Whilst Bob is on his Cromwell Crusade I've started the Fujimi 1/76 scale Matilda or to give it it's full name Infantry Tank Mk.II (Matilda Senior). The name Matilda deriving from the Mk.I which was likened to Matilda the Duck, who was Donald Duck's Aunty!! You can tell how long this has been in my stash as the price tag says £1.75p.
Consisting of 59 tan coloured parts, one of which the carpet monster ate, and soft, silver tracks. The markings are for four tanks, 3 in Desert camo; Phantom 42 RTR, Glenorchy 7 RTR and Grampus 4 RTR plus an Austrailian one used in New Guinea. I, however, am going to finish it as Glanton which served with 7 RTR at Arras, which did not carry the usual WD serial. After fitting the sides to the floor I deviated from the instructions and fitted the hull top. This need some adjusting to get it to fit at the front. I'd spent some time researching the tank as profiles show the side skirts above the bogies but the kit has them lower and is also missing the plates on the bogies. I'd found photos which seemed to show them lower so will go with that. As stated above the carpet monster got one of the bogie wheels so I'll find a replacement (or hide the gap!!!).
Once the running gear was in place I started on the 7 piece exhaust system which doesn't quite join together on one side so will use Evergreen strip to fill the gap. Some parts had already been painted using Vallejo Bronze Green Primer which is a match for G4 in the camo scheme and I bought Vallejo US Dark Green as an online source said this is a match for G3.