Tamiya 1/35 Chieftain

[Rodders]

Hi All,

Happy new year to everyone.

I wanted to ask if there are any improvements available for the Tamiya 1/35 Chieftain. I know it's an old kit but it was a suprise from swmbo at Christmas, and i've never ever built anything from post war though i have a Revell 1/35 M47/8 Patton in the to do pile which i believe is the Italeri mould. Ironically, from last Christmas also from swmbo.

I've read a review which wasn't very kind which said it's a mk3. I've got a lot of research to do so i wouldn't know the difference.

Can anyone help with any advice,

Thanks.

Edited January 8, 2013 by Rodders

[pte1643]

Eduard do a PE detail set designed with the Tamiya kit in mind, I can't comment whether it's an "update" as such.

 

I remember reading somewhere, a while ago, about the mark being wrong, but it builds up nice, with regard to the usual Tamiya engineering, despite it being an ancient (by modern standards) offering.

 

The first Tamiya kit I ever made...  In about 1980-ish.   I still have it.   

[Rodders]

Eduard do a PE detail set designed with the Tamiya kit in mind, I can't comment whether it's an "update" as such.

 

I remember reading somewhere, a while ago, about the mark being wrong, but it builds up nice, with regard to the usual Tamiya engineering, despite it being an ancient (by modern standards) offering.

 

The first Tamiya kit I ever made...  In about 1980-ish.   I still have it.   

Thanks for the reply,

Sorry i should have explained properly I've changed my message to improvements,

Cheers.

[Andy K]

This is the only thing I know of for the Tamiya Chieftain;

http://www.accurate-armour.com/ShowProduct.cfm?manufacturer=0&category=66&subcategory=39&product=72

Edited January 8, 2013 by Andy K

[Rodders]

This is the only thing I know of for the Tamiya Chieftain;

http://www.accurate-armour.com/ShowProduct.cfm?manufacturer=0&category=66&subcategory=39&product=72

Thanks Andy,

It looks good but it's a bit to dear for me, thanks for sharing though i may save up for it.

One unrelated question though, i see your a member of 580 modellers. As i get the SAMI magazine every month there's always something from 580 modellers but i've never found out what does "580 modellers" stand for. It's just something i'd like to know,

Cheers.

[Andy K]

It's the road of which the two guys who started the club live either end of, the A580 or East Lancs road.

[Rodders]

It's the road of which the two guys who started the club live either end of, the A580 or East Lancs road.

Thanks Andy, appreciated. Just visited your page, really impressed.

Cheers.

[Andy K]

And yes the Accurate Armour stuff is dear HOWEVER an Eduard etch set is pushing £15 these days so with the rest of the stuff you get in the AA set it may be the better deal. It depends how much you want an accurate Chieftain

[Andy K]

Thanks Andy, appreciated. Just visited your page, really impressed.

Cheers.

Why thank you for the kind words! I aim to please

[pigsty]

Tamiya's Chieftain is reckoned to be an odd hybrid of the Mk.2 and the Mk.5. I can believe it, having built their even older 1/25 Chieftain, which was sort of a Mk.2.

Accurate Armour offer not only corrections if you want to make the advertised Mk.5, but also a number of conversions to later Marks up as far as the Mk.11. You can even go mad and use the Tamiya hull as the basis for a very nice ARV or AEV. These are, as has been spotted, very expensive, but reputedly worth every penny. A cheaper alternative is to try Castoff, who have recently resumed production of a small number of Chieftain gun-tank sets.

Incidentally, the Revell (ex-Italeri) Patton is only an M47. The M48 is a rather different beast, despite the name, and is available from Tamiya as the M48A3 and from Academy as the M48A5.

[Rodders]

Tamiya's Chieftain is reckoned to be an odd hybrid of the Mk.2 and the Mk.5. I can believe it, having built their even older 1/25 Chieftain, which was sort of a Mk.2.

Accurate Armour offer not only corrections if you want to make the advertised Mk.5, but also a number of conversions to later Marks up as far as the Mk.11. You can even go mad and use the Tamiya hull as the basis for a very nice ARV or AEV. These are, as has been spotted, very expensive, but reputedly worth every penny. A cheaper alternative is to try Castoff, who have recently resumed production of a small number of Chieftain gun-tank sets.

Incidentally, the Revell (ex-Italeri) Patton is only an M47. The M48 is a rather different beast, despite the name, and is available from Tamiya as the M48A3 and from Academy as the M48A5.

Thanks Pigsty,

The info for the Patton is really helpful. I got the Eduard detail set 35718 for it so i'll only look at M47 options,

Cheers.

[Malcolm Shaw]

OOB the kit builds a mid to late Mk2.

