV3085
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PS. There is a myth going around that the driver of the Archer had to get out of his seat or be decapitated when the gun was fired. The recoil was actually shortened on the 17 pounder fit to the Archer to account for the driver position. Made for a good story though…
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Yeah the chieftain talks about that myth in his inside the archer video. As he points out there is a recoil guard a few inches behind the drivers head. Would still be a very uncomfortable position to be in when that massive gun fired
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Did he sit there waiting to drive, or was he part of the gun crew until given the order to bug out? If the latter, he wouldn’t have been in the way…
Was supposed to stay put
He stayed put to reverse quickly if needed. He wasn’t technically in the way, but I have to imagine having a gun like the 17 pounder recoiling in he’s from your head wasn’t pleasant
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You’re kidding! Did he really? I’d have thought they’d jump at the chance to reduce the crew…
Nope! You’d think I’d make sense for a vehicle designed as ambush killer to reduce the crew by one but if you look at my build there will be 4 seats (I only have 3 so far)The driver, the loader near the ammo bins and the commander seat. There is a fourth I haven’t built yet for the gunner. The driver would sit there facing backwards (forward in reality) waiting to drive out of trouble
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Damn, interesting insights. In reality he might have gotten out of the way and ready to jump in to drive if given the order. Or maybe he just stayed put and lived with the uncomfortable situation.
Thanks for the cool insights 
No problem! It’s not a seat I would want. On one hand you likely aren’t going to take a direct hit, but if the vehicle caught fire it would be hard to get out fast. The seat is claustrophobically sandwiched between the ammo bin, a storage locker and the recoil guard
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Spent the day working on some delicate photo etch. The smoke generator photo etch was a bit frustrating. The fold lines made the PE too wide, so I angled the sides back, the Tamiya kit kind of makes it look like this is how they are supposed to be, but I couldn’t find a good photo. The grab handles are very tedious but quite easy using a jig I made copying plans form here: Bronco Models CB-35074 17pdr Self-Propelled Gun 'Archer'
Closing in on being able to start gluing storage boxes to the fenders, just 8 more grab handles before I can do that
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