Stewie the Slayer

Thanks. It's been a fun build.

The fighting deck is basically done. I still have some cleanup to do, as well as add some details like bolts, seats, and comms for gun commander. I extended the deck out to give the crew more room. Originally, I was going to do a fold-down platform but shelved that idea. I went with a fixed extension.


The under-deck ammo stowage was to have a pair of doors...modified from the kit's optional doors to pose the limber open. I decided to shelve that idea and make a single fold-down cover. This gave me a place to mount some of the pioneer tools. I still have to add handles and some sort of latching mechanism.


Speaking of under-deck ammo stowage cover plate that also mounts pioneer tools...there it is. Also the 25pdr and it's mostly assembled mount. I still need to add mounting bolts and the gunner's seat.


The pieces placed to show how it should all come together.


I've still got some bits to add...like the rear running lights. And I will need to prep it for paint. I usually mount vehicles with trailers on a simple wood base. It keeps every thing together. I'll probably do that with this one until I decide how I want to do a more permanent base/diorama for it. I have a set of British Troops in tropical kit so I'll probably go with that. Probably Pacific Theater, since that isn't depicted as much. I'll see how it goes.

No worries. I value feedback.

I'd agree with you if I were still using an antitank gun. However, this has become self-propelled artillery. If I had had a better 6pdr. I might have kept that concept. I wasn't a fan of how the gun shield turned out. I think going arty opened things up a bit and gave me room on either side of the gun. I could raise the profile and enlarge the fighting area. The lower floor also forced the gunner to stand to sight the weapon.

The Stuart is a tough tank to work with because it is such a cramped layout. That's why the engine was moved forward to begin with. I would prefer the gun to be forward a bit more, also allowing more room behind it. I actually trimmed off about a cm from the bottom of the gun shield to get it forward a little more. If I moved it forward any more, then the gunner doesn't have leg room.

The driver and co-driver hatches are workable. There's no fighting compartment for them to access...the engine is now at the backs. The driver and co-driver will have to button up when the gun is being fired. The rear lacks armor protection. This is an artillery piece so I figured it wouldn't be on the frontlines. I had thought about giving it front, side, and roof armor. I'd have to rework that gun shield and I hated to do that on the 25pdr.

The under-deck ammo storage was a way to use what would be wasted space. It's a bit awkward. Plus, it gives me a place to store ammo without eating up the limited fighting deck space. I figure that when it is firing they'd have a crewman on the ground passing ammo up to the loader from the under-deck stores or from the limber. I figure a six man crew, five if the co-driver does gun crew duty. If it wasn't for the limber with its ammo stores, I would not have tried to use the 25pdr.

Anyway, it's always a bit of a push on things logical with the what-ifs. If it was truly the best solution, it would have been pressed in to service. I tend to use what-if builds as stop-gap vehicles. I could see this running the mountain roads of northern Italy or slogging through the mud of Guinea.

Sorry that got a bit long-winded.

The 25pdr certainly adds a new dimension to "nasty surprise" .
I like it, keep coming Alex

Guiana would add a bit more interest to an already great idea . That my pennies worth anyway

nice work old chap

Nice layout indeed, and makes sense considering the vehicle size