L et us pray

M-7 Priest
11th Regiment Royal Horse
Artillery, El Alamein, 1942

A tale of discontinued
models, hard to find
accessories…and luck.
By Vince Pedulla
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This model has its genesis in the Jan./Feb.
1986 issue of Fine Scale Modeller, when
author D.P. Dyer described how to
convert the then-available Italeri Priest
(N.206) into an early version, as used
by the British forces in North Africa during
1942. The article included two three-view
drawings comparing early and late Priests
and several photos of British M-7s in
desert service. What immediately caught
my eye was the interesting hard-edged
camo scheme and well lived-in look about
this vehicle. Although I normally build
German armor, I kept my eyes open, to no
avail, for this discontinued model at swap
meets and sales.
When the kit became available last year
via the net from a dealer in England, I
immediately snapped it up. My excitement,
quite frankly, lasted for about five minutes
after opening the box. True to form for
early Italeri offerings, the model was a bit
soft and lacking in detail. I started looking
for any aftermarket parts that might help.
Kendall Model Company once made an M-
101 Howitzer update and conversion, as
well as a maintenance and tool set for
this gun. These had also become
unavailable until I found a dealer who had
a few (thanks, Jim’s Hobbies!) I also picked
up the Eduard PE set (35140), as well as
some other items.
The Italeri kit represents the late version of
the Priest, with its solid tranny cover and
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 heavy VVSS suspension. The conversion
starts by replacing the running gear and
transmission from the Tamiya M-3 Lee
(35039) or Grant (35041) model
(fortunately re-released), which represent
the early VVS over-the-bogie return
rollers and bolted transmission cover.
These kits also provide headlights, gas
caps and other parts. I used the Lee kit.
The suspension was detailed with a cast
texture using a mix of Squadron green
putty and liquid cement, stippled with a
short brush. The same was applied to
the transmission cover, after it was
trimmed to fit the Italeri model. I
also added PE numbers to represent
casting numbers, and replaced the Lee’s
tow loops and mount with those from the
Academy M-12 (1394).The idlers were
also replaced with the M-12 parts. The
drive sprockets are the Tamiya offerings.
I suppose one could use resin items for
the running gear and tranny, but these
looked fine to me after a little work.
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Both the Tamiya and Italeri tracks were
basically jokes, so I picked up the new
M4 T-51 track set from AFV Club
(35026). Nicely detailed but a real pain to
assemble! The end connectors are slid
onto pins on the track shoes, like the real
things, and they can remain workable.
But the fit is loose and I did the “floor-
crawl” numerous times to find dropped
end connectors. But the look you end up
with is worthwhile.
The British Priest featured field-made
sand shields, which I made from .15
sheet plastic, detailed with bolt-heads
from the punch and die set. Also, the
Brits added supports on the hull sides,
apparently to add a canopy, which when
deployed would make the vehicle look
like a truck. It apparently was used
mostly to hang gear from. I cut down
Plastruct “L” and “U” shaped stock for
the supports.
The superstructure sides were sanded
smooth to remove the molded-on
M-7 Priest
M-7 Priest
M-7 Priest
canopy supports, and the late-version
armor hull plates were trimmed away. The
Italeri kit features the late MG pulpit, and
had to be cut down, and the resulting
missing section of superstructure filled. The
engine deck was also sanded smooth, with
the bolts replaced with punched
bolt heads, and the molded-
on engine screen was
removed. I added a sheet plastic intake
inside the screen, as the Eduard part is
nicely etched and allows one to see inside.
The Lee kit provided new gas filler covers,
detailed with PE chain and rod. A light
stippling of the putty/cement mix added
texture. New lines were scribed into the
rear stowage boxes to create the side-
opening versions, adding hinges and
latches from Grandt Line, and PE locks
from Royal. Tools were replaced with those
from the Academy M-12, secured with
lead foil straps. The tow cable is a Greif
product with the ends from the M-12 kit.
The hull front was also sanded smooth
and textured, after filling the locating
holes for the headlights, which are
much lower on the late version. I
used the Lee headlights and horn
parts, hollowed out to accept
MK lenses. I know, in the
desert the glass would
invariably be covered,
and was in every picture I
saw of British Priests, but
I liked the look..
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 M-7 Priest

