Kiwidave4 Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 The Centurion that I used as the basis of my BARV build was bought as a job lot with a couple of other built tanks;- a Chally 1 and a Chieftain. I only ever considered the Chally as a source of Chieftain spares, but the Chieftain was to be rebuilt,- it was just a question of the right inspiration. Finding a photo of a Mk2 with 3RTR at Fallingbostel was just what I needed to fire my imagination. This will be my second Mk2, but unlike my last which was a pristine vehicle this build will be a dirty and damaged example. Buying built models is always a game of chance, and this one was a pretty poor build, with no parts clean-up, parts not properly aligned or engaged, excess cement, etc, etc. This is what I started with...looks much better in the photo! So it went into an old plastic paint bucket with a good coat of my wifes oven cleaner, left overnight it scrubbed up quite well next day and the build could begin by dismantling it!. First jobs were the usual ones of filling the motorisation holes. I also like to bush the idler mount with brass and replace the idler axle with a steel rod. Sheet styrene filled the void between track guards and hull sides. Then I started to tackle the 'real' jobs, filling redundant holes, and beginning the lengthy task of adding all the details that Tamiya forgot. So far I have added the missing track guard brackets, the bazooka plate mounts, and the stiffening ribs on the front track guard section. Because the vehicle I am modelling had the right hand track guard forward section misssing I have cut that off, and added some semi scale detail to the idler mount. At the rear of the hull the Mk2 had the original Mk1 hull bins and exhaust box. The latter is an easy fix, just plating the top of the box, and adding some detail to the gun crutch and telephone box. The bins are significantly different to the kit items so they have to be scratchbuilt. I have also stripped the turret and filled redundant holes. This was so badly built I decided i will replace the NBC pack, cupola and searchlight with new items from the spares box. I will also replace the loaders and commanders hatches with the same parts from the Chally kit. So not much progress, but I have started detailing the smoke launchers. So there you go, not a lot of progress but I am chipping away at it and will post some more progress pics if it is of interest to folks. Regards Dave 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dads203 Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 Nice progress so far Dave, I'm sure this will turn out a real show stopper. Seems that the good old Tamiya Chieftains are in vogue at the moment :-) Regards Dan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwidave4 Posted February 22, 2015 Author Share Posted February 22, 2015 Thanks Dan, Chieftains are always in vogue with me...this is the fourth and I am sure I have some more in me if I can keep finding them at my price. Regards Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dads203 Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 Keep us updated on the progress Dave, always great to follow your builds fella. I have a few in the stash for future builds and with an ARRV moving up the build pile. Dan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wogga Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 I will follow closely, they are an iconic tank and never fired a shot in anger really (excluding Middle East owners), the British Army deployed the "funnies" in Gulf 1. I have the Mk5 ARV to do in the future, a lovely beast. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamden Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 I'll ride along to if you don't mind. This is recycling at its best. Roger 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwidave4 Posted March 8, 2015 Author Share Posted March 8, 2015 Making progress with the hull. Bins fitted, the bulldozer plumbing trunking fitted, drivers hatch modified and open stay fitted, bazzooka plate brackets and tow cable guides fitted, in fact most of the major bits done. Squash moulded some headlights and fitted them with the associated wiring and a scratchbuilt horn. At the rear I have fitted the modified exhaust box, and the new bins, after first raising and angling the hull lifting eyes Had a bit of a look at the turret. I had to remove the rear plate/NBC pack as it was not correctly fitted and covered in excess cement!!!!! The advantage of building multiple Chieftains - I had a new plate and NBC pack in the spares box! So fitted the plate and will now start working on the turret, and leave the more fragile hull bits till later in the build. Do have to tackle the headlight brush guards which I recall were bit of a pain on my last Mk2 so they might get long fingered for a while. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamden Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 That's really starting to look the part with your attention to detail Looking forward to more of the same! Roger 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwidave4 Posted April 5, 2015 Author Share Posted April 5, 2015 (edited) Progress has been slow....this is the time of the year when I usually get stuck in to house maintenance and modelling takes a back seat. I have got a bit further with the turret, and have completed the rebuild of the gun. The original gun was a mess;- the halves were not aligned, the muzzle attached at an angle and the bellows at the mantle end was beyond recovery. I always reinforce the kit barrels with brass tube and /or rod. This time I also turned a new muzzle from aluminium, and a new bellows, also from aluminium. This photo shows the old and new parts before assembly. The barrel halves were joined around the brass core, and the muzzle fitted. The old bellows were cut and