Of tanks and last things...

... the Armourfast Crusaders are undercoated. I think that the jury might be out on these models. On the one hand they are cheap, 'Made in England', two in a box, quick to get to the table, and sound as wargame models. However, a good deal of detail is simplified or missing; and it may be that some would find too much has been simplified. I'm not sure. I suspect that I might have been spoiled by the venerable Airfix Crusader which came out in late 1971, I think. Now, I haven't made an Airfix version since the mid-1970s, but it still looks like a good kit (are they still available?). Spurred on by John Sanders, I attempted to put together an entire one to one ratio Crusader squadron. I didn't succeed, but I do still have my heavy-handed attempts at the graceful form of the Crusader:

Here's one, with sandshield changes to make it look more like a Crusader Mk.I. The turret searchlight is missing now, as is the pennant-bedecked aerial which used to adorn all my desert kit. But, even under the thick coats of 1970s paint, you can still see that this was/is a pretty sharp kit.

And here's another 1970s build next to an undercoated Armourfast Crusader. Now, what is interesting is that the Armourfast version is marketed as 1/72, while the Airfix is, of course, 1/76, yet, dimensionally, there are next to no differences. Odd?

The answer may well lie in the article by Terry Gander in the February 1972 Airfix Magazine (with a nice shot of an Aussie Phantom on the cover). Mr Gander's article was illustrated by some good views of a Bovington Tank Museum Crusader, but also by contemporary photographs, including the one below showing a red tabbed chap in a Mk. II with useful detail of the turret stowage boxes.

But the main point that Mr Gander made was that the Airfix model was too long by around 'one scale foot'. This probably goes some way to explaining the nice compatability between the Armourfast 1/72 version and the Airfix 1/76. Anyway, more on the Armourfast version yet to come.

I picked the last of my Egremont Russets today, on a bright, but damp Autumn day. I read recently (sometimes the press have a use) that Egremont Russets are a rare commodity in the shops (I nearly typed 'greengrocers'. Ha! I mean oligopolistic octopuses) due to the awful Spring weather of cold and wet together. But I've been fortunate, and will still have a week's worth of Russets to eat. Including these:

the last of this year's crop.

Something else that I have seen the last of:

Oh woe is me! My dam' blood clotting nonsense means that my happy pipe smoking days are gone. Gone!

Finally, 'merde!', as the creeping Miliciens might say:

North Star 28mm Resistance. The creeping around continues...