I ended up using relatively few parts

supports,
from the Eduard set, mostly due to it being
but it worked
made for the late version. It did provide a
out nicely. The rest of the gun is all Italeri,
nice engine deck screen, an equipment
detailed with some bolts per references. I
cover for the interior, instrument panel and
could have added a lot of detail to the
gauges, and a few small fittings here and
drivers compartment, (and kind of wish I
there. This set will be really useful for the
had) but it would have been hard to see.
late version, which is now available again!
(Like every other model I’ve ever really
searched for and finally acquired, it’s either
Also in the interior, I trimmed the ammo
re-released or a better one is offered.)
boxes to show the early, short
configuration, made two new seats and
The Italeri gun is kind of soft and would be
detailed it out. The MG was replaced with
hard to fill, I felt. With no metal
the Verlinden .50 cal, while the mount is
replacement available, I turned to the KMC
from Tamiya’s 2.5 ton truck accessory set.
set, which offers a resin recuperator, two
The fire extinguishers from the M-12
barrels, a breech and breech block, and
replaced the Italeri versions.
some PE parts. The parts are kind of a
I don’t ever paint hard-edged camo
challenge, as you have to remove the
schemes, but the M-7 called for it. I
plastic recuperator while leaving their
learned something very important…when

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the bottle of liquid mask says “not for use on water-based paint”
THEY ARE SERIOUS! More on this later…
I started with something new, the Tamiya lacquer spray cans. I
used white as a primer, and it went on smooth and dried hard as
stone! I followed with a base coat of Tamiya desert yellow, then
oversprayed soft patches of red-brown and panzer grey. After
they dried for several days, I brushed on liquid mask over the
brown and grey, intending to spray the yellow to create the hard
edges. HOWEVER…when I tried to peel of the mask, it would
not budge. Crap, that’s when I actually read the bottle. I
broke out the alcohol and a toothbrush and started
scrubbing the paint off. That’s when the mask came off.
However, that Tamiya lacquer stayed put.
I had to turn to enamels, which I normally only use for
drybrushing. The Humbrols I felt were going to be difficult
to use in an airbrush, so I picked up some of the new Testors
enamels, and although loath to run them through my Aztec, they
worked very well and cleaned up easily. This time I sprayed the
base coat, then masked the yellow and sprayed the brown and
grey. The mask peeled off easily this time.
After drying for several days, I lightly washed the whole thing with
Raw Umber oils, and drybrushed with Humbrols and oils, picking
out details as needed, such as the tools and fittings, gun breech,
etc. I am trying to avoid too much wash lately, as several of my
recent models have ended up too dark and dingy. Instead I pick
out details and keep the washes very local. I also use artist’s
colored pencils to add scratches, metal wear, and other small
marks, which would be hard to paint.
I wanted a beat-up look, and with the recent interest in chipped
and battered paint jobs, I decide to try my version of it, which was
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 to actually chip the paint with an X-acto
knife, and repaint or pencil the chips dark
brown and Burnt Sienna. This often
revealed the lacquer base coat, and has
led to an idea for weathering a future
model…More on this another time. I tried
to strike a balance between a functional
well-used machine and a wreck, and was
partially successful, probably going a bit
too far. Live and learn.
Markings for the M-7 came from two old
Verlinden dry transfer sets, British Division
Markings (349) and British Armor Markings
(348), also now unavailable. Luckily, I found
these at two different shows. I marked it as
a Priest from the 11th Regiment Royal
Horse Artillery, El Alamein. Could have
used markings from Archer instead, as
they have several British sets.
M-7 Priest
M-7 Priest
M-7 Priest
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One of the attractive (to me) features of
the British M-7 is the plethora of gear that
the crews carried. I used accessories
from Verlinden, Custom Dioramics, Plus,
Greif, and some I don’t even know where
they came from. I actually painted and
finished much more gear than I ended up
using, because all that gear covered too
much of my hard-fought paint job. I try
hard to make sure that all gear looks like it
has been secured, not glued on, and
makes sense where it is placed. I used
lead foil straps and very thin cable, which I
culled from Grieif tow cables. These are
amazing, actually thin copper strands
woven like real cable. If you twist them
apart, then become smaller woven cable,
looking just like thin rope. Two Verlinden
105mm Ammo sets were painted up and
placed. The lovely cleaning rods and
distance markers came from the KMC M-
101 accessory set, as did the rope and a
few other bits. There’s a lot left over.
Finally, Tamiya’s British Infantry on Patrol
(35223) set was used for helmets, packs,
rifles, tiny metal cups, and gear.
A dusting of pastels for that well-traveled
desert look was added, and I now have a
very different model for my German armor
to glare at on the shelf.
This model was several years in the
searching and planning, and the first Allied
armor kit I’ve done in a decade. I was very
lucky that all of the elements and items I
needed to complete it seemed to
eventually fall into my hands. I love it when
a plan comes together!