CROMWELL COMBAT READY T26: with AB Figures Soviet Tanker

CROMWELL T26
I'm a sucker for early Soviet Vehicles and with no plastic T26's around at the time when I seen this one I had no hesitation in buying it even though it is aimed more at the wargamer.

CONSTRUCTION
As the name Combat Ready infers there really isn't much work to be done before painting. There were only 4 parts to this kit cast in Cromwells usual sturdy resin, pretty crisp with a good deal of detail over all with very little flash. (Even having one turret hatch open)

Unfortunately this was one of the early batch that came with a large block under the hull and this was a bit of a pain to remove, all Cromwells range now come without this block. (I think this was for the wargamers to give the vehicle a more solid feel on the gaming table)

Apart from the block there wasn't really major cleaning and the only additions I did to this one was to drill out a hole in the hull roof so as to insert a piece of sprue to allow the turret to turn and also drilled deeper into the open hatch to allow a half figure to fit neatly. I also gave a little more definition to the tracks.

PAINTING
I brush painted the entire vehicle in dark green then I brushed it in a lighter green and when dry applied a black wash dabbing of the excess liquid with a dry cloth. I then applied a rust coat to various areas then added some earth to the substructure. I then dry brushed the vehicle with light grey. The white band was hand painted.

FIGURE
The figure is from AB Figures Soviet AFV crew range and it was painted with black base coat for the figure and then lightened with a mix of dark blue and light grey through the black. the face awas done in the same manner using earth, blue, flesh and white. (don't ask me what the colour of the flag means as I picked out out from a picture)

CONCLUSION
I'm pretty happy with the finished model but I do prefer to build up a model before painting it and I do feel the detail around the inside of the wheels and track and also the gun barrel could be better. This was also one of Cromwells earlier releases and the quality of the kits seem to be getting better and better. This range is definately a must for the wargamer and I have heard that they are also very popular with collectors alike.

I bought this kit at Jamiesons Models, Glasgow you will find their full address in my links section