When this Bishop speaks the Germans listen-Bishop SP pics

I have just completed this little jem after a month of work on it.I had to redo a lot on it sence I have not touched it in a year and a half and more then that.I started this kit back in 1997 and had to put it up for years.A lot of scratch build went into this kit like the floor,outside ammo racks,handles on the hatches,extra fire extinusher and equpiment box inside.I also had to rework and build parts for the sight which was out of scale.The unit markings were hand paint since the decals disinagrated on me while in the water.This tank is on its last leg and is ready to be shipped back to England after this last battle to take Tunis,so the colors are of its last mission in North Africa.As history goes,there was only a 100 of these SP’s built as a stop gap and after N.Africa only 25 were sent to Sicliy.The Bishop was replaced by the Archer Sp which had more room for its crew and a bigger gun.Hope ya’ll enjoy this.Digger

Look’s good. I like the “sand blasted” look of it.[tup]

[:D] hi digger that bishop of yours looks realy good, keep up the great work[:D]

gdarwin[roy]

Very nice finish on a long journey digger, glad to see this one get done and with superb painting and detailing to boot! [tup]

Fantastic! Your first pic fooled me, I thought it was a real one!

Digger,
nice job!
congrats on getting this one finished after the long hiatus.

Great looking build. Thanx for sharing it with us. Bryan

Awesome looking bishop Digger!!! Thanks for the peak.

Great looking job. The interior looks amazing.

Looks super. Thanks for sharing.

it does look good digger. nice work.

joe

Very nice Digger

Thad

Very nice build. Overall finish looks very convincing [:)]

FANTASTIC build digger. really awesome[tup][tup] post some interior pics will ya?[;)]

Very cool and very different. You’re not afraid to try unusual topics.

Brilliant Job Digger. Well worth the effort taken to complete it.

A bit more info on the Bishop:
This vehicle was hated by it’s crew. The turret was cramped and the heat retained turned the interior into an oven. The fitting of the 25 pounder failed to allow the gun to be raised to an effective height, meaning that the vehicle had to close within 5000-6000 yards to be useful. As well as being used in Sicily, they were used in the first weeks of the Invasion of Italy. Several were also retained in service late in the war and after the war, used as self propelled artillery training vehicles.

The Bishops were actually replaced by the M7 Priest and Sexton 25 pounder’s as the Archers were 17 pounder armed Tank Destroyers, not Artillery.

I just want to thank everybody for your praises.This was not a easy kit to put toghter,there was a whole lot of parts that were out of scale.The frame or hull was warped and one side of tracks are shorter then the other side but I did enjoy build even with all the difficulties that where inevoled.I would suggest this kit for anybody and I think it makes a fine addtion to any collection.Digger

Digger,
You give me something to aspire to. Very, Very good work. You do Battle damage and severe weathering better than anyone I have seen. Please post some close-ups of the interior.

Very cool.

Ted

For those who want close ups on the interior,I will try tomorrow to take some interior pics.I will post them on a seperate post.Digger