The side skirts need sorting and a few smaller details adding to improve on what`s in the box.

 

Any thing above Mk3 needs a lot of extra work on the hull and turret, you can go 1 of 2 ways, scratch build it or after market.

 

Accurate Armour do some excellent conversions but are a tad expensive.

 

Castoff do conversions that are cheaper but he has been hard to deal with lately.

 

It`s really down to what you want and your budget.

 

 

PS the Tamiya 1/25 offering was of a prototype and needs MAJOR work to turn it into a production version.

 

Malc.

[AntPhillips]

Type ' Robert Lockie chieftain tweak list' into google, it should find you the ultimate list of kit modifications required Mk. by Mk.

[ivan-o]

Got to go with Cast Off models but i would phone him rather than email.

[Kiwidave4]

Before you spend any money you should decide what you want to build and how much detail you would like. The basic kit is quite accurate dimensionally, but is missing a lot of detail. Many of the small details - like the brackets for the track guard stowage bins - are simple to make.  

 

As mentioned above Robert Lockies list of teaks pretty much covers the Mk5 mods and the extra details all Mks had.

 

There is not a lot of work needed to make an acceptable in-service Mk2, especially as the Mk2 was subject to in-field and factory upgrades from the day it arrived. Main difference is the Jerry can mount on the turret and no right turret basket. An ex-factory spec Mk2 is a bit more complicated but if you are interested I can provide some details.

 

A Mk3 can also be made virtually OOB, additions needed being details rather than major alterations.

 

To make a Mk5 onwards you do need to tackle some major issues, transmission decks, cupola optics, barrell, fire control system, etc. These involve pretty straight forward scratchbuilding.

 

I have built a Mk5, a factory spec Mk2 (should still be pics on BM somewhere) and I am currently building a Mk11 (also on BM). I used some Cast Off parts on the Mk5, but really there is not much needed for any Mk that can't be scratchbuilt,- often to a better standard than AM parts,- or 'borrowed' from the CR1 kit.

 

Regards Dave

[Centaur95]

As others have said, the Tamiya Chieftain is a bit of a Mongrel. It's fundamentally a Mk II (but with some detail issues). For a Mk 5 onwards, you need to look at replacing things like the cupola and main gun (Tamiya's Challeneger 1 kit has good examples of each) and the engine deck vent arrangements also need changing.

 

If you are happy to live with the errors (which any non-Chieftain fan wouldn't realise were errors), then it builds up very nicely.

 

 

The Italeri M47 (as reboxed by Revell) on the other hand is generally considered to one of the finest 1/35 scale MBT kits ever issued - despite being some 35+ years old. Sure, you can change or refine some of the detail if you want, but it's a gorgeous kit as it stands.

 

Regards,

Centaur

[Rodders]

Thanks Guys for the help. As i've said i'm no Chieftain expert at all but any help is appreciated. I'll think i'll go down the oob  mk3 route as i'm not that good. 

Would anyone know if i got the Eduard detail set for this could it still be used for a mk3. Please forgive my ignorance my usual area is WW2 aircraft.

Thanks Centaur for the Italeri M47 help. I will be doing that oob with just an Eduard detail set. I've heard really good things about this kit,

Cheers all.

[Malcolm Shaw]

The Eduard set is pretty good and adds some missing detail.

 

I`ve read that it has been improved and now gives parts for the missing fire extinguisher pulls that fit between the front track guard bins, so I`m after this set for myself.

 

As for the M47, if you plan on showing the engine decks open, a few added wires make a big difference.

 

Malc.

Edited January 15, 2013 by Malcolm Shaw

[JonMim]

It's the road of which the two guys who started the club live either end of, the A580 or East Lancs road.

As I live not too far from the A580, how do I go about finding out more details of the club?

Re the Accurate Armour stuff, I'm close to finishing an IDF Yon Kippur era Centurion & bought their resin Centurion tracks - awful. Poor molding & the longer lengths broken from new, probably from the postal service - I notice they have a trackset on offer for the Centurion so thought I'd put my oar in on that subject.

[darson]

Hi Rodders

A couple of things I used on my TAM Mk.V Chieftain were:

Castoff Models Chieftain M.V Upgrade

Chieftain Tweaks List

Accurate Armour Chieftain 120mm L11 Barrel

The Castoff stuff was very nice although you do get more resin (at more cost) in the Accurate Armour upgrade. However coupled with the replacement gun barrel you can turn out a real winner for not much cash.

Cheers

Edited May 3, 2013 by darson

[Rodders]

Sorry all not been back much. just wanted to say thanks again for the help.

Edited January 23, 2014 by Rodders