Another couple of diversions from the true faith of N gauge trains……

Firstly, I spotted this plastic kit a while back.  It took a while for it to arrive from deepest China, as the model is sold out in the UK (and Japan – the same stores that supply us with trains are also good for plastic kits.)  The Sexton was a Canadian Ram tank modified into a self-propelled gun, carrying the standard, and excellent, British 25-pounder gun.

The attraction of this particular model can be seen in the markings.  They are for the Royal Artillery (Herts Yeomanry.)   The family significance is that my Dad served in 341 Battery of the 86th Field Regiment, from Normandy to Berlin (or thereabouts), with Sexton and Priest vehicles.  Plus some US half-tracks as command vehicles.

The photo below (from Wikipedia) shows the Herts Yeomanry in action somewhere in Europe in 1945.

I am looking forward to modelling a little family history.

And the second one…..  Airfix recently re-released their old kit of the magnificent HP42 Heracles.  These flew from Croydon airport in the 1930’s.  Reviews suggest that the aged Airfix tooling on this kit has held up well and is actually pretty good.  As it’s close to ‘N’ 1:148 scale, it will look good on my N-club airfield module as an alternatives to the current F-111’s!

This film is of the identical HP45 – the 42 had less seats and did long distance flights – the 45 flew European routes.  There were 16 in total of both types and three even acquired camouflage at the start of WW2 as transports, though all had been damaged by 1940.

There’s some fun to be had with both these models.  And I’ve spent some time in the loft this week doing a little woodwork.  More to follow….