Turret for Churchill Mk.IV (Early Version)
LionMarc Model Designs 1:35th Scale Set: LM33008
Review by Terry Ashley

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LionMarc Model Designs have released two replacement Churchill Mk.IV turrets designed specifically for the recent AFV Club Churchill Mk.IV Mk.5 L/50 6 Pdr Gun British Infantry Tank (kit #AF35154) and soon to be released Churchill Mk.IV AVRE (kit #AF35169).

The first of these is the early type which we’ll look at here with the set consisting of just two parts cast in light grey resin. One is the full upper turret shell with a separate lower turret ring insert, both these are based on the AFV Club kit turret with some minor alterations and all the hatch and other cut-outs the same as the kit turret ready to take the kit plastic parts.

The main difference is LionMarc have removed the moulding seams from the turret walls and redesigned the lower turret ring to be just and underside insert thereby eliminating the prominent join line of the kit turrets, in short LionMarc has done all hard work for you in dealing with these issues. The casting numbers on the sidewall have also been revised so not to duplicate the kit casting numbers as well as adding a weld seam running around the turret centreline which is seen on some Mk.IV turrets.

Turret resin parts showing minimal cleanup required.

The standard of resin casting is first class without any blemishes such as air holes etc. and just the remnants of the casting plug to be trimmed from the bottom of the turret shell, there was the odd small bit of excess resin to be trimmed but this is very minor. The lower turret ring has the mountings for the kit gun mantlet pins and from here it’s just adding the kit parts to complete the assembly.

The fit of all the kit plastic parts to the resin turret was excellent apart from the cupola ring which may need minor trimming of the edges to reduce the diameter slightly to fit into the turret cut-out, this may vary between turrets so test fit first. The lower turret ring also fits easily into the turret shell without any exposed joins so this won’t be a problem if there is a gap here and there.

AFV Club 6pdr gun assembly added to resin turret ring without any alterations required.

For this exercise I have also used the RB Models shorter Mk.III 6pdr gun barrel (set #35B17) as this was common with early Mk.IV turrets, also the BESA MG barrel was replaced with the LionMarc/Passion Models brass barrel (set #LM10014) and the LionMarc No.19 antenna base (set #LM60009) to add further details to the upgrade.

Images of the resin turret fitted with the AFV Club plastic kit parts plus the
RB Models short 6pdr barrel and LionMarc BESA MG and No.19 aerial mounting


This is a nicely cast early Churchill Mk.IV turret that simply replaces the AFV Club kit turret in the assembly sequences without any alterations required to the kit or resin parts.

The best bit about the resin turret other than the small revised detail and different casting numbers for a bit of variety is LionMarc have done all the work for you in dealing with the moulding seams and join lines on the kit turret and at around USD$15.00 is not an expensive upgrade.

Rating 9/10

Also see the review of the Turret for Churchill Mk.IV (Late Version)

Thanks to my credit card and for the review set.