Battlefront Valentine II.

I have painted a fair amount recently and most of it has been for larger projects or tournaments. So over the weekend, looking for a change, I went through the lead pile to look for something I wanted to paint. A single Valentine II seemed a good place to start.

Review:

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this model having not seen one before. It is a classic metal and resin jobbie but unlike most resin and metal models, this one had a recess in the hull for a turret magnet. I assume this means it isn’t an old a model. Given this is a MW period model and likely to appear in future books for this period, I expect the model may be about to be phased out and replaced and replaced with a plastic model. As usual, this is pure speculation on my behalf and I am not privy to any actual real information.

Opening up the blister, there is a resin hull piece, 2 metal track pieces, a resin turret, a metal gun barrel, a hatch, a commander and 2 pieces of turret stowage. First impressions were that the model was well detailed and captured the distinctive shape of the tank and the small, 2 pound turret.

Dry fitting the pieces together however showed me I had some work ahead of me before I could start painting. Like many of the Battlefront models, the sides of the resin hull had grooves moulded in to allow the tab on the track piece to fit in. One side is longer than the other to ensure that you don’t stick the tracks on the wrong sides. My track tabs were wider than the corresponding hull grooves meaning that the pieces wouldn’t go together. This is not uncommon with these blisters. I simply shortened the tabs on both track pieces so they fit in the grooves.

Dry fitting the pieces again, they still didn’t align correctly. My tracks were slightly bent. This was again easily fixed by just flexing the 2 ends over my hobby knife. Fitting them again, showed that there was another problem, the hull piece was warped. This was a bigger problem. I won’t bore you with details, but I spent about another 15 minutes filing, scraping and bending the 3 pieces until I got a reasonable fit. There was still a gap on one side but at least the pieces were together.

After the super glued dried and the model was sitting on the bench, I noticed that it actually wasn’t level. One track was angled back. I flicked the track back off, scraped back he glue, reglued and instead of holding the model in my hands whilst the glue dried, I pushed the model onto my bench and forced the track and the tank to sit level as the glue dried. Phew, I was glad when that was over. I could not imagine working on a company of those.

The hatch was sliced down the join with the hobby knife and glued in the open position. I popped the commander in the top. Please don't look too closely at the commander in the unpainted photos.  I may have accidentally glued in a Soviet commander that was sitting on the table and then replaced it with the correct one prior to painting.

Despite the effort involved in getting the tracks on, I am not sorry I put the model together. It is a really attractive model and looks the business. I think if BF do make this in plastic and it isn’t so hard to put together, it will be a great model. I particularly like the large skirts and the deep detail.

Painting:

This was a joy. The experience of painting a single tank is much nicer than painting up a unit or more. Having just finished up 10 Crusaders where each colour could take an hour to apply, I basically painted up most of this model in a single short sitting (whilst I was also working on other bits and pieces during drying time).

After my now standard white undercoat, I hit the model with VJ Khaki. I applied 2 light coats trying to make sure I got into every nook and cranny – and there are many. I then painted on Army Painter Strong Tone. I then brushed on a highlight of VJ Khaki. This was a bit time consuming as there are lots of separate surfaces on the engine deck and skirts especially.

Next up was the commander who received the same treatment except with Iraqi sand. The exhaust was painted cavalry Brown with a highlight of red leather. Even though this looks much different to how it would have historically, I like the stark contrast on a model that is otherwise beige. Tools were painted VJ Chocolate Brown with a VJ Flat Earth highlight. Tracks were a simple black with a VJ Iraqi Sand highlight.

Overall, I think the model looks good painted up. Yes, assembly was difficult and you can still see that the tracks don't align properly but overall, I like the model and it was the perfect tonic to a case of painting overload. Could the model be improved? Yes again. I think this would be a good case for the plastic treatment.

And here is the model in the wild. 

I hope you enjoyed this review.