THE PROJECT: The project was engendered from a most enjoyable discussion I had with a dear friend and colleague; however, I had been thinking about an AFV project--specifically, an Italeri AFV project--for at least a week before we got together. Back in the day, Italeri was my favourite AFV model manufacturer. I can't really tell you why. Tamiya was in its infancy, and Monogram was, shall we say, relatively 'crude". Italeri was THE company for straight, OOB fun that was challenging as well!
A model that I had always wanted to build was that of the M7 Priest--a SP 105mm howitzer on a M4 chassis. And I was actually thinking about that kit when TRP discussion blossomed. . . Less than a fortnight later, I had my Italeri Priest in hand!
Italeri kits were known for their innumerable sinkholes and significant amount of flash, but I lucked out with my acquisition! Flash was minimal and largely insignificant; and the number of significant sinkholes was eminently manageable.
As we established in pt. I, my reference for this project is, exclusively, the show! This is good--and bad. There are simply not enough decent shots of the few Priests used during S1 to make very definitive conclusions. As I said. . . good and bad. And for all its ongoing popularity, there are not any publications, to the best of my knowledge, devoted to the show. That leaves me with the internet and dvd's of the show to reconstruct this vehicle.
The biggest, fundamental change is converting the stock M7[B1] to a post-war M7B2! Astonish- ingly, there are no conversion kits, etc. to effect such a conversion. Fortunately, since the fighting compartment will be enclosed per the series, much of the critical operational detailing can be glossed over. On the down side, no commercial 1/35 scale kit of the Priest comes with the ap- propriate lower hull and corresponding engine deck for an M7B2. Thus, this conversion will actu- ally be a mash-up of two Italeri kits. . . More on this when the time comes. The other noteworthy change involves replacing the stock rubber band T51 tracks with Bronco's masterful T48 Worka- ble Track Link Set (individual links).
More to follow. . .
“When the cost of a hobby exceeds the fun and doesn't attract new people, the game is over.” -
Oscar Koveleski, August 2003
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