Inside the Armour Churchill idler replacement

Inside the Armour have continued on their tweaks for the AFV club Churchill kits , this time rather than interior bits , this time they have done a set of corrected idlers for all (and their are more coming) the AFV club kits .



The set really is a simple set with the two idlers being made of two halves , they replace directly parts D11 & D12 of the AFV Club set . Because of the nature of resin , the casting plugs are bigger than plastic sprue attachment points . Unfortunately there is a little tricky trimming to be done . but with all trimming of resin , the right tools and a little patience is required .



Use A pin vice to drill the back end of each sprocket out like so .



I use a PE razor saw from Techstar that Poppy Bob Letterman sent me , they are soooo handy and can cut on a curve following the teeth of the sprocket , a sharp scalpel was used to cut the residue from each tooth carefully and trim the excess resin .



Use thick gel superglue to glue the halves together , one so it allows longer to align the wheels and two so it will fill any gaps between the halves (hardly any really) . I used a piece of basswood which just fitted through the lightening holes to align the idler halves and keep them together this also aligns the sprocket teeth .





So whats wrong with the AFV Club Idler wheel ? Well it is missing the lightening holes on the spacer between the rims for one and it also is missing the bolt heads , the spacer also sits too far out on the AFV Club parts .



The real thing ! Chris you have got this right my friend !



The AFV Club working track fits like a glove around the improved Idler .



Through the lightening holes in the Churchill track you can now see daylight which is the idea of the lightening and drainage system and how it should be .

Well the advantages of a more correct idler for the Churchill probably are not the biggest issue with any model kit , but it shows heaps about Inside the Armour , with detail parts , interiors , you can bet they are researched , if you are modelling a KO'd Dieppe (or other)Churchill or one undergoing track maintenance then the improved idlers are an absolute must have . For those of us who just like to have everything right on our kits , then you will be getting these too . Treat yourself , you know you deserve it !

My thanks go to Chris at Inside the Armour for the review item , Chris's products are available Direct , from Firestorm Hobbies in Australia and from Hobby Link Japan in Japan .

Jenny Croft

Cool,
can't wait to see the someone build a Churchill with these.
Shawn