PSC Churchill

I haven't been able to do much in the way of model building recently, but last weekend I tried to squeeze in a quick build of a Plastic Soldier Company Churchill.

The PSC kit contains two models that the instructions say can be built into a variety of cast turret Churchill tanks, although the turret itself is not quite accurate for any of the versions. An excellent resource on the appearance of the various types of turrets used for the Churchill can be found at Armour In Focus.

The Mk III AVRE is mislabeled - a carryover from the
15mm kit, which includes parts for a welded turret.

I plan to build the CS and AVRE versions of the Churchill with the two models in the kit, but because the AVRE version would require a lot more work to make the various fittings mounted on the hull, I started off with the CS version.

The build was modeled after Ballyrashane, a Churchill Mk V of the North Irish Horse.

The tow cables of the model are molded in a position that prevents the spare track armor from sitting flush against the hull. I shaved a section of the cable away from each side so I could glue the tracks in place, and then used some stretched sprue to connect the two ends of the tow cable.

The first tow cable I did looks particularly awkward, due to some fairly sharp curves. The second one with shallower curves looks a bit better, but I'm not particularly happy about either of them.

I drilled out the barrel of the 95mm howitzer and inserted a section of brass tubing in the hole (A). The barrel of the howitzer protrudes a bit past the counterweight, but I probably should have made the tubing flush with the end, since the actual extended portion would be almost unnoticeable at 1/72 scale.

Some plastic card was used to represent the padding on the inside of the hatch covers (B). The flag canister on the side of the turret was mounted angled to the front, but I've seen it straight up, or tilted to the back as well (C). Plastic strip was glued around the turret ring to represent the additional armor of the late style cast turret (D).

I still need to add an armor plate to the side of the turret to cover the gap in the armor protecting the turret ring, and I'm going to have to cut the mantlet aperture to make it square, as befits a Churchill Mk V

Some exhaust pipes were added, since they are completely non-existent on the simplified exhaust system.

Below are some comparisons between the PSC Churchill, and diecast Churchills from Matchbox and Unimax.

The PSC Churchill is similar in length to the two diecast models, but is not as wide. This is consistent with the diecast models being Mk VIIs, which are wider than the earlier versions.

PSC Mk V and Matchbox Mk VII

Unimax Mk VII and PSC Mk V

Overall, I like the PSC Churchill. It's easy to build, and the completed model is weighty and well suited for wargaming. With a little bit of effort, I think it can also be made into a decent display model by more serious modelers.

Dark Alliance Zombies

Zombies depicted in early zombie films like White Zombie, and I Walked with a Zombie followed the traditional Haitian model of zombies as reanimated corpses under the control of a bokor.

The modern zombie as a sort of devolved ghoul originated from the cinema, starting with Night of the Living Dead. Their hunger for brains came from Return of the Living Dead, and the zombie "rager" came from 28 Days Later.

The Walking Dead started its run as a comic series about a year after 28 Days Later was released. The comic book was adapted into a successful TV series which has been running for five seasons.

Based on the box art for the Dark Alliance Zombies, I'm guessing that at least some of the zombies in these sets may have been inspired by the show (I can't say for sure, since I have yet to read the comics or watch the show).

Set 1 consists of 48 zombies in 12 poses. The first picture is of adult zombies. The final three figures include a nurse, a doctor, and a police officer.

The second picture consists of a teen zombie, and 4 child zombies.

There was a bit of flash on one of the figures, but otherwise, this set did not require much clean-up.

Set 2 also consists of 48 zombies in 12 poses. The first picture is of adult zombies, several of which would pass nicely for traditional Haitian zombies. The kneeling zombies at the end consist of a female zombie gnawing on an arm, and a zombie maid that would be at least 7' tall if she were standing upright.

The second picture consists of 4 child zombies, and one adult crawler. Three of the child zombies are creepy baby zombies.

The figures in the second set required a lot more clean-up in comparison to the first set, but after getting rid of all the flash, the sculpts are just as nice. The problem with the set however, is that there too many novelty figures. With four duplicate sprues, I could create a zombie daycare staffed by giant maids.

The final pictures are comparisons of Caesar (light gray; left) and Dark Alliance (dark gray; right) zombies.

The details of the Caesar zombies are not as soft as those of the Dark Alliance zombies, but there should be no issues with using zombies from both manufacturers together.

El Chupacabra

Sideshow banner at the 2005 Erie County Fair (New York)

The first reported sighting of the chupacabra came from the town of Canóvanas, Puerto Rico in 1995.

The original depictions of the creature is akin to that of a typical "grey alien", but with claws and spines running down its back. According to Benjamin Radford, this version of the chupacabra is a result of the eyewitness confabulating Sil from the film Species with reality.

Other illustrations show the creature as being more dog-like, due to the attribution of chupacabra attacks to wild dogs or coyotes.

These types of attacks have been reported since the 19th century, but I don't think that there was ever an eyewitness account of what the creature perpetrating the attack looked like until 1995.

In any event, Rebel Minis makes some 15mm Cabras (RMPC1) that are perfect for use as 1/72 chupacabra.

These chupacabra scale out to about 3½' tall, and are very reminiscent of the canine-headed chupacabra depicted on the Erie County Fair banner at the top of this post. Another similarity to the banner is that the spines along the back are not quills as seen with most chupacabra depictions.

I modified some of them by removing their daggers, to make them appear more like the typical chupacabra. Most were painted green, with a couple in gray, and one in blue.

One explanation that both skeptics and believers seem to have missed is that chupacabra are actually kobold vampires. How else do you explain blood-sucking dog-headed humanoids that sometimes have bat-like wings?

That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.