I've decided to kick off my VE-Day80 builds with a kit I purchased on a birthday visit to the Tank Museum way back in 2020 and which has been continually overlooked when I've reached for a 1:35 scale AFV since! This is its time.
This 17 pounder, Self-Propelled, Achilles is a British variant of the American M10 tank destroyer used across the European theatre between 1943 - 1945. Coincidentally, I've just finished reading Anthony Beever's book "Arnem" and the Achilles kept cropping up, so may be I was subliminally steered in this direction as I had originally pulled out the Fury Sherman and a Tiger!
The build ....
I know it's a cliché, but one can't deny how good Tamyia AFV kits are. This is a 2016 moulding of an M10 with new Achilles parts added in 2019. Everything fits beautifully, the moulds are crisp and detailed and I'm loving it. I've got to the position now where I'm going to black prime ahead of giving it a coat of British Army Khaki Drab. The kit comes with an array of shells, bags and personal arms ... oh yes, and a number of figures to construct and paint. I can start tackling these while the vehicle's paint cures.
Adding some of the detail to my Tamiya M10 Achilles, including a rack of 17pdr shells. I’ve also dug out a couple of reference photos from the Bovington Tank Museum to get the right colours for those tracks.
My new goto metallic Vallejo Liquid Metal sprays on beautifully.
The finished model ...
I’ve finished this in the markings of 75th Anti-Tank Regiment, 11th Armoured Division, North West Europe, 1944-1945. The Regiment landed in Normandy shortly after D-Day and were involved in many of the major operations to liberate Europe.
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