Thanks Rob.

Very nicely done!

There are some walk arounds on Prime Portal that i used, but i could find any detailed images of the running gear.

Bish

I am not sure how the tracks were adjusted on the real tank either

Oddly enough, Nick Moran has not done a walk-around on any version of Cheiftan.

Thanks Carlos.

Ye, i have a good idea of what should be there, i am just not sure what type of kit. In the late 80's the British army changed its personal equipment, but i am not sure when the tank crews would have got it and i am not sure what year the Chieftains were replaced by Challengers at BATUS. Unfortuantly post war British equipment is very limited. Accurate Armour does the stuff introduced in the 80's, PLCE, but no one does the kit used before it, Pattern 58 webbing. I know i will get what i need on Brit Modeller, there are quite a few ex Chieftain guys on there.

Man that was fast! It looks real good too! Well done Bish!

For external stowage on a tank in a training area, I would imagine that being water cans, cases of rations, and perhaps camo nets. But that’s just an educated guess. I’m sure that there should be a load plan for as to what goes where.

Been ploughing through with the Chieftain to get it done. I did some oil dot filters followed by AK Streaking grimes.

After a flat coat, wet pigments were applied and the excess dusted off. Once everything was together, it then got a light dusting of dry pigments. I managed to solve my track problem when i remembered i have the Takom marksman in the stash. I raided the tracks from then and took one to fill the gap and 2 more for spares on the rear. I had bought the Master metal tracks to use on this kit but decided to try out the kit ones. I'll just use the metal ones on the Marksman.

So here is my BATUS (British Army Training Unit Suffield) based Chieftain Mk 11.

I do plan to come back to this and add some stowage, but i am not sure what would be right for it given the time. There are a few ex Chieftain crewman on Britmodller, so i plan on checking with them.

Thanks for looking.

Thanks GS.

Looking very nice Bish! 

Thanks guys.

Carlos, no, there is no room for movement there. I am not sure how the tracks were adjusted on the real tank either, there is nothing there that looks familiar from my knowledge of the Warrior.

Really liking what I'm seeing so far Martin.

Turret and paint scheme look good Bish. Thank goodness for side skirts to hide issues with indie link tracks. Do the idler or sprocket wheels have adjust placement to allow for track tension issues?

Some more progress to report on the Chieftain, i was slowed down some what by the paint. But before that i had to wrap up the turret with the addition of the TOGs. I painted the inside black before putting it all together, the clear part on the front has ha the lense covered with liquid mask.

Than the painting. I decided to use MiG paints as that is the recomended colour by Takom and i didn't want to try and find a match for the sand colour. For the green, i usually use Tamiya NATO Green mixed with some field grey, so i ordered MiG's field grey set thinking i could use it on my figures. But the field grey in the set was very light, so i used the field grey shading which was more like the Tamiya field grey. Not sure if MiG just got it wrong or they are meant for a more artistic style of painting.

One think about the MiG paints, they don't like a cold damp English winter. 24 hours after painting the green it was still as wet as it had been when applied. I had to bring it inside in the warm to dry. After that i free handed the sand and after some touching up, this is what i have.

There still some rough edges here and there. I am not a fan of the paint, it seems similar to vallejo model air, which i don't like eitehr. I won't be getting them again. I think the sand used on the BATUS fleet, which is also used on the Warminster based Demo battalion vehicles, is the same as that used on desert vehicles prior to Op Telic, so if i need to do another of tehse schemes i can use the Gulf War colours. I also maske and added the white V for the arc marker.

Then the decals, not keen on these either. They damage easily and are very matt looking. But they did conform well enough and there's not many of them.

And the tracks where put together, and here's another issue. There are 200 links and the instructions say to use 97 on each side. I put one track together forming it around the idler and sproket and over the top rollers adding slight sga. But when i out the send run together i was one link short. On counting the second lot it had 100 links, so the first must have 101. Not sure what i have done wrong to use the extra link, the sag doesn't look to much. But at least the gap is behind the side skirts, unless i can force it together.

Next up some weathering and hoping for no more problems.

Bish

 

GS, i have seen that scheme, someone on Britmodeller is doing that kit now. Never really appealed to me but deffinetly a challenge.

 

Thanks guys. this is my second takom kit after doing the 432 last year, very nice kits with great detail. I also have the marksman in the stash which should be a fun build.

GS, i have seen that scheme, someone on Britmodeller is doing that kit now. Never really appealed to me but deffinetly a challenge.

I've been wondering how the Takom kits build as well. Looking forward to the next installment.

I was wondering how nice the Takom kits were. It looks very nice and a cool build. I'm following for sure.

BK

Thatnks G. They were really nice to fit, the clips were a little fiddly, but nothing major. These takom kits really do have everything you need.

Yeah she looks fantastic Bish, I love the mesh engine intake screens.

Thanks Hutch, me to Though apparently it was a real pain to crew.

Looks great already - I really do like the Chieftain.