Thank you all!  I thought about adding the aerials, but I don't have anything on hand that doesn't look out of scale.  The way my luck is with builds in the late stages, I would probably spill my bottle of CA on the tank anyway!

Bish - You can use the 2nd photo.  Thanks for hosting the fun build

Robert, you did a beautiful job there!!! Superb!!! And I don't think she needs anything else, just driving across the desert looks fine. 

Thanks Jack. I thought that about the exhausts as well. I think normally you need to smooth down these 3D parts, but in this case it will add to the finish.

Robert, i really like that, great finish and a very nice base. Thank you, will update the front page. Do you have a preferance as to what photo i use.

Hi Robert, Chally looks good.  You could possibly add (though not necessary) an orange tarp on the  turret rear - I think was an air recognition feature.   There was also a trio antennas,  but if you don't have anything thin like stainless steel wire (0.1mm), then I wouldn't bother.

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Bish, nice choice on the Chieften.   I like the texture on those printed mufflers.

regards,

Jack

For tonight's update on the Chally, the ID panels on the sides and rear have been hit with Ivory, and a light drybrush of straight white.  The tow cables were installed, and the entire tank hit with some pigments.

While browsing Challengers in action, this was my loose inspiration:

copy and paste characters

Unfortunately my base isn't big enough nor did I have anything to build up a berm in front of the vehicle, but I liked the look of the small shrubs.  And so I present my latest effort:

I just need to re glue one of the bushes that came loose during photography, but other than that I believe it is complete.

Comments, criticisms, or suggestions are welcome!

Thanks G.

Loving the look of that, i like the lines on that.

That armor is flying together, well done Gents!

The tracks are on the Conqueror and I've applied stucco paint to the undersides to be painted as mud.

I had to put on the tracks and then cement the lower and upper hull together so the top of the rear hull bulkhead is not painted. It's painted now and just got the decals and tools on her.

I don't know what's accurate there Glamdring but she's coming along great! Sharp work!

Bish, really nice work there, the Chieftain is a good looking tank and you're doing a great job on her.

So just time to squeeze in one more build. There are 2 British army vehicles i really have a think for, other than the Warrior of course. Back in the 70's when i was 6 or 7, there was a large fair at a local park in Norwich, and the Army were there. I recall they had 3 armoured vehicles, and while i think one might have been an Abbot, the other 2 i am certain of, a Scorpion and Chieftain. I think it was from that day that my desire to join the Army started. So when i got interested in building modern British armour a few years back, those 2 were high on the wish list. Now i have both in the stash, and this is as good a time as any to build one of them.

I will be building it in the scheme of one of the BATUS training vehicles as shown on the box. The only extras will be an Accurate Armour resin barrel and some 3D printed exhausts from FC Model Trend.

I started a few weeks back while i was doing teh Harriers so i could get the lower hull and suspension painted early.

These parts were assembeled on the sprue so i could get all round them.

And an armour build is not complete without a wheel forest.

Once the lower hull and suspension parts were painted, they got put together. I use my usual Tamiya mix here of NATO green and field grey. But i will be useing MiG paints on the rest.

These are the 3D exhausts, first time useing printed parts on an armour build.

And then last weekend i started on the rest of the build. For a well detailed kit, it goes together very easily and quickly. The hull is ready for primer. I left off the wing mirrors as tehse are not used in BATUS.

And the turret is just waiting for the TOGS on the left side. I left off the top of the comanders hatch so i can paint around it before fitting the clear periscopes.

The gun barrel was originally part of the Accurate Armour kit, now sold as a seperate AM part. A hole had to be drilled to allow it to fit on the Takom mount, but i was able to get a nice tight fit.

I should be able to get the primer on by the midle of the week. Then i can start on the tracks. I am useing MiG paint so i have a good match for the sand colour. But my LHS didn't have their field grey so i have ordered some which should be here by the end of the week.

This is all complete speculation, because I can't find any information about the color or direction of the the CID panels to know for sure, but I did find an image of an Abrams that had the flaps in the down direction as well.  It does seen that these panels are perhaps issued to and applied by the crew?  In one of the Abrams pictures above, they look to be affixed with ratchet straps and in the other by zip ties!  The Challenger 2 is a but more refined, with the panels bolted in place.  

The best line I was able to find on the topic came from a report from the UK's National Audit Office on the Progress in Combat Identification, from 3/3/06: 

"NATO is key to helping ensure that allies’ Combat Identification equipment can function effectively together. Coalition partners agreed to use some capabilities based on NATO standards in coalition operations. For example, during Operation TELIC the fitting of appropriate target friend or foe identification equipment to coalition aircraft and Combat Identification Panels and Thermal Identification Panels to coalition vehicles based on NATO standards agreed by coalition partners. The Department procured and leased some equipment as Urgent Operational Requirements to enable our Armed Forces to operate effectively with United States Armed Forces."

This explains why they all look the same, and perhaps on the video I had seen the panel was taken from US stockpiles.  Either way, the photographic evidence strongly indicates the UK used white panels overall, so white panels mine will become.

I've never used these panels myself. But looking at pics, there seems to be a differance between the ones on British and US vehicles. On all the British ones i can find, the slats go down and are white.

But on US ones, they go up and are the same colour as the vehicles.

Not sure if the slats can be moved so they are double sided or we use differant designs.

I'm wondering if maybe they were using a US panel in that video, the US forces seem to use tan identification panels:

On an Abrams

Hmm, wonder if the the panels were issued in a standard finnish, but specifically painted white for Operation Telic as a further visual identification aid when observed with the naked eye?

regards,

Jack

jgeratic

Hi Robert, that is coming along really nice.  

Photo references show the identification thermal panels as being a white colour;

 

regards,

Jack

 

Not a hard fix to make certainly.  I may try to scratch build the ID panels at the front while I'm at it.

The other thing I could have done was left them off.

Very nice work on the Chally Robert. As jack shows, those panels are a much light colour.

Hi Robert, that is coming along really nice.  

Photo references show the identification thermal panels as being a white colour;

regards,

Jack

Decals are added and clear coat applied:

Goal is to hit it with pigments this weekend and cobble together a some kind of a desert looking base with the supplies I have on hand.  That should be interesting.

Piers: She looks fantastic! Love how the pigment weathering turned out! 

One month to go before tyhe dn of the GB. But as always, if your name is on the list, please feel free to keep posting your pics as long as you like, i don't want anyone to feel rushed.

Thanks LA, and always a pleasure to have you on board.

Thanks Bish, Robert and Jack, the Tamiya kit fell together very nicely.

Bish, thanks for running another great group build. I have enjoyed watching the other builds and have learnt a bit in the process.

Look forward to seeing more of the builds as the GB goes on.

Piers

The finish on that Achilles is great!

Thats come out great LA, really nice finish. Thank you. Will get the front page updated.

Hello Lost, that's a very sharp looking Achilles.  Like the contrast of the ammo against the finish of the vehicle. 

regards,

Jack

Robert: Cool, hoping you'll post photos when you get them! 

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the views and comments!  I found a set of resin WW2 soldiers on Ebay that includes a wounded man on a stretcher.  With some careful surgery, I could probably trim the stretcher away, but it ships out of Hong Kong and wouldn't arrive until late December at the earliest.    Kind of pricey too, at $16 for three 1/72 figures that I won't use for anything else.

I may have to pass on this idea, but I will keep an eye out this weekend for a good deal on a wounded soldier figure set!