QRF 15mm Cruiser Mk IV (A13 Mk II)

 The final vehicle of my clunky cruiser collection is the QRF Cruiser Mark IV, aka the A13 Mark II. This one is actually starting the look like a sensible tank.

It is actually very similar to the A13 Mk I, Christie suspension, boxy armour etc, but it has jazzy sloped turret armour on the sides (but not the front? why?). It looks a bit more like its successor, the Crusader. Just like the Crusader, it also has a hilarious shot trap built in on the lower turret sides, but I guess that is the limitation of the turret ring. It took a long time for British tank manufacturers to realise they could extend the hull over the top of the tracks, although in fairness, the Tiger was the first German tank to do this.

I suspect the QRF model is just an A13 Mk I with a different turret. it only has four pieces and goes together very easily. It looks pretty good when assembled however. This one had a very bent gun barrel, bent in transit I guess. I straightened it as best as I could, but I guess it will now be permanently weakened. I may have to replace it at some point.

Somehow the angled turret makes it look much more racy and modern than the Mark I.

Those mudguards don't look quite right to me, too long. The Peter Pig one is much better in that regard, but this is fine for wargaming and looks OK on the table. 

I did this one in a later Caunter pattern: Dark Green over Smoke Grey over Light Mud. The Light mud base layer was Dark Sand over a grey undercoat, inkwash and then another coat of Dark Sand. As with the other cruisers, it got a pinwash on the camo and then a overall drybrush of Pale Sand.

That is a nice addition to the British forces. As I said elsewhere, I prefer my PP A13s (which are painted for 1st Armoured Div in 1940), but these are much cheaper and good enough for gaming. It is fairly obvious what the model is supposed to be anyway.