Crusader Ailthean light tractor - basic camoflage

 The painting of the Ailthean continues.

I decided that a disruptive pattern would break up the vast flat areas of the side of the turret.

Most of the vehicle was masked, leaving an area to be sprayed. Colour Forge Ghoul Grey was chosen.

Masking round the rungs of the access ladder was the hardest part.

Some of the spray got in under the masking.

This does show where the rungs and the access panel handle still need some tidying up.

The large flat space below the top hatch just calls out for a Crusade Flying Squirrel army badge.

Crusader Ailthean light tractor - basic colour

 

So the Aithean has been base painted.

The track units and the body were undercoated separately. Inverted, they were sprayed with Citadel Chaos Black. The right way up they were undercoated with Citadel Mechanicus Standard Grey.

The treads were painted with a mixture of Vallejo Black, Vallejo Black Grey and Army Painter Chaotic Red from a wet palette. A redder mix was used for the exhaust.

Literally facing off against a Coftyran Chyweethl.

Crusader Ailthean light tractor work in progress

 Work in progress on the Crusader Aithean tractor.

There is an issue with the front of the turret/body, there appears to be a large depression, not sure if it is a moulding issue or a mould issue. It looks like a giant thoumbprint.

It has been filled with Milliput, but needs some further smoothing.

The join in the tread units is rather obvious and has needed a lot of filing and filling.

Coftyran Chyweethl Tractor - base painted

 So the Chyweethl tractor has received its base colours.

It was given an base paint of Citadel Macragge Blue (no Chaos Black undercoat).

The treads (peds?) are Vallejo Black.

Joins between the tracks, gun barrel, bearing surfaces and the bolt heads on the individual 'feet' are Vallejo Black Grey, as was the base colour of the exhaust pipe.

The glass in the view ports is Citadel Warpstone Glow.

The underside, which will give an opportunity to test some pinwash techniques.

Though this will be an Out of the Box paintjob, there will be some weathering.

I have the second kit, which will be a more weathered and battle weary one.

Crusader Ailthean light tractor

The Crusader Ailthean light tractor is the second injection moulded tractor from Wargames Atlantic.

Though the Ailthean tractor uses a more conventional caterpillar track system, unlike all of our tanks, it has its engine in the turret, in some ways resembling the arrangement of diggers. Though it has a turret (unlike the Chyweethl), to traverse the turret, the drive has to be disengaged so it cannot traverse and move.

The kit comprises one large and one small sprue.

The large sprue has the main body (basically the turret, crew, stowage and the piece that joins the tracks and the body.

The second sprue just has the two tread units.

Coftyran Chyweethl Tractor

 The Chyweethl light tractor is one of the first two injection moulded tractor kits (the other being the Crusader Ailthean light tractor).

The Chyweethl is a very old design, the first rolled out 140 years previously (though there has been a lot of internal changes over this period). It uses the Pedrail system for locomotion. Though it looks a bit like the caterpillar track used by our tanks, it is not. Each of the "feet" are mounted on a rail that runs round the vehicle. Great for cross-country movement, but not so much on paved roads.

A fixed mount gun reduces the weight and height of the vehicle, but requires coordination between the gunner and the driver. A large hatch on the roof is the main entry and exit point.

It is worth watching the video by Josh Qualteri here.

The kit comes in a standard  Wargames Atlantic box.

The instructions are printed on the rear of the box.

The kit is comprised of two sprues (one full size, one smaller one).

The first sprue contains the pedrail system and the main parts of the hull.

The second sprue has two half crew figures, stowag, the hatch, gun and drivers compartment.

Construction was simple, the only thing to bear in mind (as mentioned in the video, but I did not watch that until after I had built mine) the top hatch is intended to be left separate, so you can pop a crew figure into it. This may come back to bite me in the revised rules including tractors.

Side view with a plastic Quar from the command set.

Comparison with the Fidwog Fynrydhad Tractor.

Comparison with an Empress 1/50 scale BMD-1 AIFV