Updating the Interior

My approach to the interior was basically the same as with the other Academy Priest I built. The premise, incorporating the historical photos, was that this was a late intermediate M7, retaining the early instrument panel and original pulpit configuration, but incorporating factory-installed supplemental hinged armor. Since I hadn't seen a model portraying the Priest with the carbine racks filled to the left of the driver, I decided to give that a go, figuring that the troops coming ashore after D-Day would be fully armed. Knowing that by this time crews would likely be equipped with Thompson submachine guns, I left the scabbards in the pulpit area empty and the guns would be out and available to the crew if they should suddenly be fired upon.

I had received a sample of Voyager Models impressive photoetch set for the Academy kit to review and put to use on this project. But "impressive" swingsboth ways. A resin bulkhead is provided, which includes the breather tube molded into the wall. Since I planned to fill the compartment with figures, I decided to live with this shortcut. The resin part fits well, but the photoetched cover is problematic, as seen below with the Academy part. The piece features dimples where bolts could be placed, but when the part is bent into shape, the dimples are on the rear side, seen in the right photo. Only some time after the fact did it occur to me that perhaps the dimples were there to be pressed upon to create an embossed effect on the facing side to represent a bolt or screw. But that was not suggested for this particular part by the instruction sheet. The Voyager set does provide a small fret with brass fasteners that can detail the cover.

The kit provides plastic stock to cut for the hinged armor plates, seen in the top set of photos, and templates to plan your cuts. Unfortunately, templates are not provided for the extension that overlaps the added armor and the superstructure wall and contains the sliding bars to secure them. Not a big deal, but a little more guesswork. Ultimately, I abandoned the three-part template for the rear supplemental wall and made one long strip and slipped the photoetch over the joints (apparently the wall could be lower in segments).

The photo above left gives a good view of the Formations one-piece differential cover that was used on Baboon, not the three-piece cover that comes in the kit. The swap requires some trimming of the Academy hull and I added some plastic stock to the interior of the hull walls to give some more surface for the resin piece to attach to. Initially, I had the nose set too high, and had to use superglue debonder to remove the piece and reset it properly. I did some perfunctory detailing of the interior side of the case, though it will be virtually unseen once the crew compartment is populated. Later, it was necessary to remove some resin from the nose to accommodate the Voyager fenders. The tan suspension bogies are Academy's replacement parts for their oversized pieces that were first included with the M3 Lee, and the lower hull construction was essentially the same as with my previous Priest.

I used the driver from DML's U.S. Tank Crew (NW Europe 1944). To accommodate the gun shield, I needed to adjust his right arm and lean him a tad to the left, but it works. Since the driver's visor is closed, I didn't need to worry about his face.

As I mention in the review of the Voyager's set, the armor bins went together well, but I had already painted up the shortened 105mm ammo tubes provided in the Academy kit when I built the first Priest, so I went with the Academy bins, which are not that difficult to fix (and most modelers will be able to live with the out-of-the-box configuration). Just for something different, I painted the tape bands of several of the tubes in the grey/yellow/grey that identified them as smoke shells, the premise being that the crew might want some smoke available with the ready rounds as they approached enemy territory.

The interior parts were painted before the superstructure walls were attached. You can see the Academy tools in the upper right photo that are mounted on the rear overhang wall. As kit tools go they're not half bad, and the squarish straps are quickly improved with the small buckles included with detailing bolts and wingnuts in the AFV Club M36 Jackson. These will look fine with the limited view after the wading trunk is attached.

The Historical Baboon
Updating the Interior
Tackling the Exterior
Painting, Decals, and Weathering
The Diorama: "Lafayette, Baboon Has Arrived!"