Churchill AVRE

Plans for a return to the continent of Europe had been developing ever since the Dunkirk evacuation in 1940. However it was only by 1944 that the huge amount of men and equipment necessary for such an invasion would be ready. In the meantime the Germans had been building the ‘Atlantic Wall’, a series of fortifications along the coastline that they occupied, from northern Norway to the border with Spain. In August 1942 these defenses were tested in the disastrous raid by the Canadians at Dieppe. Very few tanks had been able to get off the beach to help the infantry, and the engineers who, without protection, were to help them do this suffered horrendous casualties from the German guns. The raid showed what some people already knew – that it was very difficult attacking a heavily defending coast, breaking through the defenses and getting off the beach. A lot of work would need to avoid another Dieppe on D-Day.

Experiments were already taking place in various parts of Britain looking at the problems of landing in the teeth of enemy fire. These experiments led to tanks that would swim ashore to support the first waves of troops; tanks that could flail the ground ahead of them to explode the mines that littered the beach; flame throwing tanks; and tanks that would help the engineers deal with other beach defenses – clear the concrete and steel obstacles, destroy pillboxes, and cross the anti-tank ditches that the Germans had dug to prevent the Allies getting off the beach.

In April 1943 all this work was brought together under one man, Major-General Sir Percy Hobart, and one unit – the 79th Armored Division. His job was to produce from all this development work fully trained and equipped units that would help the Allied forces break through the Atlantic Wall.  The Churchill AVRE (Assault Vehicle, Royal Engineers) was developed after the Dieppe raid in an attempt to make combat engineers less vulnerable while they were attempting to destroy enemy defenses.

The AVRE was developed from a suggestion made by Lieutenant J. J. Denovan of the Royal Canadian Engineers.  His idea was for a tank with as much of the standard internal equipment as possible removed and replaced with storage space for the sapper's equipment, tools and explosives. The Churchill was chosen because of its combination of a large interior, thick armor and side access door.  The Churchill’s main gun was replaced with a powerful stubby mortar, called the petard which threw a 40 pound bomb, nicknamed the ‘flying dustbin’, on a wobbly flight for about 80 yards. Up to 24 of the big bombs were carried in the roomy AVRE. The crew also had plenty of ‘standard’ explosives in their Churchill, with names like General Wade, or the Beehive. These could be planted against a pillbox or concrete obstacle using the tank as cover, and then blown up from the safety of the tank.

Soon after their release of the initial Churchill Mk. III, AFV Club quickly followed with the release of the AVRE version of the vehicle.  For those familiar with the initial release you will surely recognize many of the parts and building sequences from the earlier release.   Featuring the Petard mortar, this box contains all of the extra parts needed to convert the standard Churchill Mk. III to the AVRE version.  Most of the construction of the AVRE is very similar to the construction of the initial Mk.III release.   For those who might be interested a more detailed summary of the AFV Club MkIII can be found in an earlier posting found here —> Churchill Mk. III "Margie".

 

I must say that I find the Churchill’s particularly enjoyable to paint.  The numerous panels, plates, ridges, sections, nuts, bolts….you get the idea; it just lends itself so nicely to doing some interesting work.  Green in

color, I wanted to depict this Churchill as a mid-summer 1944 veteran.  She had helped blow a hole though the shore obstacles in early June, and was now proceeding with the allies as they slog their way across France.  Wear on the vehicle would be somewhat minimal with limited chips and scratches.  Instead, I wanted to concentrate on first making the mono-tone green color interesting in itself, and then allow the weathering to be accomplished though filters, oils, and finally pigments.

I began with a primer coating of Mr. Surfacer 1000, followed this with my base colors using a mix of Tamiys XF-58 Olive Green and XF-21 Sky thinned with Tamiya lacquer thinner.  I vary this initial layer from time to time to create shadows and highlights.   Continuing in my effort add interest to my base colors, I next add varying amounts of XF-4 Yellow/Green and XF-2 to the mix.  These later applications of color are done in a more limited fashion often using a small piece of card stock as a masking tool to create sharp contrasts along panel lines for dramatic effect.  These early foundation steps are very important, in my opinion, to creating a visually interesting finished result – especially when working with a monochromatic finish.  

The next step for me is to continue to alter the base colors by applying light, acrylic filters.  This is when those lovely contours of the vehicle really begin to pop as I work my way around the surfaces.  It is important to remember that this is a gradual process as the idea is to only alter the base colors, not repaint the base colors.  The paints should be mixed very thin, much to the consistency of tinted or dirty water.  Finally, limited scratches, scuffs, and marks were applied using Vallejo’s German Camo Black Brown with a fine tipped brush.  A light misting of Johnson’s Future Acrylic Floor Polish makes the vehicle surfaces ready for decaling; and then a second misting seals the decals and ready’s the surface for weathering. 

I try to address each of my projects with a slightly different approach when it comes to weathering.  For this project I wanted to expand my use of artist’s oils and premixed filters as much as possible to see what results I could achieve by painting effects alone.  I began by applying dot fading using MIG Productions 502 Abteilung oils, beginning with a number of the green colors; Olive Green, Green Grass, Faded Green and finally Faded Yellow.   The oils are particularly important in my work as I believe that they add a level of richness and depth to the finish that cannot be achieved using other mediums.  Again, this is a step that requires a little patience as you much allow each layer of paint to dry before proceeded with the next.  A blow dryer on low heat or a light bulb can be helpful to quicken the process.  Once I was satisfied with my green colors, I then began to lay the foundation for the dirt and dust layers.  Again I turned to MIG Productions Light Mud, Basic Earth and Buff colors to add earthen tones to logical areas of accumulation, especially on the lower hull and running gear.  Afterward, I used MIG Productions Filters in a sparing manner choosing to apply them primarily as pin-washes to bring out some of the surface details.

The final step in my weathering sequence is usually applying pigments, and this project is no exception.  The earlier applications of the artist’s oils had provided me with a wonderful color foundation for the pigments.  As usual, I limited my palette to a few select; in this case primarily European Dust, Light Dust, Dry Mud and Allied Green (Fading).  This was my first experience with the Allied Green and I wasn’t too sure how I was to approach the color.  Initially, I tested it straight from the bottle on certain panels which gave a nice, sun-faded appearance to the finish.  As I went along, however, I began to use it within my “dirt” color mixes and found that this was an excellent way to achieve a grimy, well worn finish that I found really worked well on this vehicle.  Applications of the pigments are mostly done wet, having first been dissolved in thinners.  I generally use a finer brush to apply the pigments and work with them in a manner similar to using the oils.  I begin in the corners, nooks and crannies and then work my way outward; slowly building the accumulations.  I am very careful to continually vary my color mixes from time to time to ensure that I have a final presentation that has visual interest. 

As a final touch with the pigments and to show heavier accumulations of dust around the removed track guard, I applied the pigments dry to the surface, and then allowed MIG Productions Fixer to soak the pigment covered surfaces.  Once this application had dried, I repeated the process, but his time as the Fixer was drying I used an old brush and stippled the pigments lightly to create a little texture. 

 

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