grafted onto the new one. The bellows were then fitted to the turret. A mantlet cover of Milliput was added, with some scratch built retaining straps. Just the ranging gun to be added. Edited April 5, 2015 by Kiwidave4 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dads203 Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 Great work Dave, loving what you are dong with this build fella :-) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MADMUSKY Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 Great stuff, good to see the old Tamiya kit getting worked on, following this all the way Darren 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwidave4 Posted May 17, 2015 Author Share Posted May 17, 2015 What started as a quick build has started to drag. I have been distracted by some house renovation/redecorating so have not been spending as many hours on modelling. Anyway it is heading toward the final stages. As a distraction from some of the fiddly bits I have made a start on the base and the crew, but may have to do a rethink on the crew. Currently I am kit bashing some WW2 Miniart figures but I am not sure if the results will cut the mustard. So this is where I am at with the beast. The GPMG was unusable so I dug in the spares box and found a Chally gun and scratched a mount for it. Made a flashing beacon from an old LED, added some internal details to the hatches, replacing the loaders hatches with a pair of Chally ones from the spares box. Kept myself quiet for a bit adding the tie downs to the bazooka plates, and added brass locator pins to the plates so they can be fitted after painting. So it is coming together quite nicely. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivan-o Posted May 17, 2015 Share Posted May 17, 2015 (edited) Well there is detailing and then there is SUPER detailing Edited May 17, 2015 by ivan-o 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamden Posted May 17, 2015 Share Posted May 17, 2015 That detailing makes the wait for updates well worth it! Roger 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwidave4 Posted May 17, 2015 Author Share Posted May 17, 2015 Thanks chaps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwidave4 Posted July 10, 2015 Author Share Posted July 10, 2015 Been a while...I have had a really bad case of modellers block, in part brought on by frustration with the crew, base and camo nets. I have used figures mixed and matched from Miniarts WW2 winter tank crew. The photos I have of the original vehicle show the crew (and the 432 crews) in Pixie suits, but the WW2 berets need some slimming down, plus I had to do some reposing to fit. The base will be snow covered and I have not tried that before so I am in suck it and see territory. The camo nets are my first attempt using the cheesecloth and tea leaf technique. Found it very messy (!) and not very easy. I am unsure if the ones you see will stay or if I should have another try. Made some stowage for the turret basket, a couple of tubes to represent oil drums, a ration box and some tarp. So here we are. Still lots of small detail to add to the hull but if I can work up the enthusiasm it should not be long till the build stage is finished. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HL-10 Posted July 10, 2015 Share Posted July 10, 2015 Very impressive work! You're really turning this into a masterpiece 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaintsPhil Posted July 10, 2015 Share Posted July 10, 2015 Really smart! What do you plan to use for the snow? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwidave4 Posted July 10, 2015 Author Share Posted July 10, 2015 Really smart! What do you plan to use for the snow? I have some Woodland Scenics to try. I need to achieve just a light dusting of snow, not heavy drift type stuff, so hope it will give me the desired effect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaintsPhil Posted July 10, 2015 Share Posted July 10, 2015 I want to try something similar on a diorama I'm building (slowly) so I'll watch with interest! Of course I'm keen to see the cheiftain finished too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamden Posted July 10, 2015 Share Posted July 10, 2015 That's really coming together, looking forward to seeing it painted and set in snow Roger 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwidave4 Posted July 18, 2015 Author Share Posted July 18, 2015 Well its ready for paint, but that might take a while as we are in the depths of winter and I paint in my garage. Had another try at the turret camo net but still not happy. Can't get it to follow the contours of the turret, so I am hoping that when the painting is done I will be able to glue it down. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamden Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 Nice very nice Not far to go now! Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Cornes Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 Wonder if you could run some copper wire through the centre of that camouflage net so that you could bend it to follow the turret contours? Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwidave4 Posted July 18, 2015 Author Share Posted July 18, 2015 Wonder if you could run some copper wire through the centre of that camouflage net so that you could bend it to follow the turret contours? Simon Thanks Simon. Great minds etc,etc! Thats what I did on my second attempt, but the real problem is getting the underside to conform to the turret details. The wire did help a bit with the basic shape so it was not a total waste of time. I have been considering trying a 'sausage' of Milliput which could be squeezed down onto the turret, and then 'tar and feathered' with the tea leaves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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